“I didn’t join the CIA thinking I’d drive over the Alps in a Jaguar like James Bond,” says Jonna Mendez (in 2023 and, opposite, disguised as a man in 2005).Photo:Nancy Pastor/The Washington Times; Tina Leu
Nancy Pastor/The Washington Times; Tina Leu
Jonna Mendezspent nearly 30 years helping to mastermind life-saving missions at the CIA, where she became the Chief of Disguise — but she hasn’t shared her full story until now.
“At the CIA, if you have a great idea, you can get it to the President,” says Mendez, who hopes her new CIA-reviewed memoir,In True Face: A Woman’s Life in the CIA Unmasked, out March 5, will inspire a new generation to serve. “That felt like a special power, because we knew that there always was the opportunity to save the world."
“We had a bond like I’d never known," she says of Tony, with whom she partnered on several bestselling books — includingSpy Dust,ArgoandThe Moscow Rules— after they retired in the 1990s and before he died from complications of Parkinson’s disease in 2019. “Losing him was exquisitely painful. He was my other half. I’m still not over it.”
Their history dates back to the Cold War, when the duo became allies at the CIA and helped develop several evasion protocols and gadgets that would leave evenJames Bondimpressed.
“We were Q,” Mendez says, comparing their office of scientists and artists to the techno-gurus in the 007 movies.
courtesy JONNA MENDEZ
The resulting contraptions gave the CIA a leg up as they worked to outsmart Russian enemies in the KGB.
“We could make anything — quick-change license plates, jacket buttons that were compasses, silk jacket linings that could be maps,” she says. “We put bugs in books. We put cameras in cigarette packs, strap-on pregnancy bellies— we put them everywhere.”
In the following excerpt fromIn True Face: A Woman’s Life in the CIA Unmasked, exclusive to PEOPLE, Mendez gives readers fascinating insight into how she tested new spy tools to fool the KGB.
We would often perform tests in Georgetown to gauge how well a new mask technique or technology performed. One day I ventured out to test an early prototype of a new mask. This one turned me into a Black female. To soften the color transition immediately around my eyes, I wore medium-tinted glasses, but otherwise my disguise went on easily. I also wore a pair of gloves that went up to my elbows matching the pigment of the mask. The hair was longer than my own, casually styled. I thought I looked pretty good, which was something we never promised.
The OTS Special Surveillance Team (SST) drove me to a residential area a few blocks east of Wisconsin Avenue. We synchronized our watches and confirmed the time and place of my pickup before they drove off. I was on my own, free to navigate this active, trendy waterfront neighborhood on foot. I had decided to wear a new pair of red stilettos. Together with a black dress and gold hoop earrings, I fit right into the neighborhood’s hip crowd. Just as I was getting comfortable in my disguise, it started to rain. At first it was merely a drizzle. I considered opening the compact umbrella in my bag but ducked into a shop instead.
For more on Jonna Mendez, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
Jonna Mendez (left, giving a tutorial at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2002) says the center “isn’t just a project— it’s become a family”.Courtesy the International Spy Museum
Courtesy the International Spy Museum
Before I’d even glanced at the store clerk, I could feel his eyes on me. Was he keeping a close eye on me because I looked like a Black woman? Or could he tell I was wearing a mask? Worried that my mask would be noticed, I slipped out the front door. Rain began pouring down in sheets all around me, instantly fogging my glasses, making it impossible to see even a foot in front of me. Pausing under an awning, I removed my glasses to wipe them, knowing I couldn’t duck into another shop. As I stood in the rain, slowly ruining my new shoes, a parking lot attendant across the street began waving. “Come on over here, honey!” he yelled, motioning me into his small parking lot attendant hut. I shook my head no. He stepped toward the curb, insisting. “My friends are on the way. They’ll be here soon!” I replied, relieved when I noticed my SST guys in their van with the “Tony’s Pizza” sign pulling up in front of me. Ruined, those high heels never saw the light of day again.
Nearly two decades into my intelligence career we were finally ready to launch a disguise concept that had been brewing inside my brain for years. At long last we would disguise a female officer and send her out in the one of the highest-stakes cities in the world—Moscow. I felt confident it would be an effective strategy; the Russians didn’t use women in the field, and I felt sure they wouldn’t expect us to either. Still, this was a first and I wanted to be on the ground in Moscow when we rolled it out.
This was my inaugural trip as Deputy Chief, and I was looking forward to getting back out in the field. I could have easily sent one of our line Disguise officers to deal with the situation, but when I’d accepted the position, I’d insisted on remaining intimately involved with both our case officer customers and their specific problems. It was part of keeping my finger on the pulse of the operations directorate and providing solutions that would improve operations. I was a manager now, yes, but still a hands-on officer in many ways. That meant additional work, but it was work I still loved.
Putting a female officer out on the street also provided a multitude of disguise opportunities in a city like Moscow, which was crawling with suspicion. We might need to deceive a militia guy whose watchful eye was fixed on the embassy gate, blend in with an ethnically distinct population, or create a double of a known person. At other times, we might have to complete a dead drop or execute a car escape. Disguise could also be used to escape from and then return to the city’s overwhelming daily surveillance. It was an active city where our officers always remained on high alert. Disguise was integral to our success there.
The cover of Jonna Mendez’s book, “In True Face,” out March 5.PublicAffairs
PublicAffairs
The plan was for our disguised officer to join the throng of babushkas in the afternoon as they gathered to exit the building. They always left in a large group and went out the front gate together, past the militia man and onto the street. While their identification was checked as they entered the embassy grounds in the morning, there was no check as they departed. These women were regularly substituted and replaced, so a new face in the crowd was unlikely to draw attention from the other babushkas or from the militia. This would hopefully get our officer on the street without surveillance. If it worked, we intended to repeat this scenario over time.
When our officer walked back into the embassy hours later, she looked like the American she was, carrying a large bag from a hard currency shop as if she were just another employee returning from a shopping expedition. We were all slightly giddy with the success of our test run. We’d just added another weapon to our arsenal, and without arousing a drop of suspicion.
source: people.com
