Cold War US Army Intelligence Analyst (127)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 863 Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2020

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bill was a US Army Intelligence Analyst. In 1986 he was assigned to Order of Battle Branch, Soviet Section where for three years he studied the Warsaw Pact armies working closely with the US Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) in Berlin which led to a transfer there in November 1989 Stationed in Potsdam he became an Order of Battle Analyst and participated in a handful of collection tours with the USMLM as the “back seater”. He tells of the little know history of USMLM during this period and the continued monitoring of Soviet Forces in Germany post the opening of the Berlin Wall and even post reunification to the Soviet’s eventual withdrawal in 1994. If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written review in Apple podcasts or share us on social media. By telling your friends you can really help the podcast grow. If you can spare it I’m asking listeners to contribute at least $3 USD per month to help keep us on the air (larger amounts are welcome too) plus you can get a sought after CWC coaster as a monthly financial supporter of the podcast and you bask in the warm glow of knowing you helping preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Back to today’s episode, we welcome Bill to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode in our show notes, which can also be found as a link in your podcast app. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode127/ If you like what you are hearing, please leave reviews in Apple podcasts and share us on social media. If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated – goodbye. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction and guest background 0:50 Bill's role as a US Army intelligence analyst 2:27 Importance of financial support for the podcast 6:24 Tracking Soviet units and military liaison missions 16:04 The fall of the Berlin Wall and its impact on intelligence operations 22:13 Observing a Soviet installation firsthand and interacting with East German civilians 31:01 The end of three-power control of Berlin and the deactivation of USMLM 35:24 German intelligence services, BND, and their collaboration with USMLM 38:25 Formation of the Combined Analysis Detachment Berlin (CAD B) and surveillance operations 56:36 Handling of Russian nuclear weapons storage facilities and shift to human intelligence 1:06:30 Episode closing remarks Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.9	And we got to get inside of a T80 tank, and the Russians were very friendly, and they say, hey, let's go for a ride.
0:12.4	And so I had my camera going the whole time, so I got the acoustic signal of the tank.
0:18.9	And it was just a fun time. They knew we were Americans, obviously,
0:22.0	so they wanted to show off their vehicles.
0:26.6	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:30.1	If you're new here, you've come to the right place
0:32.7	to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:36.5	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app
0:39.1	or join our emailing list at cold warconversations.com.
0:45.3	Bill was a US Army intelligence analyst.
0:49.4	In 1986, he was assigned to the Order of Battle Branch Soviet section,
0:54.8	where for three years he studied the Warsaw Pact armies,
0:58.3	working closely with the US military liaison mission in Berlin,
1:02.5	which led to a transfer there in November 1989.
1:06.6	Stationed in Potsdam, he became an Order of Battle analyst
1:10.4	and participated in a handful of collection tours
1:13.3	with the US military liaison mission as a backseater.
1:17.4	He tells of the little-known history of US MLM during this period
1:21.6	and the continued monitoring of Soviet forces in Germany
1:25.2	post the opening of the Berlin Wall, and even post reunification
1:29.0	to the Soviets' eventual withdrawal in 1994.
	...

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