TUCSON CREDENTIALS
September 1999 - Summary
TUCSON CREDENTIALS - SEPTEMBER 1999
Hoover
HOOVER
by Tom McGorray
I did not really know this man,
I shook his hand one time.
His agent friends were many,
His enemy was crime.
He fought the powers of evil,
He fought with all his might.
Destroyed fugitives of goodness,
He fought for all that’s right.
They say he had much power,
On everyone - a file.
He tried to make us safer
By bringing thugs to trial.
He did so much, his work was great,
And great was his FBI.
They say twas wrong,
He stayed too long,
He worked 'til the day he would die.
When the history books are finished,
And we all look down from the sky.
We will see the angels and prophets,
His marvelous FBI.
The Wayne Ross Foundation
The Wayne Ross Foundation
On 9/29/99 a golf tournament is being organized by several
members of the Boston Chapter of the Society of Former Special Agents
of the FBI in order to benefit the Wayne Ross Foundation. By way of
background, Wayne is the son of John Ross, former chairman of the
Boston Chapter and recent recipient of the Society’s
Humanitarian Award at the Northeast Regional Conference, Bretton
Woods, NH last month (See August issue of The Grapevine). On June 12,
1996, Wayne Ross, former U. S. Air Force Officer and graduate of
Norwich University, departed from the shoreline of the Artic Ocean
for a 16,000 mile bicycle trek to Cape Horn at the tip of South
America. On 10/23/96, halfway through the ride, Wayne, who was 31
years old, was hit by a bus outside of Guatemala City, suffered a
broken neck, and was left paralyzed from the neck down. An operation
in South America stabilized him and an air ambulance trip to Boston
exhausted his medical insurance. Wayne has always seen fit to help
others throughout his life, and has worked with young people for
several years. In 1996 he raised a considerable amount of money for
the Liver Foundation for his participation in the Boston Marathon. In
May 1997 Wayne was the recipient of the prestigious Hope Award by the
Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. A previous winner of that award was
Ted Turner. The committee of Boston Chapter members have joined with
members of the Norwich University Alumni to sponsor a golf tournament
to raise money to help with the extraodinary expenses involved with
Wayne’s care. The tournament will be held at the Atlantic
Country Club, 450 Little Sandy Pond Road, Plymouth, MA on Wednesday
9/29/99. The Committee would be most appreciative if former agents
with businesses would sponsor a tee for $500 (five hundred), which
would be deductible as an advertising expense since a list of tee
sponsors will be distributed. Personal donations, although not
decuctible under current IRS regulations, would also be appreciated.
Checks should be made payable to “Wayne Ross Recovery
Fund”, P. O. Box 292, Andover, MA 01810. The committee would
also appreciate the dissemination of the above information at Chapter
meetings during September. Additional details may be obtained from Ed
Clark, (617) 484-8090, e-mail [email protected].
Thanks for any help you can give. Tom Tierney
The Tucson SPY der Web for
September
The Tucson SPY - der Web September, 1999
THE TUCSON RA - has a new ASAC; Ralph Diaz, more
later.
JOINT CHRISTMAS PARTY-with local FBI Office is in the planning
stage. Save December 4, 1999. May be at Old Tucson.
SPEAKERS NEEDED - for the upcoming year. Let Ace Bushnell and our
new officers know if you have someone in mind.
SALVATORE - “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, the famed New
York mob underboss-turned-informer, is making a new life in Arizona
with no fears that his former Mafia compatriots will come seeking
revenge. Since leaving the federal witness protection program,
Gravano’s secret life and identity slowly unraveled, partly
because Gravano is sometimes indiscreet. He has a business, a
publicist and a lawyer. He tells some people his real name. But the
confessed killer of 19 doesn’t think he’s in any real
danger. In a rare interview, Gravano said he feels safe because
he’s become pals with FBI agents and U.S. marshals, who visit
and talk by phone. BOB KEEFE -has new address in Phoenix. New address
is 888 East Clinton Street Apt 1108, Phoenix, Az 85020. Phone #
602-944-1315.
DIRECTOR LOUIS FREEH - In his first public remarks on the scandal
that rocked the Boston office of the FBI last year, acknowledged that
‘’significant mistakes were made’’ by local
agents who recruited Irish gangsters to inform on the Italian Mafia,
and said he knows of evidence that could lead to the agents’
prosecution.
SOCIETY MAILING LIST - is approaching 475 subscribers and is
available to any member who has an e-mail address. Subscribe at:
http://xgboy.com/html/xgboy_listserv.html
RETIREMENT HANDBOOK - received recently by all members is a
wonderful booklet setting forth guidelines for survivors. It was
prepared by Maurice F. Row, National Family Assistance Committee
Chairman, who should be commended for a job well done.
1999 NATIONAL CONVENTION - at the Innisbrook Resort, in Tarpon
Springs, FL. near Tampa, FL is now on line at:
http://www.xgboy.com/html/nat99ts.index.html
THE FBI - named a 16-year veteran investigator Steven C. McGraw,
former Tucson ASAC to take over its frustrating, 18-month-old search
for Eric Rudolph, the 32-year-old loner charged with bombing the
Atlanta Olympics, two abortion clinics and a gay nightclub. McCraw,
45, who has been an inspector at FBI headquarters here since May
1998, was selected to take charge of the Southeast Bomb Task Force on
Aug. 1.
MAY PICNIC - was well attended and a good time was had by all.
The food was terrific at the Tanque Verde Ranch and there is talk of
doing it again there at night this fall.
GARY ALDRICH - A former FBI agent whose book suggested President
Clinton evaded his security detail to have secret trysts will not be
prosecuted by the Justice Department for going public without FBI
clearance. Aldrich faced criminal prosecution and the loss of all
profits from his book, ‘’Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent
Inside the Clinton White House.’’ All Justice Department
employees must be cleared to publish writings based on their work - a
policy intended to protect national security secrets and confidential
information.
DICK & HELEN STEPHENS - have moved from Green Valley to the
Fountains in NW Tucson. Their new address is: 2001 W. Rudasill,
#2310, Tucson, AZ 85704 Telephone: 297-4345.
SOCIETY NATIONAL CONVENTION - will be held in Florida, October 20
- 24, 1999, at the Westin Innisbrook Resort at Tarpon Springs. One of
the things which will be different at this convention is that we
expect to have a Computer Resource Center set up in the Hospitality
Suite. One corporate sponsor has donated the use of five laptops, and
the local cable provider has promised a cable modem connection for
the laptops.
BILL BONANNO’S - production of “Bonanno: A
Godfather’s Story” bombed on TV recently. Bonanno opens
outside a Greek temple in Sicily, a beautiful shot that lasts about
10 seconds. And that’s five seconds more than you need to waste
on this felonious mob movie. As the title implies, it’s the
story of mobster Joseph Bonanno, based on his book and produced by
his son, Bill - himself a convicted mobster, who continues to
embarrass Tucsonian’s by living here.
ELECTIONS - will be held at our September meeting at HomeTown
Buffet.The Nominating Committe has put together the following slate:
Chairman: Paul Rush, Vice Chairman: Peter Zpbenica, Treasurer: Geroge
Kopecky, Secretary: Joe Stanley. Due to the holiday we will meet the
second Monday, September 13, 1999.
The FBI NATIONAL ACADEMY - has long been a vital element in the
continuing improvement of law enforcement standards, knowledge, and
cooperation throughout the world. The National Academy Program was
founded on July 29, 1935, with 23 students in attendance. Since that
early beginning, the National Academy program has graduated 29,474
qualified students with the graduation of the 186th Session on
September 13, 1996. The program has enjoyed a world-wide reputation
among international law enforcement and 1,592 officers representing
111 foreign countries have taken advantage of this training
program.
ANNUAL DUES - are collected in the fall for the coming year.
Please send George Kopecky $15 plus your charitable donnations for
the coming year.
The Tougheest Computer School
World’s Toughest Computer
School
Israel's Mossad intelligence service is famous as a school
for spies. Now the Israeli army's computer corps, called Mamram, is
gaining renown as a training ground for successful
entrepreneurs.
Last August, two Mamram veterans, Ori and Israel Mazin, sold
Memco Software Ltd. to Platinum Technology, based in Oakbrook
Terrace, Ill., for $550 million. Another former member of the elite
unit, Gil Shwed, started Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. after
he left the military in 1992, and it is now worth about $1.8
billion.
"You leave the army with the mentality that there is nothing you
can't grapple with and there is no wall that is insurmountable," said
Ori Mazin, who with his brother, Israel, instilled the same esprit de
corps at Memco.
In a country where all 18-year-olds are drafted for a minimum two
years of military service, the computer corps skims only the cream,
rejecting 9 out of 10 applicants. Once in, recruits train for six
months and must commit themselves to a six-year tour of duty.
And while computer specialists are not run ragged on 50-mile
forced marches, they endure 16-hour days and a failure rate that runs
as high as 50 percent. Instead of the M-16 assault rifles carried by
combat soldiers, rookies at the military's programming school in
Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, are taught to cherish their laptop
and hand-held computers.
"You won't find anyone here who says the course is easy," said
Maj. Shai Bassan, the computer corps training commander, as a
classroom of 40 recruits clicked away at a programming exercise.
"They are in a race in the framework of a commando unit," the
major said. "They know only the best will remain," and join the elite
corps.
Those who survive the training at Ramat Gan spend time developing
programs for everything from how to feed 10,000 soldiers efficiently
to software that encodes communications for air strikes against
Islamic militant guerrilla bases in Lebanon.
Company recruiters are also aggressively trying to hire army
programmers because they manage projects using advanced technology
that their age-group peers cannot get near in civilian industry.
Compared with university graduates who bring only a diploma to
the job market, military programmers leave with job experience, even
if most of it is top secret.
Israel has the largest number of technology start-ups outside the
United States. Israel's emerging- technology companies have attracted
venture capital from investors like the Microsoft Corporation and the
3Com Corporation.
Military programmers have noticed success stories like Shwed, who
developed Check Point's hacker-proof Firewall software system, and
some are setting up companies while still serving, said members of
the corps.
Check Point was originally backed by BRM Group, a closely held
Israeli investment company, and earned $50.1 million in the second
quarter, with its shares rising to an all-time high of $66.8125 on
July 21.
For all the technical training the soldiers receive, though, the
military does not give them a business education, critics have said,
and not all start-ups are success stories.
"They have the technology to hit the home run, but they need to
be coached how to do that," said Eyal Levy, managing partner at the
AIG Orion Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in Israeli
Internet start-ups. "They don't always understand the market. They
sometimes improvise business scenarios that don't exist."
Ehud Tennenbaum, indicted in Israel in February for his role in
the penetration of computer systems at the Pentagon, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, was a computer corps reject and wound up in a desk job
with the Israeli military police. His trial is expected later this
year.
Success stories in business are more the norm, however. A
security forces programmer, Raviv Karnieli, 43, who co-founded an
electronic mail security company after spending 12 years in the
military, was a software developer for the air force.
Karnieli's Vanguard Security Technologies, which was started with
an initial investment of $100,000, makes a product allowing
businesses to encrypt E-mail messages. He said the intensity of the
military gave him the technical and managerial ability to move his
product from a blueprint into the market.
"We were always trying to build things no one had built before,"
said Karnieli. "In a start-up, you're trying to do the same thing,
otherwise you wouldn't be in business."
Israel’s Mossad intelligence service is famous as a school
for spies. Now the Israeli army’s computer corps, called Mamram,
is gaining renown as a training ground for successful entrepreneurs.
Last August, two Mamram veterans, Ori and Israel Mazin, sold Memco
Software Ltd. to Platinum Technology, based in Oakbrook Terrace,
Ill., for $550 million. Another former member of the elite unit, Gil
Shwed, started Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. after he left
the military in 1992, and it is now worth about $1.8 billion. In a
country where all 18-year-olds are drafted for a minimum two years of
military service, the computer corps skims only the cream, rejecting
9 out of 10 applicants. Once in, recruits train for six months and
must commit themselves to a six-year tour of duty. And while computer
specialists are not run ragged on 50-mile forced marches, they endure
16-hour days and a failure rate that runs as high as 50 percent.
Instead of the M-16 assault rifles carried by combat soldiers,
rookies at the military’s programming school in Ramat Gan, a
suburb of Tel Aviv, are taught to cherish their laptop and hand-held
computers. Those who survive the training at Ramat Gan spend time
developing programs for everything from how to feed 10,000 soldiers
efficiently to software that encodes communications for air strikes
against Islamic militant guerrilla bases in Lebanon. Company
recruiters are also aggressively trying to hire army programmers
because they manage projects using advanced technology that their
age-group peers cannot get near in civilian industry. Compared with
university graduates who bring only a diploma to the job market,
military programmers leave with job experience, even if most of it is
top secret. Israel has the largest number of technology start-ups
outside the United States. Israel’s emerging- technology
companies have attracted venture capital from investors like the
Microsoft Corporation and the 3Com Corporation. Ehud Tennenbaum,
indicted in Israel in February for his role in the penetration of
computer systems at the Pentagon, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a
computer corps reject and wound up in a desk job with the Israelis.
military police. His trial is expected later this year.
FBI Discipline
FBI DISCIPLINE
The FBI reported an increase in the number of its agents
and other employees disciplined for misconduct last year, but said
“it is premature to describe the increase as a trend. An
internal FBI report showed that 301 of the agency’s employees
were disciplined in fiscal year 1998, compared with 212 employees the
previous year. The report by the bureau’s Office of Professional
Responsibility (OPR) attributed the increase in part to swifter
completion of more internal investigations due to additional
resources. FBI Director Louis Freeh has more than doubled the OPR
staff since 1997. The agency also pointed out that the 301 people
disciplined, including 140 agents, represent only a small fraction of
the FBI’s 28,000 employees. Allegations of wrongdoing cited in
the report ranged from serious criminal actions to overstating hours
worked.Warning against domestic violence Thirty-two employees were
fired for misconduct in 1998, up from 19 the year before. Others were
disciplined through demotions, suspensions without pay, probation,
censure, or reprimands, according to the report. The largest number
of disciplinary actions (48) resulted from cases of unprofessional
conduct.
The FBI reported an increase in the number of its agents and
other employees disciplined for misconduct last year, but said "it is
premature to describe the increase as a trend. An internal FBI report
showed that 301 of the agency's employees were disciplined in fiscal
year 1998, compared with 212 employees the previous year. The report
by the bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
attributed the increase in part to swifter completion of more
internal investigations due to additional resources. FBI Director
Louis Freeh has more than doubled the OPR staff since 1997. The
agency also pointed out that the 301 people disciplined, including
140 agents, represent only a small fraction of the FBI's 28,000
employees. Allegations of wrongdoing cited in the report ranged from
serious criminal actions to overstating hours worked.Warning against
domestic violence Thirty-two employees were fired for misconduct in
1998, up from 19 the year before. Others were disciplined through
demotions, suspensions without pay, probation, censure, or
reprimands, according to the report. The largest number of
disciplinary actions (48) resulted from cases of unprofessional
conduct.
Did You Know?
DID YOU KNOW?
Off the Internet
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them
to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It’s where
we get the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s.” Many
years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the
rim or handle of their ceramic mugs. When they needed a refill, they
used the whistle to get some service. “Wet your whistle,”
is the phrase inspired by this practice. In Shakespeare’s time,
mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes-when you pulled on the
ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on.
That’s where the phrase, “good night, sleep tight”
came from. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without
repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
The term “the whole 9 yards” came from WWII fighter
pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the
.50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before
being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at
a target, it got “the whole 9 yards.” The phrase “rule
of thumb” is derived from an old English law which stated that
you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the
“General Purpose” vehicle, or “G.P.” The cruise
liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of
diesel that it burns. No NFL team which plays its home games in a
domed stadium has ever won a Super Bowl. Only one person in two
billion will live to be 116 or older. In Cleveland, Ohio, it’s
illegal to catch mice without a hunting license. It takes 3,000 cows
to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year’s supply of
footballs. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for
dating are already married.
There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald’s Big
Mac bun.
The world’s termites outweigh the world’s humans 10 to
1.
The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola,
and Budweiser, in that order.
When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25
miles per year.
Ten percent of the Russian government’s income comes from
the sale of vodka.
On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every
year.
In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the
world’s nuclear weapons combined.
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy to help catch ‘Most
Wanted’
Neal Schiff
The FBI and comic strip detective Dick Tracy are joining forces
to track down the nation's most dangerous criminals. The bureau says
over the next few months the Sunday edition of the comic strip will
feature an artist's drawing of a suspect on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted
Fugitives" list, with a short description of who the person is and
why he is being sought. The new feature begins this Sunday. An FBI
statement said that the strip "will further inform millions of
Americans that these individuals are wanted and may provide the
important lead that results in a successful apprehension." Tracy --
perhaps the country's most famous fictional law enforcement officer
and the subject of a Warren Beatty movie in 1990 -- first appeared as
a strip in the New York Daily News in 1931, a creation of cartoonist
Chester Gould. Gould retired in 1977 and died in 1985. The strip is
now written by journalist and crime novelist Michael Killian and
drawn by cartoonist Dick Locher. Dick Tracy is distributed by Tribune
Media Services Inc. of Chicago
New FBI Spy Unit
New FBI Spy Unit
New FBI Spy Unit Gets Reno's Approval Attorney General Janet Reno
has approved a plan to create a separate FBI division for
counterintelligence in response to allegations that Chinese spies
stole nuclear secrets from U.S. national laboratories, a senior
Justice Department official said yesterday. Officials at the FBI, CIA
and Department of Defense have been discussing a possible
reorganization of counterintelligence operations for months. But in
the wake of a scathing congressional report on Chinese espionage,
Reno "has signed off" on the proposal and forwarded it to the White
House, the senior official said. Primary responsibility for
counterespionage operations belongs to the National Security Division
of the FBI. But that division also has other duties, including
combating international terrorism. The proposed restructuring, first
reported in today's edition of the New York Times, would create a
separate division whose sole purpose would be to root out spies and
protect America's [spacer]vital secrets.
The Tucson Chapter Calendar
TUCSON CHAPTER CALENDAR
Jun-Aug 1999 Summer Break
September 1, 1999 Dues - Donations
September 13, 1999 Lunch Meeting - Home Town Buffet ELECTIONS
October 4, 1999 Lunch Meeting - Home Town Buffet (Possible
Dinner-Tanque Verde Ranch)
Oct 20 - 24, 1999 NATIONAL CONVENTION - Innisbrook Tarpon Springs,
FL.
Dec 4, 1999 Possible Joint Christmas Dinner Old Tucson
The Tucson Credentials