14-00000 22, 23. ‘where communications are of special importance, S-E-C-R-E-T NO FOREIGN DISSEM - 8 = . CS-311/04298-64 Administration Department. The same safehouse is used for suce- eessive ‘Agents, ‘bat only one is trained there at a time, Follow-. ing the agent's operational. plan as laid down by the case officer, the MZ Department provides instruction in the necessary skills : through its own sections and various departments of the DGI oute Side the operational departments. All illegal agents are trained in normal tradecraft elements such. aS clandestine meetings, election and use of dead drops, recruit- ment of agents, establishment and operation of agent nets (only for agents specifically intended for network direction), use of informants and collaborators, photography., and some form of com- munication, Practice in operational techniques such as surveil- lance afd counter-surveillance and servicing dead drops is given in appropriate sections of.Havana, Each agent in addition is in- structed on matters relating to his particular mission, and is given whatever communications training he will need, Communica~ tions receives special. emphasis because a1] arrangements must be made during the training. period, Techniques include secret write- ing, codes and ciphers, radio transmission and reception, micro- dots, and microfilm, Only a few agents are trained in the latter two techniques, and not all are trained in radio, but almost all receive instruction on secret writing, which te the most widely used means of communication between agents in the field and their ease officers, The type of communications training the agent will receive is usually discussed with the case officer by the MI Department, but sometimes the MI Department decides without con- sultation and sometimes it consults the SI Department for opera- tional background on the country where the agent will work. The ST Section (Technical Section - Seccion Tecnica) of the MI Department has the main responsibility for agent communications training and itself conducts the training in secret writing. [t first requests the LG Section (Chemical Laboratory - Laboratorio Quimico) of the MI Department to devise and prepare a secret writing system-for the agent's use. Most systems depend on Sympathetic inks made with salt, blood, urine, and other materials; the type assigned the agent. is determined by his mission and operational situation, Each agent receives a different system, although two agents working in the same operation use the same system, An agent normally learns two systems, one for incoming correspondence, development only, and one for outgoing corres-~ pondence, preparation only. In addition, if he is to direct an agent network of his own which requires internal clandestine com~ munication, he is taught a third system, both preparation and development, for use in the network. The case officer not only doés not participate in the training but knows very little about the secret writing systems, Since the processing of messages from agents in the field is handled by the ST Section and he receives only the developed text, and the ST Section, for reasons of security and compartmentation, refuses to teli the case officer anything specific about communications, The ST Section trains the agent thoroughly on the materials and methods he is to use and gives him practice in processing messages under direction, then in preparing test messages and in developing and interpreting test messages prepared by the instructor, The training period varies according to the complexity of the system and the requirement for competence from the agent. In cases the instruction may continue for two or three months with great detail, and the S~E-C-R-E-T NO FOREIGN DISSEM
74-00000 wo. S-~E-C-R-E-T NO FOREIGN DISSEM -9- CS=311/04298-64_ agent is expected to attatn a hagh standard of performance. An ager: who fails the cauurse may have to repeat it, if the opera= ¢tonal plan requires at and his schedule permits. Training normally continues until the agent has achieved the desired pro- ficienty; anvevaluation of his ability fs included in his_ personal file, \Actually, However,. secret’ eciting: tratoing has ‘not’ been... uniformly successfd2 an DG xpertetike: ta Sine eases), <ComminIca= tions from the agent in the fieia could not te nea at headquarters . because the secret writing was improperly prepared, and agents. have also had difficulty in deciphering messages sent to. them, . \ 24, Agents never write directly to BGI headquarters; all their madi in both directions goes through accommodation addresses,. usually -in another Country. Instruction in selection and use of accom-. modation’ addresses is given by the MS Department (Department of which handies DGI Legal Centers - artamento Centros Legales), field stations wa theit correspondence, because. accommodation addresses are usually in countries where Cuba has official repre- sentation and the field station services the letter drops. Out« going communications toe agents go by diplomatic pouch to the field - i? etation @ad are dailed from there to the agent. Agent letters to headquarters go to an accommodation address, where they are picked up by the field station and forwarded by diplomatic pouch. The , country used for incoming communications 1S usually different froa ° that for outgoing: an agent ion Fl Salvador, for example, may send his reports to Havana via Mexico and receive headquarters direc- tions and replivs via Paris, The MIS Department controls the asSignment of accommodation addr-sses. Since the DGI believes that there is less disger of -“‘posing ths agent if his cover letters containing secret writing are as realistic and natural as pos¢ible, the agent is briefed not only on the accommodation address to which he is to write, but alsc on the parsons who actually live there--ages, backgrcund, r-lationShips, etc.--se that he can refer te barthdays and personal int-rests or family events, The agert 15 alse taught selection of plausible but not genuine return addresses for his outgoing communications. 25, Agents who are to learn ccedes and ciphers and radio transmission and reception are trained by the ST Section, which has its own radio transmitter for irstruction Purposes, The radios the agents use in training are precured in their own countries and are adapted for cland:stine use by the ST Section; most such equipment is Western-made, ard much of it is American, The agent learns transmission and reespticn and also is taught how to adjust a commercial radio to his individual requitrments and how to make minor repairs on it, He way Jearn the standard Morse code but usually is taught a@ num-tical code arranged in groups. As with secret writing, the case officer knows latile about the actual mechanics of the radic communications arrang-ments because radio messages are process] cutsids the operational departments and reach him only in the fcrm of clear text, and because compart- mentation keeps him from acquitiag technical knowledge. Similarly, he knews lattle abcut the proficiency required of the agent and sees only the final evaluation report prepared by the ST Section for the agent's personal file. 26. $f the agent is also to receive trdining in microfilm and micro- dot techniques, the ST Section arranges with the LF Section (Photographic Laboratory - Laboratorio Fotografico) of the MI Department for the use of “quipment and the assignment of a system and then itself gives the training. The LF Section has $-£-C-R-E-T NO FOREIGN DISSEM
. Final Briefin ; . When guerrilla agents. have completed their. training, the: it» "97, 28, preparing | and developing messages, | hood his: case: is ex his own country ‘when’ he ‘returns, $-E-C-R-B-T NO FOREIGN DISSE - 10 - . 8-311 /04298-64 all the: necessary equipment. onty’ i given such instruction, - One ‘cland Republic, who apent a considerable t on See well trained, was provided ‘microfilm ‘and wnierodst. ‘equt aent® any: devices he wilt Department case officer briefs.the group. on .its mission in. ite home area, which is usually suppart of local revolutionary. activities, The briefing includes. assigament of tatks, explana- tion of what support the group may ‘expect’ and. How it is to: be supplied, ‘divect ions for reperting..te thé sponsoring group, advice on security and self-protection, and. the travel route to be followed, In addition, the group leader receives a-special briefing on means of communication with DGI headquarters, special arrangements for supplying the group or its sponsoring organiza- tion, and perhaps the transportation to its home area of propa- ganda or sabotage materials from Cuba. Although agents are allowed to take notes during their training, they are not permitted to carry any compromising material on thelr return home. All final instructions are given orally and are memorized by the : agent. Actually, -however, guerrilla agents do not always observe security precautions about materials. One Salvadorian guerrilla agent succeeded in hiding in his luggage a copy of the Manual of Guerrilla Warfare he had used in his training course, even though the casé officer inspected the luggage while it was being packed. The case officer commented that unless another inspection was made at the time the agent left his quarters to depart the country or at the airport just before boarding the plane, it was impossible to prevent agents from carrying off such classified matter. Illegal agents receive a more intensive final briefing. The case officer reviews with the agent the general mission and specific tasks he is to undertake, all of which have been covered during training, Such as collection of information 6n his home govern- ment or specific organizations, penetration of official organs in the country or perhaps the local Communist Party or a leftist group, assistance in communications and forwarding of material, ete. The briefing includes advice on security and self-protection, refresher instruction on accommodation addresses for secret writing correspondence, an explanation of the travel route for the return journey and the documents to be used, and specific instruc- tions for reporting to a group or commencing his assignment after arrival, with a schedule for-initiating communications, depending on hts mission and his return itinerary. Illegal agents receive their final instruction on communications two or three days be- fore leaving Cuba, Instructions about frequencies, which are | assigned by the MI Department, and codes for radio communication, procurement and preparation of secret writing materials, etc., are photographed and prepared for the agent to carry with him in a concealment ‘device, One agent returning to Salvador received his S-E-C-R-E-T NO FOREIGN DISSEM