U.S. MARINE GUARDS LEADING LONELY, ISOLATED LIFE IN SOVIET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706630002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2011
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: March 29, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

, Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706630002-1 STAT
ONPAGE NEW YORK TIMES
29 March 1987
U. S. Marine Guards Leading
Lonely, Isolated Life in Soviet
' By PHILIP TAUBMAN
Special to The New York Times
MOSCOW, March 28 - A United
States Embassy guard, shaken by re-
ports that two of his fellow marines
helped Soviet agents infiltrate the em-
bassy last year, turned to a diplomat on
Friday and said, "Everyone is going to
think we are a bunch of Communists."
The remark, as recounted by the dip-
lomat, reflected a mixture of anger and
depression among the 29-man Marine
security contingent at the embassy.
The allegations that two Marine
guards allowed Soviet agents to inspect
sensitive areas of the embassy, has
thrown a spotlight on the marines and
prompted questions about whether
they are particularly- vulnerable to
Soviet influence.
Least Prepared for Soviet Stay
Security procedures at the embassy
were tightened this week to prevent a
recurrence of the breaches, American
diplomats said. They said that em-
bassy staff members were assigned to
watch sensitive areas at night to sup-
plement the marines.
Of all the Americans here - diplo-
mats, military officers, business execu-
tives, journalists, students and
scholars - the marines seem least pre-
pared for their stay in the Soviet Union.
They are generally in their early 20's,
unversed in Russian and unfamiliar
with the nation's culture. Unlike most
Americans, who at least try to interact
with Soviet society, the marines focus
exclusively on embassy affairs.
They are discouraged from mixing
with Russians, instructed to travel in
pairs and obliged to turn for entertain-
ment to the English-speaking com-
munity.
While most seem to adjust and make
the best of their circumscribed world,
some become bored and lonely, devel-
oping a tendency - for sheer excite-
ment, if nothing else - to deal with the
very world they are told to avoid
That is apparently what happened in
the spy case, where one marine, Sgt.
Clayton J. Lone was reportedly se-
duced by a woman who was a Soviet
agent engaged in custodial work at the
embassy.
The marines guard the embassy's
main entrance and the ninth floor with
its sensitive areas, patrolling the
grounds and serving as firefighters.
The unit is headed by a gunnery ser-
geant, who reports to the civilian se-
curity officer at the embassy.
Other Western embassies use experi-
enced security forces, often drawn
from the ranks of intelligence services,
and consider the American system less
reliable.
"No one has all the answers, but it in-
vites trouble to turn over security to a
group of young men who are more
suited for combat than for guard duty,"
a Western European diplomat said.
The marines, while not mixing so-
cially with senior diplomats, seem well
integrated into the younger community
of diplomats and students.
Their social world revolves around a
cluster of Western, includ-
ing "Uncle Sam's,an informal bar
and discotheque set up evenings in the
embassy snack bar, similar operations
at other embassies and, on Saturday
nights, the foreign currency bar and
discotheque at the Cosmos Hotel.
For female companionship, they turn
mainly to "nannies," a British term
used here for young foreign women
who are employed by Western resi-
dents to take care of their children.
Since last fall, the marines have been
housed in a barracks in a new embassy
compound, and have access to recrea-
tional areas in the compound, including
an indoor pool, gymnasium and bowl-
Sgt. Clayton J. Lonetree, a former
guard at the American Embassy
in Moscow, who has been
charged with espionage.
ing alley.
The espionage case is not the cal
trouble to strike the Marine contingent.
American diplomats said that four ma-4
rines were sent home this year after
they became involved in trading
money on the black market In a sepa-
rate case, two marines were with-
drawn when a Western woman said
they had raped her.
Several nannies said that Marine
parties often turned wild and that the
were frightened at times by the aggres-
sive behavior of the Americans.
Diplomats who knew Sergeant Lone-
tree described him as an isolated fig-
ure who never seemed comfortable
the embassy.
They said the man arrested as his ac
complice, Cpl. Arnold Bracy, was
friendly with many members of the
American community and displayed
curiosity about Soviet life, sometimes
joining other Americans for dinner at
restaurants.
"Arnold was one of the first marines
here who ever wore a Russian fur hat,"
a friend recalled.
A British nanny said that Marine
drills had increased and that access to
the embassy was restricted for a
period on Friday evening as the ma-
rines conducted a security exercise.
"There are not any Marine parties
this weekend," she said. "It is pretty
quiet over there."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706630002-1