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| James W Hall III |
The listening station on top of Teufelsberg intercepted and analysed East German and Soviet signals (SIGINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) during the Cold War, from radio communications, microwave links, satellite transmissions to different types of technical signals. Initially operated by the U.S. Army Security Agency (ASA), the Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) took over in 1977 and the National Security Agency (NSA) provided most of the personnel.
Given its strategic importance and secretive mission, the well-guarded Field Station Berlin was an important target of both the Russian state security service KGB and the East German foreign intelligence service Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung (HVA).
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| Field Station Berlin on top of Teufelsberg (source: INSCOM) |
James Hall was 17 when he joined the U.S. Army in 1976. He was trained as a signals specialist and his first assignment was in 1977 to Det J in Schneeberg, a U.S. listening station in West Germany near the Czech border. The Schneeberg station was a detachment of the 326th ASA Company in Augsburg. In 1981 he was transferred to Berlin.
From Secrets to Cash
Working at Field Station Berlin, Hall realised he could make a lot of money by selling top secret information. In 1982 he dropped a letter in the Soviet consulate mailbox, offering his services to the Soviets. After a first covert meeting with his KGB contact, Hall started his spying career to increase his low pay, but wasn't quite happy with the cumbersome KGB tradecraft and complex agent communications schemes.
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| Auto Craft Shop Source: Berlin Brigade |
Yildirim, codename BLITZ, was the ideal man to approach people who worked at the SIGINT station and serviced their car in the Auto Craft Shop. In 1984, then 27 year old Sergeant Hall got acquainted with Yildirim and proved to be an extremely valuable source for the HVA. Hall now had an additional and easier source of income.
Operating under the codename PAUL, Hall sold huge amounts of highly classified information to both KGB and their HVA counterpart. Yildirim served as middleman between Hall and HVA agents, and as his courier and paymaster.
Crown Jewels for Sale
Hall compromised ELINT systems to locate and identify enemy aircraft, missiles and vehicles, revealed NSA's SIGINT targets and several top secret programs, including TROJAN, a worldwide intelligence collection and dissemination system, and CANOPY WING, the electronic warfare plans to disrupt and mislead crucial Soviet command and missile communications in the event of a war against the Eastern Bloc.
He also sold the complete National SIGINT Requirements List (NSRL) to the KGB and HVA. The crown jewels and holy grail in one. The massive 4258-page NSRL was a catalog of all NSA activities, their list of targets and the U.S. government wishlist of intelligence and enemy capabilities they were interested in.
Hall was reassigned in 1985 to 513th Military Intelligence Brigade in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The KGB took over running Hall during his stay in the United States because the HVA had no agents over there. Due to Hall's problem with elaborate precautions and using dead drops, his spying was temporarily halted.
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| Huseyin Yildirim's entry pass for U.S. military installations |
He resumed passing large amounts of classified SIGINT information to the HVA through his trusted courier Yildirim. Hall meticulously copied classified documents during his working hours or smuggled them out to photocopy them.
When Hall applied for an appointment as warrant officer, he was subjected to a routine background investigation. A supervising officer complained that Hall apparently spent more money than his wages could afford, but Hall told him that a deceased aunt left him a large trust of which he received $ 30,000 annually.
Hall was reassigned in 1987 to Fort Stewart, Georgia. After completing his training as warrant officer he was assigned to the G-2 (military intelligence staff) of 24th Infantry Division in early 1988. As a warrant officer, he now had an even greater access to classified material. Yildirim had also moved to the United States in 1987, but the tide had turned for both men.
Defector vs Traitor
East German professor Manfred Severin, who was hired by the Stasi as interpreter for Hall, defected in 1988 and offered his services to the CIA. His information lead to the identification of Hall, who was put under surveillance by the FBI and Army counterintelligence for several months. The FBI moved Severin in December to Savannah, close to Fort Stewart. Severin contacted Hall to arrange a meeting with a KGB agent in a hotel. On 20 December, Hall was introduced to an FBI agent, posing as KGB agent Vladimir.
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| FBI mugshot |
In total, Hall had received an estimated $300.000 from the East German and Russian agents, which was actually a bargain for the HVA and KGB. His flood of documents enabled the Eastern Bloc to take countermeasures, prevent eavesdropping and adapt their strategy. An NSA official estimated that Hill caused $3 billion worth of damage to the United States.
Hall and Yildirim to Court
On 9 March 1989, James Hall was court-martialed and sentenced to 40 years in prison for espionage. Huseyin Yildirim was convicted on 20 July 1989 for conspiring with Hall and carrying classified intelligence to East Bloc agents. He was sentenced to life.
Hall served 22 years in Leavenworth military prison and was released in 2011. Yildirim was released after 14 years in a secret 2003 prisoner exchange with Turkey, under the condition that he would serve his sentence in Turkey. The Turkish government however immediately set him free for humanitarian reasons.
On 9 March 1989, James Hall was court-martialed and sentenced to 40 years in prison for espionage. Huseyin Yildirim was convicted on 20 July 1989 for conspiring with Hall and carrying classified intelligence to East Bloc agents. He was sentenced to life.
Hall served 22 years in Leavenworth military prison and was released in 2011. Yildirim was released after 14 years in a secret 2003 prisoner exchange with Turkey, under the condition that he would serve his sentence in Turkey. The Turkish government however immediately set him free for humanitarian reasons.
The New York Times archived the 1989 investigation of James Hall and a report on Hall's trial. Smithsonian Magazine brings the story of FBI agent Dimitry Droujinsky who posed as KGB agent Vladimir (mid-page, after Robert Lipka case). The book Seduced by Secrets - Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World from Kristie Macrakis has 14 detailed pages on James Hall. You can also read about James Hall at the DOD PERSEREC website.
Der Spiegel published three interviews with James Hall. Hunt for the Stasi Superstar (translation) and many photos of the FBI arrest, the follow-up interview The Treasure from Teufelsberg (translation) and the interview The Scope of NSA Surveillance Surprised Me (in English) with former Stasi agent Klaus Eichne. Huseyin Yildirim's side of the story was published on the 6941st Guard Battalion Berlin website (you can select your language).
The Stasi archives contained a steel container with copies of 13088 classified documents, marked Top Secret and Top Secret Umbra, sold by James Hall to the HVA. After the reunification of Germany, these documents were returned to the U.S. government, as explained in Der Spiegel's Destruction of Traces in the Office (translation).
Related Info on this Blog
More about Teufelsberg in the Field Station Berlin. The damage Hall inflicted on U.S. military and intelligence was comparable to the betrail by John Walker, a US Navy communications specialist, who was preceeded by Joseph Helmich. Both sold technical details and key lists of crypto machines.
Some argued that personnel with low income and access to highly
classified documents, like James Hall, might be tempted to sell secrets
for cash. However, even people with high income committed espionage, out
of greed or financial problems.
Besides money, the other incentives to spy are ideology (Ana Montes), compromise (Romeo spies and Swallows) and ego (Robert Hansen).
Visit the Cold War Signals page on the website for information on signals intelligence. US Army Border Operations provides more on other intelligence operations in Germany with links to Det J Schneeberg, including many photos of the listening station.
There are several posts on legenday HVA chief Markus Wolf. In a German documentary (subtitles available), Markus Wolf talks about James Hall. Jump directly to Part 2 segment at 21:16 (enable CC Subtitles with Settings > Subtitles > Auto-translate > English).
There are several posts on legenday HVA chief Markus Wolf. In a German documentary (subtitles available), Markus Wolf talks about James Hall. Jump directly to Part 2 segment at 21:16 (enable CC Subtitles with Settings > Subtitles > Auto-translate > English).
There's also a documentary, Deckname Blitz, about Huseyin Yildirim and the James Hall spy case, which includes video footage of the actual meeting between the covert FBI agent and Hall (at 36:00). The doc is in German, but no subtitles.
