'GENERAL' TEACHES HOW TO KILL AND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100112-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 112
• Publication Date: July 14, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/04: CIA-RDP9O-01208ROO0100100112-8
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iT:Gaih yr'
',andDavid: Shribmal
~'S~Wnshiagton Seer Stn(1 writ'-
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':. Esc-Mercenary Runs:
?,Ga. Survival Scho.o
THE ,?1ASH:rNGToN STAR (GREEN LINE)
14 July 1951
' For. S3,004--students get' ' tiie
works -10 days of instruction by,
-:former Green-Berets-and merce
naries_in."quick-kill" shooting,
martial:`arts,;ap. reading :..eva
= sive:- driving'' convoy security,
...hostage negotiations, scuba div
ing- terror-psychology,- medical
trauma treatment; photo inter-
pretation, intelligence gather-
;'ing:; risk' analysis, site; security,;
-,escape and evasion techniques,..
,.They are taught to kill by throw'
ing knives, screwdrivers and sets-.
sors..'They learn how to snake their.
own weapons from glass,-.-barbed:'
wire; rusty can lids, rocks and sharp;
sticks:... _ ;
POWDER SPRINGS: Ga. Six"
young men '.gathered around,
Lucky McDaniel, a former. Geor
gia tobacco salesman turned mas-
ter marksman, and listened care
;.fully to his opening lecture on.
` "instinct shooting,"
"It: comes. from, the non-
'thinking side of the br ain,"._ex-
?;.plained McDaniel,'an easygoing:'_
:man who can splatter a fly-at 20
paces with a BB gun. "Don't think-
about aiming, squeezing the trig-
ger or any of that Just keep your:,
eye on the target and' shoot "
Within minutes, McDaniel had
his students hitting. a penny in...
midair with a BB gun. Later in
the day they were doing just as
well with pistols, rifles and shot-
guns. They had mastered "quick-.
This was opening day fora new
"class at Cobray_ International,`
which has.evolved from a com-
. mando training center...in--the-,
.1960s into a counterterrorism
and survival school in the '80s.
At the end of their 10-day course,
- the six young' men- - ranging':.
from a long-haired bail bonds
man to a former Marine who: -
wants to be a bodyguard- were`
expertly schooled in the deadly-
arts.
"We teach people'to kill and
hurt," says the school's headmas
ter, Mitchell Livingston Werbell'::
llI,.a flamboyant soldier of.forr..._
tune who combined the cobra ,
and the eel.to come :up with the
school's symbol.
It's about that simple. ,When,
students leave Cobray they can;'
do both - expertly. All kinds of;.
people - inter:?national business
executives, bodyguards, law en-,
forcement dfficials._doctors, law
yers and their wives -- come here;'
to learn self-defense skillsand, as
the curriculum. suggests,. much;;
more
Werbell's 66acre estate of pine trees:-
and ponds in this Atlanta -suburb.,
There is an electronically operated
security fence, and. visitors are well-:'
advised.to pick up the. phone at. the.
:R-entrance gate to ask for an escort.
-'-Otherwise, they will find themselves
negotiating` with Werbell's pets`
Dobermans, Great Danes and an Al-
satian named Lex, who has a habit:
of biting strangers on the buttocks."-,:
From the highway, Werbell's farm
looks tranquil enough. At noontime
chimes are' pealing hymns 'of peace
and love from a nearby church stee-
ple. Neighbors tend , their gardens
and children play in' the fields. But,
suddenly `the ` pastoral -'serenity- is ?shattered..by the sound of gunfire
.and piercing, battle commands It-is
1no wonder shell-shocked neighbors'
call .Werbell's.: place. "Gunpowder
`Springs."
.To.understandCobray requires an:,
understanding of Werbell "who.
founded the school partly as-a play-
ground. for his fantasies.:
He likes' to strut around in a red'
beret' and military fatigues,.- some
"times even in a kilt, and nearly,al-'
`ways with: a swagger stick'clamped
= under, his arm. He wears the three
stars 'of an' Afghan general ;on. his
shoulders and a Vietnam -Ranger
~_...~, ....,xar wrappea in a blue
terryc.loth bathrobe that exposed a.
pale, hairless chest and a puffy, ag-
ing body. .::.,_.:.. .: _.:_ ,::.:::?,c::_,.
At 63, he looks more like the can-
cer patient he is than-the flamboyant:;
soldier.:.of fortune: dhe hates.that
term, preferring to call himself "just.
-a f- professional soldier"). he has ?
:been: ; s;, :. ... .
-' Werbell, who has-prostate cancer,..
says he was supposed to be. dead by,
now;.but he. boasts-that he isn't co--
operating. He is still swashbuckling-.
about; reliving past glories and dab-
bling in foreign intrigue. . '
He enjoys -'showing visitors the
'dozens of-rosaries and hundreds-of
guns. ? including- a three-barreled. hunting rifle - Hermann' -Goering
gave. him. in 1933 --hehas collected.
.over the years..
In- his- work,-he-says;?- you - need'
both.
This is-the. former department
store advertising executive who be-
came bored with the pursuit of a nor-
mal life, the man who came up with
the idea of the Handy Pandy plastic
diaper cover before taking his own
life undercover. !
Werbell "drifted off' into the
smoke" nearly a quarter of a century
ago and became a clandestine oper-
ative. His inventions turned deadly;
after.that.:.
He-is likely-to be remembered not
'so much for his plastic diaper covert
as for his "whispering death" weap-.
on. He is known as the father of the
14110 machine gun. It is not much big-
ger than a.45 pistol and comes with
what is regarded as the world's best
silencer, which Werbell designed.
-'This . deadly spitfire '"whispers-
,.-death at the rate.of.a.thousand bul-
:lets?'a minute.
Werbell is something of a 'carica-
ture of the soldier- of fortune -? a
paramilitary peacock among his
kind. He is raucous and boozy, cun-
ning and colorful. He has a taste for,
'patch on his sleeve: His guardsman" guest quarters in foreign palaces,
mustache adds the final touch. private jets, single malt Scotch from
That' is Werbell in uniforms' - a the Isle.of- Islay, elephant-skin gun ,
stumpy;: ruddy-cheeked man: who: cases, wolfhounds and silver-topped .
traces his "warrior" blood -through: sword canes.-He drops the names of...
1;200 years of Russian ancest kings and dictators like candy wrap
_ .. ,. ry ..:;, pers. ; . . ..... ~?,?_~
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/04: CIA-RDP9O-01208ROO0100100112-8
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