The Summit Ladies of the C.I.A.

The Summit now has three women in residence who had clandestine careers. Hazel Harrison was recently joined by Liz Leukroth and Barbara Dobos.

These ladies worked at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for a total of over 90 years during the time of the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War.

All worked parts of their careers at CIA Headquarters Building in McLean, Virginia and other times, they volunteered for assignments domestically or on one or more of five continents.

Some of their assignments were as short as a few days or as long as several years. All three worked in the administrative field.

Sometimes, their responsibilities were broader when stationed overseas. Regardless of the assignment, duties included: preparation of reports either for superior officers or to transmit back to Headquarters; serving as a finance officer for the area in which they were assigned; providing logistics support to the station by contracting for the necessary administrative supplies; providing other tasks as directed by the officer in charge such as organizing events in support of VIP visits, or interface with other government agencies.

Working at the CIA was definitely not a 9 – 5 job. Many times, they might be required to work seven days a week or to be on-call 24 hours a day. This was especially the case when assigned overseas.

If assigned to dangerous or “hardship” posts, they normally received additional financial compensation. Many times, each experienced being called into the office to handle details within their individual scope of expertise.

In addition, they might have to assume the responsibilities of another officer to ensure the mission was accomplished. It was always to their advantage to learn the duties of every person assigned to our office.

In our positions, we were keenly aware of the classification of documents, information, and areas of intelligence.

The three basic classifications were “Confidential, Secret or Top Secret.” They were not allowed to discuss work outside of the workplace or even with spouses or roommates. This requirement was known within their circle as “the need to know.”

For each of them, there were some long days, but many times they might have a once-in-a-lifetime experience such as meeting and shaking the hands of the sitting U.S. President, seeing the Bob Hope Show in Vietnam while on the front row, attending a dinner at a National Palace, going on a safari in Africa, traveling on the USS Constitution, seeing the Berlin Wall, or traveling in the Australian Outback.

They have lived in Africa, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. Hazel, Liz and Barbara all agree that working for the CIA allowed three gals from Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania to have wonderful and challenging careers that also gave them the opportunity to see the world. Now, they are happy to call The Summit home.