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 E. Peter Earnest
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Executive Director, International Spy
Museum
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Retired senior CIA official
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CIA clandestine operations officer
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Director, CIA Public Affairs
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Awarded CIA Intelligence Medal for Merit
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Accomplished speaker
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Consultant, media relations and crisis
management
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Chairman, Association of Former
Intelligence Officers
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Professor, Centre for Counterintelligence
and Security Studies
Peter Earnest
was a career CIA operations officer for 36 years and retired as an SIS
(senior intelligence officer rank) in 1994. He spent over ten years in
Europe and Middle East engaged in active intelligence operations. Earnest
held various other senior positions including Director of Media Relations
and was the CIA spokesman from 1989 to 1994. He was awarded the Agency's
Intelligence Medal of Merit for superior performance throughout his career.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to an American
foreign service officer and his British wife, Earnest grew up in the
Washington area attending local schools and graduating from Georgetown
Preparatory School. He received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown
University in 1955, at which time he was commissioned a reserve officer in
the United States Marine Corps. He then served a tour of active duty with
the First Marine Air Wing, Fleet Marine Force, in Japan.
In 1957, Earnest began his career with the CIA
as a field case officer engaged in clandestine operations in support of
national security initiatives, chiefly in Europe and the Middle East, and
for ten years in the Soviet/East European arena. He continued his role with
the CIA as Chief of U.S. Senate Relations (1979-81), where he served as an
advisor to senior management on legislative strategy and coordinated
individual and committee relationships with the U.S. Senate. He also
directed litigation support for the CIA’s Operations Directorate in the
mid-1980s.
 In
his final posting with the CIA, Earnest served as the Agency’s principal
spokesman, developing and implementing a strategy of greater openness with
the media and the public to promote better understanding of the CIA’s vital
role in protecting national security. He was recognized for his "special
talent for conveying to others a sense of the Agency’s role and mission" in
the Intelligence Medal of Merit award citation. He served as the Agency’s
principal advisor to numerous journalists, authors, researchers, academics,
and film and documentary producers, until his retirement in 1994.
Since his retirement, Earnest has worked as a
principal partner in ClassAct Video Production Services, LTD, a company
specializing in training and educational productions for the Intelligence
Community and private sector. He has also consulted on commercial film
productions with espionage-related themes. In addition, as president of
Earnest Consulting, he has provided training to individuals and
organizations in media relations, crisis management, and executive
presentations. He also frequently conducts training for the American
Management Association at its Washington center and around the country.
Earnest served as President of the national
Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) from 1997 to 1999 and
currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Earnest now serves as the first Executive
Director of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, a new museum
exploring the craft, practice, history and contemporary role of espionage.
Travels from Washington, DC area
Peter
Earnest Links
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