Life of a Double Agent

By Kenneth J. Kerr

Jim Hunt grew up in a small town near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He was always tall for his age. He played basketball and baseball in high school, and was a good student. He entered the University of Delaware and studied Chemical Engineering. During his junior year in college, the CIA recruited him to monitor the radical groups on campus that were a growing concern in the U.S. government during the 1960s.

After graduation from college, Jim entered the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant and attended officers training in the Chemical Corps. He was assigned to Ft. Lewis, Washington and was immediately transferred to the Corps of Engineers, which was staffing several units for deployment to Vietnam. While at Ft. Lewis, Jim was recruited by a Chinese intelligence agency, with the full knowledge and support of the CIA. Thus began his life as a double agent.

In Vietnam, Jim Hunt uncovered an operation by the North Vietnamese to assassinate Bob Hope, and participated in the take down of the assassin.

After the Army, Jim joined The Dow Chemical Company, but maintained his relationships with the Chinese intelligence agency and the CIA. He helped uncover a network of Chinese spies, working out of the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. that were receiving information from dozens of U.S. contacts in industry and academia.

His career at Dow Chemical eventually took him to Hong Kong where he and his family lived for almost a decade.

He became involved in an operation where the Chinese were buying top-secret computer software from a senior official at the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

While in Hong Kong, he recruited his Chinese handler with the Ministry of State Security (MSS) to work for the CIA.

After a successful career with Dow Chemical, he retired and joined a smaller company in San Diego named Renewable Power Company. They were involved in the alternative energy business and were actively developing power plant projects in several Asian countries.

While working on a project in the Philippines, two of Renewable Powers employees were kidnapped on the island of Mindanao by the MILF, a Muslim terrorist group. Jim Hunt had to use all his skill and resources to gain the freedom of his fellow employees.

His final operation before retiring was to recruit a senior official of Chinas MSS to work for the CIA.

After retirement from the CIA, the Chinese MSS, and Renewable Power Company, Jim Hunt and his wife moved to Hilton Head Island, SC for a restful retirement. Jim missed the action and decided to join the Peace Corps. He was assigned to Russia, and after a ten-week training program in Moscow, moved to Krasnoyarsk, Russia for a two-year assignment teaching business courses at a university in the middle of Siberia. When the CIA learned of his assignment, they brought him back for one more mission, to penetrate the Russian secret city, K-26, located several miles outside Krasnoyarsk, where the Russians operated nuclear reactors to produce weapons grade plutonium.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483601700

Kenneth J. Kerr

Mr. Kerr is retired after a successful business career, which included extensive international travel, and living overseas in Hong Kong and Japan for almost a decade. He now lives on Hilton Head Island, SC with his wife, Kryl, and their yellow lab, Etta. They spend the summers at their cottage on Lake Charlevoix, Michigan. Their daughter, Kathryn, lives and works in Washington D.C.

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Copyright © 2013 by Kenneth J. Kerr.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013905320

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4836-0169-4

             Softcover      978-1-4836-0168-7

             Ebook           978-1-4836-0170-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 3/25/2013

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

BOOK 1    U.S. ARMY

1   RECRUITMENT

2   IN THE ARMY NOW

3   SECOND RECRUITMENT

4   OFF TO VIETNAM

5   VUNG TAU

6   R & R IN THAILAND

7   VUNG TAU AGAIN

8   BLACKHORSE BASE CAMP

9   TET OFFENSIVE

10   GOING HOME

BOOK 2    THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY

11   CIA VERSUS DOW CHEMICAL

12   INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE

13   HONG KONG

BOOK 3    RENEWABLE POWER COMPANY

14   THE BIRTH OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

15   JOINING RENEWABLE POWER COMPANY

16   RECRUITING TOM LEUNG

17   DOING RENEWABLE POWER BUSINESS

18   THE MINDANAO PROJECT

19   THE MINDANAO CRISIS

20   DAVAO CITY

21   THE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN

22   THE RESCUE

23   RECRUITING YU LIJUN

24   MORE RENEWABLE POWER BUSINESS

BOOK 4    PEACE CORPS – RUSSIA

25   JOINING THE PEACE CORPS

26   KRASNOYARSK, RUSSIA

27   IRKUTSK/LAKE BAIKAL

28   THE SVETLANA PLAN

CHARACTERS

Dedicated to Kryl and Kathryn

INTRODUCTION

My name is Jim Hunt. I am seventy years old and have decided it is time to share my story of living a double life, or what was actually a triple life. I was an ordinary man who went to college, joined the army, served in Vietnam, and spent over thirty years as a successful businessman working for the Dow Chemical Company and another smaller company after my retirement from Dow. I am married, have one daughter, and lived a happy life as a normal, hardworking citizen of the United States, the greatest country in the world. Little did my friends know that my life was anything but normal for over forty years.

In addition to my business career, I was a double agent, working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Chinese intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS). How did I lead this double life? That is my story that will be shared, now that I am completely retired, and more than a decade has passed since my last mission.

BOOK 1

U.S. ARMY

1   RECRUITMENT

It all started when Jim Hunt attended the University of Delaware studying to become a chemical engineer. In the 1960s, all land-grant colleges required all male students to take two years of ROTC training. After those required two years of classes and training exercises, the men were offered the opportunity to take two more years of ROTC, and if they completed the training successfully, they had a two-year obligation to serve in the U.S. Army as an officer.

The U.S. military was going through a transition from a selective service draft system to a draft system based on a lottery. With the Vietnam War under way, coming out of college, men were faced with the prospect of being drafted into military service depending on their lottery number. Jim Hunt, like all the men in college at the time, had to choose between the alternative of possibly being drafted into the army as an enlisted person, a private, and going the four-year ROTC route offered at the University of Delaware and serving in the army as an officer. He had a fairly low-draft lottery number, which meant he was very likely to be called into service after graduation. After a great deal of thought, discussion with his friends and family, he decided to take the uncertainty out of the decision and proceed with the four-year ROTC program.

One day during his junior year of college, Jim Hunt got a call from Captain Riley who was one of the instructors in the ROTC program. Captain Riley said they needed to have a meeting, so they scheduled a meeting at the Deer Park Inn, a favorite watering hole just off campus. Little did Jim Hunt know, what was about to occur.

Captain Riley was very pleasant when he greeted Jim, which was quite unusual, compared to his gruff, no-nonsense style when he was performing his instructional duties as part of the ROTC staff. After spending a few minutes on small talk with Jim, he dropped the bomb. Captain Riley said, Jim, we are very pleased with your progress in the ROTC program, and we think you have a great future. You have been identified as a candidate to join the CIA. We would like to schedule some interviews for you with several CIA officials to explore this opportunity further. There is no commitment from the CIA at this time, but if you successfully complete the interviews and a battery of psychological tests and a polygraph test, you will be offered a position with the CIA. You will be expected to complete your university education and join the army for two years as scheduled. While at the university and while you are on active duty in the army you will, at times, be asked to do certain projects for the CIA, and after you complete your two-year army commitment, the CIA will discuss with you a full-time career with the CIA, or the possibility of working in the private sector and continuing to do projects for the CIA. Obviously, all of this is confidential. You cannot discuss our conversation with anyone else at this time. If you accept the opportunity to work for the CIA, you will have to sign a secrecy agreement that will outline the secrecy requirements of the job.

Jim was having difficulty breathing. Where had this come from? Why him? What kinds of projects would he be asked to do while he was still a student? What was really going on? He asked Captain Riley some of these questions, but it was obvious that no more details would be forthcoming. Either Captain Riley didn’t have the answers to his questions, or he had been instructed to make the offer, get a commitment from Jim to meet with the CIA for interviews, and have the opportunity to get all his questions answered at that time. Jim thought, what could it hurt to go through the interviews and find out more about what the CIA had in mind for him. He agreed. Captain Riley thanked him and said he would be back in touch to schedule a time and place for the interviews.

A week later, Jim got a call from Captain Riley and was told a schedule had been arranged for a day of meetings in Washington, D.C., during the upcoming Christmas break. The captain gave Jim the address of a building in D.C., the name of the person he was to see when he arrived, and a phone number to call if he needed to change the appointment date.

Jim Hunt drove to Washington, D.C., during his Christmas break; managed to find the obscure building, not the CIA headquarters in Langley; and spent the day interviewing for a job with the CIA. After several one-on-one interviews in the morning, the afternoon was used for the psychological testing. At the end of the day, one of the morning interviewers, Ben Stokes, met with him again and advised him the morning had gone very well, and all the interviewers were very impressed. Ben explained the next steps would be to review the results of the psychological testing, a physical exam, a background check including brief interviews with Jim’s references, and finally a lie detector test. Ben informed Jim they would not proceed with those next steps without an indication from Jim that he was interested in proceeding. Jim told Ben he would like some time to digest the information he had learned during the interviews, and he would give Ben his answer in a few days.

What Jim had learned during the interviews was still pretty general. Basically, during the remaining year and a half of college he could expect to be asked to do observation or surveillance at some events on campus or possibly on other campuses in the area. And during his time in the army, depending on his location, he could also expect some assignments to do surveillance or collect information on various activities.

Jim Hunt spent a couple of days digesting all he had learned during the interviews and decided he was interested. He contacted Ben and told him to proceed. In late February, Jim got a call from Ben and was told everything looked good, and now they needed to schedule the lie detector test. Arrangements were made for Jim to drive to Washington, D.C., for the test during a weekend so he would not miss any classes.

In March of Jim Hunt’s junior year of college, he became a part-time employee of the CIA, with his boss or handler, being Ben Stokes.

The projects Jim Hunt was asked to do during his college days focused on monitoring unusual activities on the college campus. Antiwar activities were springing up around the country as well as other radical group activities.

Ben Stokes sent Jim Hunt a couple of tickets to a Joan Baez and Bob Dylan concert in Philadelphia and asked him to enjoy the concert but keep his eyes and ears open and report back all observations. It was a fantastic concert with generally a very mellow audience. This was Jim’s first experience with marijuana. He didn’t smoke it, but a large cloud hung over the audience from all the people who were smoking it. It was impossible not to feel the effects.

Jim also went to see Peter, Paul and Mary when they gave a concert at the University of Delaware campus. And later the Smothers Brothers gave a concert on campus. Both concerts had an antiwar focus, but there was little significant for Jim to report to his boss.

The CIA was actively monitoring activities of the various radical left organizations that were growing on college campuses around the country. They were particularly interested in foreign involvement in organizations like Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weathermen or Weather Underground Organization.

Luckily for Jim Hunt, these organizations had not gained a foothold at the University of Delaware while he was a student. There were some small, local groups that were involved in the civil rights movement and groups focused on protesting the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Jim Hunt monitored their activities and reported what he learned. The CIA didn’t ask him to do any more.

2   IN THE ARMY NOW

After graduating from the University of Delaware with a bachelor in chemical engineering, Jim Hunt had three months before his military service began. Ben Stokes arranged for Jim to spend two of those months in the Washington, D.C. area and Virginia to go through orientation and training with the CIA.

In September, Jim Hunt drove his Ford Mustang, which his parents had given him for graduation, to Fort McClellan, Alabama, the headquarters for the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, where he would spend the next three months in Chemical Officers Training.

There were twenty-five college graduates who had gone through ROTC, just like Jim Hunt, who would go through the Chemical Officers Training together. They all lived together in the same barracks, all in one very large room. Most of the training was generic to all branches of the army, like physical training, basic small arms training, introduction to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, map reading, leadership training, etc. However, some of the training was more specific to the Chemical Corps. For example, everyone learned how to operate a flamethrower and even got to fire/shoot one under close supervision.

The most interesting special training for Chemical Corps officers was the program on chemical weapons, specifically gas warfare. The group learned about the army’s riot control agent, tear gas, known in the army as CS. The class included lectures on the evolution of the gas masks used by the army, and everyone received their own gas mask for use in the field exercise, where they all put on their gas mask, and entered a large building that had been filled with tear gas (CS). After entering the building and standing around, while wearing their gas masks, they were then told to take off their gas mask and remain standing until directed to leave the building. It seemed like several minutes standing without their gas masks, but in reality it was probably around one minute. Not a lot of fun during a hot day in Alabama. Everyone learned that tear gas is very irritating, but no one had any long-term negative effects from the exercise.

Next came the introduction to mustard gas, which had been used by the Germans during World War II. Everyone was administered a little drop of the gas, which is actually a liquid at room temperature, on their wrist, and watched it turn into a blister. It was painful, but not life threatening, at least in such a small amount. The blister remained for several days but eventually healed itself with no lingering scar.

The final lectures were on nerve gases. This was the serious stuff, which was deadly. There were two general categories: G agents like sarin (GS) and V agents like VX. Luckily, the lecture did not include any exposure to nerve agents, but it included an exercise on what to do in the event you, as a soldier, believed you had been exposed to nerve gas on the battlefield. In the event of a real possibility of exposure to nerve gas on the battlefield, first, all soldiers would be issued gas masks. Second, they would also be issued a packet of three needles, to be used in the event of exposure to nerve gas. These needles were about the size of a ball-point pen. The needles were spring-loaded so the technique was to firmly hold the devise in your hand and strike yourself with the needle end on the thigh muscle of your leg. The needle would automatically extend from the end of the cartridge and automatically inject atropine into your body. The only caution was to be sure to hit your thigh with the end, which contained the needle. Secondly, do not put your thumb over the other end of the cartridge, just in case you have gotten confused and put the needle end pointing up instead of pointing down. Even with thorough instructions and supervision, two people in the class managed to inject their thumb with the atropine. It was very painful for those who injected their thumb, but more embarrassing than anything else. During a real exposure to nerve gas, the protocol required all three devices to be injected into the leg, as quickly as possible. For training purposes, Jim Hunt and the others only had to inject one device. Atropine is a common chemical used in many over-the-counter antihistamine drugs. Its main effect on the human body is to dry up the body’s mucus membranes. After the exercise, everyone had dry mouths, and they were unusually thirsty the rest of the day.

Near the end of Jim’s three months at Fort McClellan, everyone learned his duty assignment upon graduation from the training program. Jim Hunt was going to Fort Lewis, Washington, to join the 388th Chemical Company, a smoke-generating company with the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.

After the graduation ceremony from the Chemical Officers Training Program, Jim Hunt loaded his Mustang with all his belongings and drove across the country from Alabama to the state of Washington. Fort Lewis was just south of Tacoma, Washington. When Jim drove on base it was raining lightly, and Jim would learn that light rain was the norm for that time of year. He was quite nervous about the future, and very unsure what it would be like working in a smoke-generating company.

After getting directions at the main gate, he drove to the building on base where he had been directed to report for duty. He walked into the building and found a sergeant sitting behind a desk. He approached the sergeant and explained he was Lieutenant Hunt, and he needed to talk to someone about reporting for duty. The sergeant looked at his orders, which Jim had been holding in his hand, and told Lieutenant Hunt to see Capt. Jones in room 105, down the hall behind him.

Showing no nervousness, but feeling it inside, Jim Hunt walked to room 105, knocked on the door, and entered the room. He saw Captain Jones sitting behind a desk, saluted, and said, Lieutenant Hunt reporting for duty, sir. Captain Jones smiled, stood, and shook hands with Lieutenant Jim Hunt and said, Welcome.

Then Captain Jones explained their dilemma. Captain Jones was the company commander (CO) of the 388th Chemical Company (smoke generating). He told Jim that they were the only two people currently assigned to the 388th Chemical Company. The 4th Infantry Division had just shipped out to Vietnam, but the 388th, which was a part of the 4th Infantry Division, was not deployed to Vietnam. Smoke-generating companies were used during World War I and World War II, but they had become an obsolete technology in today’s warfare. The company was still officially at Fort Lewis but all the personnel had been stripped and reassigned to other units. Captain Jones further explained that he was awaiting reassignment orders, and he would start the process of getting Lieutenant Hunt reassigned. Captain Jones gave Lieutenant Hunt an office next door to his, and said he could use the office as a place to hang out until reassignment orders came through.

Lieutenant Hunt asked Captain Jones, How long do you think it will take for new orders to come through?

Capt. Jones said, I’ve been waiting for four weeks, and have no idea when my orders will arrive, but hopefully it will be soon. It could take a week or several weeks for your orders to arrive. My suggestion is to just get comfortable in the BOQ (Bachelor Officers Quarters) until you know your new assignment and whether it is at Fort Lewis or somewhere else.

Lieutenant Hunt moved into the BOQ and pondered his future. He decided to call Ben Stokes just to let him know his status. When Ben answered the phone he laughed and said, I hoped you would call. We heard about your situation a few days ago, and we are already looking at what we can do to find a good assignment for you at Fort Lewis.

Lieutenants Hunt asked, What influence does the CIA have with assignments of second lieutenants in the U.S. Army?

Ben laughed again, and said, You would be surprised.

3   SECOND RECRUITMENT

Jim Hunt decided he would spend the next few days, or possibly weeks, getting oriented to his new environment. He needed to find a bank, a laundry/dry cleaners, a place to buy groceries, both on and off the base, a place to get a haircut, the post office, and a place to get his Mustang serviced. He bought the local newspaper and found some pamphlets advertising restaurants and bars in the local area.

The BOQ was like a motel, with a hallway running down the center of the building. There were private rooms on both sides of the hallway. It was a two-story building, and Jim’s room was on the ground floor. Located halfway down the hallway, on the ground floor, was a common room with a TV, desks, and several overstuffed chairs and sofas. The BOQ seemed almost empty most of the time. Jim concluded that most officers probably lived off base. The BOQ was primarily used for short-term stays, until officers could find another place to live. Also, because the 4th Infantry Division had recently left Fort Lewis for Vietnam, the number of soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis had recently dropped by more than fifteen thousand.

On the third night in the BOQ, Jim was sitting alone in the common room half watching TV and half reading a magazine. To his surprise a young lady walked into the common room and said, Hi, are you all alone? Jim was a little shocked because he thought the BOQ was off-limits to women, but obviously this didn’t seem to bother the one who had just arrived.

Jim responded to her, Yes, I am the only one here at the moment. Actually there haven’t been many people around since I moved in.

The woman said, Welcome to Fort Lewis, I am Suzy Lee. I work on the base as a civilian employee, in the housing office. Thought I would stop by to see how you are settling in.

Jim saw an attractive, young woman, probably in her early twenties, possibly of Asian descent, and very outgoing and friendly. Suzy sat down in the stuffed chair next to Jim and proceeded to grill him all about himself but in a very pleasant style. Jim asked her questions in return, but she seemed to ask him four or five questions for every one he asked her. Finally Suzy said, Jim, I think you need someone to show you around a little bit. How about we meet tomorrow after work and go to the Fort McChord Officers Club for drinks and some dinner? They have a really great buffet dinner tomorrow night.

Fort McChord was the Air Force base just a few miles north of Fort Lewis. Jim had not been there yet, but he had heard of it.

Jim couldn’t remember the last time he had been asked out on a date. He was usually the asker not the askee, but he said, Sure, I would like that. What time and where should we meet?

Suzy answered, How about six o’clock? I will come by the BOQ and meet you here. I can leave my car here, and that way I can be your navigator and get you back here without you getting lost.

Jim said, Great! As they both stood, he said, See you tomorrow around six.

Interestingly, Jim had a little twinge of uneasiness as Suzy left. She was attractive and very pleasant, but something about her forwardness sent up a little red flag for Jim. But he did need to learn his way around the area and start meeting some other people, and hopefully Suzy would be a good person to help Jim settle in to life at Fort Lewis.

Six o’clock the next night Suzy walked into the BOQ, and Jim Hunt was waiting for her in the common area, where they had met the previous night. Suzy was even more attractive than she was the previous night. Jim wondered if she had come directly from work, and how she had managed to change into her dress that didn’t seem appropriate as a work dress on a military base. Jim thought to himself, What do I know about this kind of thing? Maybe she lived close to the base and had time to drive home, change, and drive back here to the BOQ.

Jim drove his Mustang, and Suzy gave the directions, step by step, until they arrived at the Fort McChord Officer’s Club. It was a large stone building, very impressive as they drove up to the entrance. Suzy and Jim had a couple of drinks in the bar and then moved to the dining room where a large buffet dinner was set out. This was the best food Jim had eaten in about four months. Certainly nothing this good was available at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and Jim had not been to a really nice restaurant since he arrived at Fort Lewis.

Suzy and Jim got more acquainted over drinks and dinner, and both seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Jim drove back to Fort Lewis and found his way to his BOQ. Suzy complimented him on being able to find his own way back from Fort McChord. Then she asked if she could come in with him. Jim said, Sure, because he had been wondering how to proceed when they got back to the BOQ. Maybe a nice kiss good night at her car, or maybe ask her out again and then a good-night kiss. But she had sort of thrown him a curve. They walked into the common room, but Suzy said, Let’s go to your room. So Jim took her hand and walked down the hall to his room. Once inside, Suzy gave Jim a huge kiss and started to undress. The sex that followed was great for Jim, but things were moving too fast. Suzy seemed too much in control, and this was not familiar territory for him. Suddenly, Suzy got out of bed and started to get dressed and said she needed to get home. She wrote her work phone number on a piece of paper and gave it to Jim with another big kiss and said, Call me if you want to get together again, as she opened the door and left. Jim was dumbstruck. What had just happened? Was Suzy just looking for a fun time and uninhibited sex? Was she trying to find a husband and going about it urgently? Or was something else going on? Jim needed some time to think about all of this. But it had been a very pleasant introduction to the women of Fort Lewis, Washington.

The next day, Jim called Suzy’s number, told Suzy how much he had enjoyed their evening, and asked her if she had any plans for the weekend. Suzy said she had some things she had to do Saturday during the day, but she was available Saturday night. She said she would decide on a restaurant in Tacoma and she would see him at the BOQ at seven o’clock Saturday night.

Saturday night arrived, and Jim and Suzy went to a nice Chinese restaurant in Tacoma. It was a pleasant evening, but Jim was a little concerned about the questions that Suzy asked about his Chemical Corps training and Vietnam. She said she wondered what Jim’s thoughts were about going to Vietnam. She told him she had met quite a few other officers from the 4th Infantry Division who had shared with her some of their concerns about serving in the Vietnam War. Jim told her about some of the training at Fort McClellan but kept it pretty general. Regarding the Vietnam War, Jim’s comments were that he had an obligation to serve in the army for two years, and if that included going to Vietnam, then he thought he could manage that.

The after-dinner festivities were similar to the first date. After Suzy left to go home, Jim admitted to himself that something about this young lady was off. He was not sure what it was, but he was uncomfortable. He decided he needed to talk with someone, and the alternatives were Captain Jones, who he hardly knew, or Ben Stokes at the CIA. Ben had become a friend in the short time Jim had known him, so Jim decided tomorrow he would call Ben to have a personal conversation with him and see what Ben had to say about Jim’s new lady friend.

The next day Jim Hunt called his CIA contact and shared his story about the young lady he had met recently. After listening to Jim’s explanation, Ben’s response was, Jim, as you said, this could just be a very friendly girl who likes to have fun and free sex, or it could be that she wants to hook you into marriage before you get sent to Vietnam. Or it could be something much more significant for both of us. There have been reports of other intelligence agencies working some of our military bases trying to get information and trying to recruit people to supply them information on a regular basis. The Chinese, in particular, have been trying to do this. If I were a betting man, I would bet that your young lady friend is working for a Chinese intelligence agency. If she is, at some point, she will introduce you to one of her friends who she is working for, and he or she will try to see if you are receptive to supplying some fairly innocuous information, and in return they will offer to compensate you for your efforts. It will start small, and then they will ask you for more and more sensitive information. Once you start supplying them info and taking money from them, they have you hooked, and they will threaten to expose you if you try to get out.

Before Jim could ask his question about what he should do, Ben continued, Jim, I think you should let the relationship continue to develop and see where it goes. It will be very helpful to the CIA to have one of our own working for a Chinese intelligence agency. We can see what information they are looking for, and we can filter your delivery of information back to them to be sure we aren’t giving away any critical stuff, but give them enough good info to keep them asking.

Jim admitted he was not completely comfortable with this possible double agent role, but if Ben and his bosses agreed that it was important, then he would let the relationship develop and see where it took him.

Ben agreed to discuss it with his boss, but for now Jim had a green light to proceed, with the understanding that if Suzy or one of Suzy’s friends asked Jim to provide any sensitive information, Jim would stall and review the request with Ben before giving the information to Suzy or her friend.

Jim continued to date Suzy a couple of times a week, and the relationship settled into one that seemed to be a convenience for both of them. Suzy had someone to take her out to dinner at the officer’s clubs and nice restaurants off base. Jim had someone of the opposite sex to talk to, and they both seemed to enjoy the sex.

About three weeks later, Lieutenant Jim Hunt got a call from Captain Jones, who had still not received his reassignment, and was informed he had been assigned as the adjutant for the 79th Engineer Battalion, located at Fort Lewis. Captain Jones was very frustrated that Lieutenant Hunt got his reassignment so quickly, and he jokingly said to Lieutenant Hunt, You must know someone.

Jim Hunt replied, Just lucky, I guess. Hope your orders come through soon. Thanks for all your help. Good luck.

The next day Lieutenant Hunt reported for duty with the 79th Engineer Battalion as their new adjutant. As a new second lieutenant, fresh out of Chemical Officers Training, he knew nothing about the job of adjutant and nothing about the Corps of Engineers. But that’s the army.

Jim Hunt got the address and directions to the 79th Engineer Battalion and drove along the roads on Fort Lewis to his new duty assignment. When he arrived, he noticed that the sun had come out, and the sky was blue for the first time since his arrival at Fort Lewis. Just to the left of the building he was facing, he noticed in the distance a huge mountain sticking up into the air. It looked so big that he felt he could almost touch it, but it was obviously many miles away. This was the first time Jim saw Mount Rainier, with its snow-covered peak. It was an almost perfectly shaped mountain. What a sight. In front of the building on the corner, he saw a sign that said Headquarters, 79th Engineer Battalion. He was home, temporarily. There he met Lieutenant Colonel Bill Henderson, the commanding officer (CO) of the 79th Engineer Battalion.

Colonel Henderson invited Jim into his office. Just outside the CO’s office was an empty desk with a phone on it. Colonel Henderson said, This is the adjutant’s desk, where you will work. They walked into the colonel’s office, which had the colonel’s desk at the far end of the room and a meeting table with eight comfortable chairs around it. They sat at one end of the table and got acquainted. Jim learned some of the duties of an adjutant. Basically, he was in charge of administrative duties for Colonel Henderson, which meant he was the colonel’s gofer. Do whatever the colonel asked him to do.

The colonel explained that the 79th Engineer Battalion had been activated about a month ago, and they were in the process of staffing the organization with personnel and equipment. The battalion was comprised of a headquarters company and A, B, and C companies. The battalion staff included the CO, adjutant (S-1), intelligence officer (S-2), operations officer (S-3), and supply officer (S-4). There were three other engineer battalions currently going through the same process like the 79th, and all were planning to be deployed to Vietnam during the next year. All of the engineer battalions were part of the 34th Engineer Group, also located at Fort Lewis and also planning to deploy to Vietnam during the next twelve months.

The colonel suggested, Jim, one of the first people you should call and arrange to meet is the adjutant of the 34th Engineer Group, a Major Paul Thomas. He will be a big help to you.

Colonel Henderson also explained that there was a training program scheduled in two weeks at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, that he wanted Lieutenant Hunt to attend. He said it was a three-week program, affectionately called the instant engineer program, where the army sent officers who had not been previously trained by the Corps of Engineers. The colonel said he thought it would be very helpful. He again suggested Jim contact Major Thomas at the 34th Engineer Group to introduce himself and to arrange some time with him getting his advice on the adjutant’s job.

Then he told Jim, The person who will be the most help to you while you are here is First Sergeant Bill Boyd. He has a small group of enlisted men who work for him, and Sergeant Boyd works for you. My advice is that you listen to everything Sergeant Boyd says, and when he ‘suggests’ you do something, you do it. You will learn that the sergeants pretty much run things in the army, and Sergeant Boyd is an outstanding individual and a good teacher.

Colonel Henderson walked Lieutenant Hunt out of his office, past his desk, down the hall and into a large room where Sergeant Boyd and several enlisted men were working. The colonel introduced Lieutenant Hunt to Sergeant Boyd, and said, Bill, Lieutenant Hunt is joining us as the adjutant, and I am sure he will do a good job with your help. He is all yours. And with that, the colonel turned around and walked away.

Lieutenant Hunt and Sergeant Boyd spent the next couple hours getting acquainted and talking about the job of adjutant and the organization of the 79th Engineer Battalion. Sergeant Boyd gave Jim the phone number for Major Thomas at the 34th Engineer Group and suggested he go back to his desk and make his first phone call as the new adjutant. Major Thomas had a gruff voice over the phone, but he welcomed Jim to the adjutant job and scheduled a meeting for them to meet the next day.

That night Jim called Suzy and told her he had a new assignment and that he wanted to celebrate. They agreed to meet at a bar in Tacoma that had become one of their favorites. Suzy was excited for Jim, and she reverted to her extracurious style. She grilled Jim about his new job, the people he had met, and what he knew about the unit’s plans for deployment to Vietnam. Then she said, You need to find a place to live off base. I know a few apartments in Tacoma that other army bachelors have used in the past, and I’ll help you look whenever you have the time.

Jim agreed with her and told her this was a top priority. The following weekend, Jim found a nice one-bedroom apartment in a beautiful area of Tacoma and with a view of the mountains. He moved in right away. Jim had been worried that Suzy was going to suggest she move in too, but luckily the subject never came up.

The next time Jim and Suzy got together, Suzy brought a friend. Over the course of the next two weeks, Suzy’s friend, Connie Lee (allegedly her cousin), recruited Lieutenant Jim Hunt to become a source for the Chinese Central Intelligence Department in return for generous compensation. Connie Lee was forty-five years old, medium height, and a little plump. She told Jim that she had grown up in China, immigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was a teenager and had become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Connie would become Jim’s handler while he was stationed at Fort Lewis. After his deployment to Vietnam, his main contact became James Lee, no relation to either of the Lee’s at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Jim Hunt had arranged to attend the Corps of Engineers training program for non-Corps officers and flew to Washington, D.C., for three weeks of training. Fifteen officers, from several different branches of the army attended the training program, all second lieutenants and all detailed to the Corps of Engineers. Jim found the program extremely interesting. College engineering courses had been theoretical, lots of math with almost no practical application. The Corps program taught Jim how to plan a road construction project using the Critical Path method. This was a planning tool where a large project was broken into small, specific tasks and then organized in a way that defined which tasks needed to be done before other tasks could be started. By including the time required to do each task, a big project could be planned in a way that defined the total time required to do the whole project, and when each of the small tasks should be started