Greetings, Patriots! Today we’re going to start a series on spycraft. To be specific Allen Dulles‘ 73 Rules of Spycraft. Let me be completely frank here: I am in no way an expert on this subject. I’m just an interested layman. However, I believe there is a lot that we as patriots, III%-ers, and preppers can take away from these rules, if we just adjust them for our situation. Let’s look at the first eleven rules.
1. There are many virtues to be striven after in the job. The greatest of them all is security. All else must be subordinated to that.
I think that up front, it’s best to acknowledge that security is hard. It’s inconvenient, and it doesn’t often make you friends. I know that I make compromises with my security regularly to fit in with normal society and for familial peace. However, being aware of the principles will help you make adjustments where you can and be wise about where you compromise.
2. Security consists not only in avoiding big risks. It consists in carrying out daily tasks with painstaking remembrance of the tiny things that security demands. The little things are in many ways more important than the big ones. It is they which oftenest give the game away. It is consistent care in them, which form the habit and characteristic of security mindedness.
In our circumstance it’s important to turn our minds more toward security. Think about who you’re talking to, what’s around you. Take time to consider your passwords (we’ll discuss password selection in another article). Shred your documents and use good litter discipline.
3. In any case, the man or woman who does not indulge in the daily security routine, boring and useless though it may sometimes appear, will be found lacking in the proper instinctive reaction when dealing with the bigger stuff.
In other words, you’ll perform just like you trained. Consider the day-to-day security practice to be your training for when things get bad.
4. No matter how brilliantly given an individual, no matter how great his goodwill, if he is lacking in security, he will eventually prove more of a liability than asset.
You can be the greatest comms guy, the greatest shot, or the greatest whiz in the kitchen, but if you’re not secure, the enemy will figure out a way to get to you. If they can get to you they can get to your family, your friends, and your team.
5. Even though you feel the curious outsider has probably a good idea that you are not what you purport to be, never admit it. Keep on playing the other part. It’s amazing how often people will be led to think they were mistaken. Or at least that you are out ‘in the other stuff’ only in a very mild way. And anyhow, a person is quite free to think what he likes. The important thing is that neither by admission or implication do you let him know.
This can be a tricky one for us as we attempt to network and familiarize ourselves with others of like mind. I feel that, while caution is warranted, the hard line stance offered by Dulles would be more appropriately used in the circumstance of dealing with potential informants and/or individuals attempting to entrap.
6. Security, of course, does not mean stagnation or being afraid to go after things. It means going after things, but reducing all the risks to a minimum by hard work.
Don’t be so paranoid that you’re paralyzed and cannot enjoy life.
7. Do not overwork your cover to the detriment of your jobs; we must never get so engrossed in the latter as to forget the former.
This I believe is exactly flipped for us. Our cover, our outside persona, is the one who goes to work every day, punches the clock, comes home, and spends time with their family. That’s what it’s about for us, that’s why we do what we do. I believe we must be careful to balance our patriot activities with “real life”.
8. Never leave things lying about unattended or lay them down where you are liable to forget them. Learn to write lightly; the “blank” page underneath has often been read. Be wary of your piece of blotting paper. If you have to destroy a document do so thoroughly. Carry as little written matter as possible, and for the shortest possible time. Never carry names or addresses en clair. If you cannot carry them for the time being in your head, put them in a species of personal code, which only you understand. Small papers and envelopes or cards and photographs, ought to be clipped on the latter, otherwise they are liable to get lost. But when you have conducted an interview or made arrangements for a meeting, write it all down and put it safely away for reference. Your memory can play tricks.
Obviously dated, this passage does illustrate the danger we have with our electronics lifestyle today. I’m guilty of this, too – I have to fight the urge to save every photo, every email, every text in case I need it some day. For most of us, much of our data lives in multiple places. Those documents could very well be used to hang you or your team if they fall into opposing hands.
9. The greatest vice in the game is that of carelessness. Mistakes made generally cannot be rectified.
Dulles repeats himself often, in different ways. Carelessness gets people dead or makes them ineffective. Don’t be careless.
10. The next greatest vice is that of vanity. Its offshoots are multiple and malignant.
How many militias and other organizations have been destroyed or rendered ineffective by one man with a big head at the top? Our individual pride doesn’t matter. The mission matters.
11. Besides, the man with the swelled head never learns. And there is a great deal to be learned.
That’s why we’re here. There is so much to be learned, and the day will come that patriots will need to unite and bring our knowledge together to complete the mission. You don’t need to be a security guru, but you do need to know enough to not be a threat to your team.
We’re still taken aback by the response to the Sparks31 Communicator Course. If you want to get in, 100% of your class fee (less processing if you pay by credit card) will go to James Faire. November 14th is approaching quickly, so make sure you don’t miss this rare opportunity.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for being a part of the TOWR community.
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