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Aldrich Ames Spy Profile Paper

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Aldrich Ames was one of the most notorious spys in United States history, single handily crippling the United States spy network in the Soviet Union, and compromising hundreds of Intelligence Operations around the world. Ames’ impact on the national security of the United States was devastating and the ramifications of his actions can still be felt today in the Intelligence Community. This paper will provide details into the background and the events surrounding Ames’ espionage and subsequent arrest for treason.
Aldrich Ames was born in 1941 in Rivers Falls, Wisconsin. His father, Carleton Ames, was college lecturer and in the latter part of his career worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a Case officer. His father moved Ames and his family to his first assignment for the CIA in Southeast Asia for three years under the guise of a college professor teaching abroad. Carleton had a less than stellar tour of duty in Southeast Asia receiving a negative performance report and subsequently was sent back to CIA Headquarters at Langley, Virginia. This caused Carleton to drink heavily and the rest of his career was mired in alcoholism and mediocre performance at work.
Ames attended High School in Virginia and it was during his sophomore year that he spent a summer working at the CIA as an intern doing low-level tasks. He spent the following 2 more summers interning at the CIA, ultimately working full time after dropping out of college in Chicago. While he worked full time at the CIA, Ames enrolled at George Washington University part time and finished with a Bachelor degree in History. Ames married his high school sweetheart and then attended training at the CIA’s Career Training Program with the ultimate goal...

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...names of CIA double agents spying on the Soviet Union, this way he wasn’t in his mind doing any real damage and simply providing them with the names of those who were spying for both countries.

Works Cited

1. Aldrich Ames - Master Spy - spymuseum.com. (2011). Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.spymuseum.com/pages/agent-ames-aldrich.html
2. Earley, P. (2014). CIA Traitor Aldrich Ames — The Story — Crime Library. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/ames/1.html
3. Phillips, L. (2014, February 16). The Drudgery of Treason. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://theintermediateperiod.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/
4. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/aldrich-hazen-ames
5. http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-21/aldrich1.html
6. https://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1994_rpt/ssci_ames.htm
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