Mission Accomplished: The Military Liaison Missions of the Western Forces in Potsdam from 1946 to 1990

Beginning in 1947, a fascinating and little-known chapter of the Cold War opened in West Berlin with the establishment of military liaison missions between the United States, Britain, and France on one side, and the Soviet Union and East Germany on the other. What began simply as a means to jointly oversee German military disarmament during the post-war period soon turned into a perilous game of cat-and-mouse, as uniformed intelligence personnel from both sides pushed the envelope of international relations to collect actionable intelligence on each other, sometimes at the cost of their lives. With the ever-present specter of another World War hanging over the entire region, the Military Liaison Mission was a high-pressure assignment that attracted some of the most capable service members America could produce. The service members assigned to the US Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) did not use many of the classic tools of espionage. There were no dead drops, no disguises, no confidential sources or hi-tech gadgetry. Instead, these courageous and cunning officers and NCOs worked openly, in uniform, known by all sides, to collect information on their adversaries. Their tools were binoculars, cameras, and notepads. Their methods varied from outrunning the East German Stasi in a high-speed chase, to offering a bored and lonely Soviet sentry a Marlboro cigarette and some conversation. Their primary mission was to collect actionable intelligence on Warsaw Pact equipment, tactics, operational tempo, and troop movements. They surveilled convoys and training exercises extensively, always on the lookout for a new type of issued equipment, vehicle configuration, or technological modification to the Soviet order of battle. This book is their history in extraordinary detail complete with copious photos and details from their initial formation, organization, and field work, to some of the most secret intelligence gathering missions these men embarked upon. Title: Mission Accomplished: The Military Liaison Missions of the Western Forces in Potsdam from 1946 to 1990 Edition: English, German and French Location Published: The Allied Museum: 2004 Binding: softcover Book Condition: As New Pages: 139 Categories: Espionage, Intelligence & Spies Seller ID: 0752