Spycraft - Melton [271]
Lemon squeezer— OTS slang for a specialist in secret writing. The term is derived from one of the oldest forms of secret writing that used lemon juice, which disappears on paper when dry and then reemerges when exposed to heat.
Listening post— A secure site at which signals from an audio operation are monitored and/or recorded. The individual charged with maintaining the site is called a keeper.
Lubyanka— KGB Second Chief Directorate Headquarters, located in the center of Moscow during the Cold War.
Main enemy— Soviet designation of the United States during the Cold War.
MI5—The British intelligence service responsible for internal security. It is comparable in some ways to the FBI, but its officers do not have the power to make an arrest.
MI6—The British foreign intelligence service also known as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). It is similar to the CIA.
Maryland Research Laboratory (MRL)— A wartime research laboratory run by Division 19 of the National Development and Research Committee and located on the grounds on the Congressional Country Club just outside of Washington, D.C.
Mic and wire—Tech slang for an audio operation that uses hardwiring rather than radio-frequency transmission to carry the signal from the microphone to the listening post.
Microdot— An optical reduction of a photographic negative to a size that is illegible without magnification, usually 1mm or smaller in area.
Moscow rules—The distilled wisdom for conducting clandestine operations in Moscow during the Cold War.
National Development and Research Committee (NDRC)— a civilian agency created to explore new weapons for what seemed to be America’s inevitable entry into World War II.
NIACT (night action)— An indicator used in CIA messages or cables requiring an immediate response regardless of the time of receipt.
NKVD (Narodnyy Komisariat Vnutrennikh Del or The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs)—Forerunner of the KGB from 1934 until 1946.
Non-official cover— A CIA officer operating under a cover that has no connection to the United States government.
One-time pad (OTP)— Groups of random numbers or letters arranged in columns, used for encoding and decoding messages. Since the codes are used only once, a properly employed OTP is theoretically unbreakable.
One-way voice-link (OWVL)— A broadcast over a shortwave radio frequency containing a ciphered message to an agent.
OPC (Office of Policy Coordination)—CIA element responsible for covert action until 1952. See OSO.
Open source— Any publicly available information.
OSO (Office of Special Operations)—CIA element responsible for clandestine collection of intelligence. OSO combined with the Office of Policy Coordination in August 1952 to form the Directorate of Plans.
OSS (Office of Strategic Services)— America’s World War II intelligence organization.
OTS (Office of Technical Service)—The office in the DS&T that provides technical support to clandestine operations.
Overhead platform— Satellite or airplane capable of gathering intelligence through either interception of electronic signals or photography.
Paper mill—A counterfeiting operation specializing in creating realistic-appearing “intelligence documents” in post-World War II Europe. Paper mills were responsible for the dissemination of countless false or misleading pieces of intelligence.
Persona non grata— Latin for “unwelcome person.” Intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover who were caught in the act of espionage were declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country.
Pocket litter— Commonly carried items, such as credit cards, driver’s licenses, receipts, and matchbooks that contribute to establishing a cover or legend.
Recruitment—The process of enlisting a potential agent to spy.
Rezidentura—The Russian intelligence station inside a foreign mission.
Roll-up—The capture of an agent or intelligence officer that shuts