Indochina Hand

Tales of a CIA Case Officer

by Barry Michael Broman

Imprint: Casemate

288 Pages, 6 x 9 in, ~50 photographs

Hardcover
9781636244419
July 2024
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$34.95

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

"Indochina Hand grippingly tells us how Barry Broman became the man he is and what role he played in events around the Cold War and after. I saw him in action for some of it and call him friend." — Tim Carney, retired ambassador, U.S. Foreign Service

Barry Broman joined the CIA in 1971 straight out of the Marine Corps, choosing a career in intelligence largely because he wanted to spend his working life in Southeast Asia. Over the next thirty years, he had the privilege of working with brave men and women who were prepared to put their lives on the line in support of the free world during the Cold War, and he enjoyed the life of adventure he had been seeking since childhood.

This book brings together tales from his career as a CIA case officer during the Cold War, giving fascinating insights into handling double agents, working in denied areas, assessing and recruiting Soviet targets, flying with Air America, acting to discredit Soviet agents with Moscow, and what happened when a case officer set a “scavenger hunt” around Bangkok for fellow spies—and at least one active target.

A selection of stories told in engaging style proving that often the truth is more unbelievable than fiction.

Epigram
Dedication
Preface

1. Pappy and Booge
2. England
3. AP Photographer
4. The Girl from Pepeekeo and a Quantico wedding
5. Hard Time in a Hard War
6. CAP Marines
7. My buddy Ralph
8. Air Wing Invitation
9. Near Death in Da Nang
10. The Skipper and the Chief
11. In the Marine Reserves
12. My Favorite Posting
13. Ambassador John Gunther Dean
14. An Awkward Change of Command Ceremony
15. The Foreign Service Institute
16. Operational Ladies of the Night
17. Spy vs Spy
18. Lady Bump
19. Air America
20. At the End in Laos
21. A Close Call in Haiti
22. Bangkok Scavenger Hunt
23. Incident with an Ambassador
24. Congressional Delegations
25. Home Leave
26. Close and Continuing Contacts
27. Covert Commo Training
28. A Small World Occurrence
29. A CIA Dirty Trick
30. A Favorite Agent
31. A Handling Challenge
32. Hard Target Recruitment
33. Africa Beckons
34. Alan Nicol
35. Communicators
36. BJ and the CIA
37. Zip Line Across the Pecos River
38. Chiefs of Station Conferences
39. China-born officers
40. Brendan’s Friend the General
41. Diversity in the CIA
42. FLASH Precedence Messages
43. Having Staff
44. Into the Enemy Camp
45. Visiting the Middle Kingdom
46. Mid Career Course
47. My Double Agent
48. Non Official Cover Officers
49. Operational Golf
50. On the Recruitment of Spies
51. Roman Holiday
52. Tehran Hostage
53. Singapore Incident
54. The Box
55. Thailand and the CIA
56. The Interior Gang
57. Wild Bill Casey
58. Montana Trek With a Merc
59. My Friend the Narc
60. A Short Sojourn in Saudi Arabia
61. Cambodian Water Festival
62. Dog For Lunch
63. Up the Rajang
64. On the Burma Pipeline
65. Searching for a Locomotive on the Silk Road
66. Travels with Neil Hollander
67. The Girl From Yaroslavl
68. Acknowledgements

Barry Broman was a teenage photographer for the Associated Press in Southeast Asia, then a Marine Corps infantry officer in combat in Vietnam before spending a quarter century in Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency as a ‘head-hunter’ with dozens of recruits in operations around the world.

Mr. Broman received a BA in Political Science in 1967 followed by an MA in Southeast Asian Studies a year later. A lifelong photographer and traveler he has published many articles and books.

“Indochina Hand grippingly tells us how Barry Broman became the man he is and what role he played in events around the Cold War and after. I saw him in action for some of it and call him friend.” ~Tim Carney, retired ambassador, U.S. Foreign Service

"[A] superbly written personal memoir that lifts the lid on U.S. spy craft techniques." ~Peter Arnett, Pulitzer Prize war reporter for the Associated Press, author of "We're Taking Fire: A Reporter’s View of the Vietnam War, Tet and the Fall of LBJ"

“Broman’s sophomore effort, Indochina Hand, is an outstanding collection of intelligence vignettes that read like excerpts from a le Carré novel. The difference, of course, is that Broman is writing about actual CIA officers—himself included—who were involved in real-life exploits with actual stakes and consequences that had a direct bearing on the Cold War." ~Ken Conboy, author of "Spies on the Mekong"

"Everyone will want to stay through the feast for the great storytelling—and the terrific photos!” ~Nicholas Reynolds, New York Times best-selling author of "Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy"