Profile: Antonio Joseph Mendez
Profession: Spy
Intelligence Org: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Role: Chief of Disguise/25 year CIA vet & CIA trailblazer Recipient
Mendez is known for creating some of the most diabolical deceptions used in the world of Spycraft and espionage. Beginning his career in CIA's technical services division (TSD) as an artist and document forger, Mendez would rise the ranks of CIA to chief of disguise. Mendez would use a superior creative intellect to devise ingenious disguise apparatus to save agents and operatives in the thick of hostile territories.
Mendez was an exfiltration expert, he would prove instrumental during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1980. Using disguise, role-playing, and a healthy knowledge of magic, specifically the art of sleights and misdirection. Mendez would coach all 6 American hostages on specific roles they were to play to successfully walk out of Iran right under the noses of hostile Iranian security forces.
Posing as a movie production crew (location scouts) for a fictitious movie production company, studio 6 productions, Mendez would contrive an elaborate and devious scheme to exfiltrate 6 American hostages being held in Iran. To pull off such an operation, Mendez cleverly understood the intelligence of Iranian security forces and forged a bulletproof plan for safely exfiltrating the 6 American hostages.
Understanding full well that the Iranians could not be underestimated and knowing that he had only one shot at getting the 6 American hostages out alive, Mendez like any good artist, would leave no stone unturned in planning and executing his grand deception and subsequent exfiltration.
Mendez took out casting adds in Variety magazine for his fictitious science fiction movie, Lord of Light, for which he was a location scout for (his role). Mendez rented a studio in Los Angeles, even placing a "Studio 6" productions logo on the front door of the studio. Everything would require the appearance of legitimacy, the smallest details would require attention and traceability. The fictitious movie would have a convoluted science fiction/fantasy script contrived all with an elaborate movie poster with production billings of known (albeit lesser known) Hollywood production professionals associated with the movie.
At the time, and fortunately for the hostages, they were simply not allowed to leave the country. They had yet to be physically detained by Iranian security forces but things were escalating fast. As such, not only did Mendez have to ensure that every part of his deception was concealed with one chance to get it right, he had to work FAST under pressure cooker like conditions. It was only a matter of time that the hostages would be detained and imprisoned, tortured, and likely executed.
Each hostage was given a unique and elaborate cover identity, each with supporting documentation (birth certificate, government documents, etc), every detail would potentially require passing scrutiny by Iranian security forces. Mendez understood that all of the cloaking mechanisms meant nothing without "living" the deception.
He would travel to Iran under the auspices of a studio 6 location scout to join his in-country colleagues (all ostensibly from various neutral countries). Mendez would coach, grill, and vet out every single detail of the crew's intent and purpose. Each person would have a part to play, as an actor prepares for a role, each hostage was tested and tested to ensure their roles were rock solid, the slightest hole in cover could lead to an immediate execution of all hostages, including Mendez.
Mendez would practice interrogating the hostages as an Iranian security officer, keeping them up late under sleep deprived conditions, restricting food intake, and using other interrogation techniques to ensure the hostage's covers were bullet proof. Once Mendez was satisfied that his "crew" could past mustard, the exfiltration operation would commence.
Mendez would use elaborate disguise, misdirection techniques learned from his lifelong love of magic and illusion, false identities, role-playing, an elaborate cover story, and nerves of steel to literally walk all 6 hostages out of Iran under the noses of Iranian security forces.
Mendez would receive the CIA's meritorious intelligence star of valor for his incredible work in safely exfiltrating all 6 hostages out of hostile Iran. Later Mendez would be the recipient of the CIA trailblazer award, an award so distinguished, only 50 CIA intelligence officers would be awarded (both living and deceased), Antonio for his trailblazing innovations in the area of disguise and deception.
Few people think about how magic can save lives, this expose' clearly sheds LIGHT on the shadowy world of espionage and the little known techniques and mechanisms used to save lives everyday in hostile territories around the world.
Antonio's wonderful book illustrating the above tale amongst other tales of intrigue and adventure can be found here:
http://www.themasterofdisguise.com/bio_Antonio.html
Additional links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Mendez
http://pleasantvalleystudios.com/
I not only own Antonio's The Master of Disguise book, I also own an autographed copy obtained at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. I will post photos of the book in the near future.
Book Rating: 10/10 ;-)
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