Wippl Discusses Spymaster’s Story in Taylor & Francis
Joseph Wippl, director of Graduate Studies at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, has been published in Taylor & Francis Online.
Wippl’s article, “A Thinker and Leader,” was published Nov. 20. It examines the new book “Good Hunting: An American Spymaster’s Story,” by former CIA member Jack Devine.
In the article, Wippl writes:
I first met Jack when he paid a visit to another location where I was the deputy. At the time, he impressed me with his knowledge of Europe where he had recently served as chief of an important Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) office there. As Deputy Chief of Human Resources, I had further contact with him on personnel issues while he was in very senior positions as Director of the Counter Narcotics Center and then Chief of the Latin America Division…Finally, we both served overseas in Europe in the mid-1990s, and again had periodic contact when we attended conferences together where the focus was never on intelligence product but rather on obtuse tradecraft never meant to accomplish much of anything with the exception of not getting caught. Both of us have gone on to lead very rewarding second lives while concurrently maintaining our interest in intelligence as it pertains to the present and future well-being of our country.
Jack Devine loves his country, he loves intelligence, he loves the CIA, and he loves the people in the CIA. These loves bounce off every page of Good Hunting. Jack is smart, energetic, well-informed on public affairs, personable and, like many very good operations officers, a bit naïve. Throughout his career, he continually demonstrated strong political skills. Jack actually got better as a manager and as a leader the higher he climbed the career ladder. This is not what generally happens in the CIA or any organization.
Joseph Wippl is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. He spent a 30 year career as an operations officer in the National Clandestine Service (NCS). Wippl has served overseas as an operations officer and operations manager in Bonn, West Germany; Guatemala City; Luxembourg; Madrid, Spain; Mexico City; Vienna, Austria; and Berlin, Germany. On assignments in CIA headquarters, he served as the Deputy Chief of Human Resources, as the Senior NCS representative to the Aldrich Ames Damage Assessment Team, as Chief of Europe Division and as the CIA’s Director of Congressional Affairs. Wippl has coordinated extensively with other members of the U.S. intelligence community. Prior to his arrival at Boston University, he occupied the Richard Helms Chair for Intelligence Collection in the NCS training program. Wippl has taught at BU since 2006.