STATE DEPARTMENT SLEUTHS PROBABLY THE STRANGEST DETECTIVE AGENCY IN THE WORLD IS DOFO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600040057-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 15, 1998
• Sequence Number: 57
• Publication Date: April 1, 1964
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

FOIAb3
Sanitized - Approved For Release :
CORONET APRIL 1961.
Sdcutas
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
Probably the strangest detective agency in the world is DOFO
by Emile C. Schurmacher
The recent publicity surrounding
a Washington scandal has revealed
very little about the most hush-hush
organization in America. Known as
DOFO, the Division of Foreign
Operations, this agency became in-
The "tourist" was a counterespion-
age agent working for DOFO, the
Division of Foreign Operations,
Office of Security, U.S. State Depart-
ment. He was one of about 30 ex-
perts who constantly check our em-
bassies and the homes of U.S. diplo-
Otto F. Otepka,. chief security eval- matic personnel at 94 U.S. foreign
uations ofcer, was. dismissed from service posts in 86 countries through-
his post for giving secret informa_ out the world. His job was to guare
tion to a Senate. subcommittee.
It is not the controversy between
Mr. Otepka and his superior, John
F. e eilly, deputy assistant secretary
of state for security, that this article
is concerned with, but the fantastic
cloak and dagger aspects of DOFO,
probably . the strangest detective
agency in the world.
against eavesdropping by espionage
agents and spies.
The U.S. military attache received
the agent hospitably and conducted
him to the living room. The family
pet poodle was curled up napping on
the floor. When they began to talk
the poodle suddenly woke up, howl-
ing and whining as though in pain.
"Curious about our dog," the mili-
OT LONG AGO the U.S. mili- tary attache remarked. "She's been
Ntary attache of one of our most,-behaving like that lately. There
sensitive embassies in Europe was . doesn't seem to be anything wrong
visited at his home by an American physically. You'd think she actually
who looked like a tourist, with a resented conversation."
camera suspended from his neck and The agent suddenly began to study
a leather camera bag slung over his the poodle with more than casual in-
shoulder. terest. He watched as the dog ran to
Instead of filters, exposure meter a corner of the room, whining and
and similar accessories usually car- growling at some invisible enemy.
ried by amateur. photographers, the The agent held up a warning hand.
bag contained several compact and Let's try a little' experiment," he
ingenious electronic detection de- said. "For the next 30 seconds
vices.. neither of us will speak."
Two of these were of special use- The two men lapsed into silence
fulness: a small gadget somewhat So did the. dog. She relaxed.
like a miniature mine detector could Half a minute went by. Then 'th
locate a microphone hidden in a agent said: "I think this room i
wall; and a radio frequency probe bugged."
could indicate the presence of a con- At the sound of his words the
cealed tiny transmitter. poodle again began to howl.
"And now," the agent added wit
conviction, "I'm absolutely sure of
it!"
He crossed the room to where the
poodle stood and looked closely at
the parquet floor. It showed signs of
recent tampering. Methodically, he
removed the squares of parquet.
Under one of them, near the corner
of the room, a tiny FM radio trans-
mitter was cleverly concealed in the
hollowed-out sub-flooring.
No bigger than a lump of sugar,
and wired to a battery the size of a
match box, it was capable of broad-
casting normal conversation as far as
a block away!
The military attache was staring at
the ingenious device, his face a study
in mixed incredulity and indigna-.
tioti.
"Is this why my dog has been
carrying on so strangely?"
"That's right," the agent ex-
plained. "Whoever concealed the
transmitter here doesn't expect to
return to replace the battery. There-
fore, to conserve the life of the bat-
tery, the transmitter is only activated
by the sound of voices. The sending
signal is too high pitched for the.
human ear to hear, but like those
silent dog whistles, it's disturbing, if
not painful, to your pet."
But for the agent's visit, important
diplomatic secrets discussed in the
supposed privacy of the U.S. military
attache's home would have continued
to be overheard by Communist es-
pionage agents stationed in a room
somewhere within a block radius of
the house.
"The Case of the Howling Dog" is
unusual in that the counterespionage
agent detected the eavesdropping de
vice without using his anti-eaves-
dropping apparatus.
"We rely heavily on scientific
techniques," declared a State De-
partment spokesman. "Rapidly ad-
vancing technology has been a great
help to us in detecting eavesdropping
operations in our posts abroad-es-
pecially behind the Iron Curtain.
"Our Office of Security has ex-
panded its technical security opera-
tions to combat this threat to the
privacy of our embassy offices and
official residences."
This expansion is shown in the
State Department's appropriation for
anti-eavesdropping devices. Three
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 75-00149 R000600040057-3
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Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600040057-3