James Pryde was a former radio operator
with the Tuskegee airmen. He joined the Agency in 1950 and was initially
assigned to “the snake pit,” an all-black Russian plaintext office,
and then to the mailroom. Eventually, however, it was discovered that
he could read automatic Morse tapes and he was transferred to a signals
analysis section. A brilliant career in Soviet exploitation followed,
first as an analyst, then as a manager becoming the chief of a Soviet
analysis office in 1965. In March 1978 Mr. Pryde was named the Director
of the Defense Special Missile and Astronautic Center (DEFSMAC). He
retired from this position in 1980.