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I take offense to the notion that Aldrich Ames was a “good spy,” an outdated term, and I shall lay out my case for the reasons Ames was not initially discovered. This is a long piece, so settle down with your favorite beverage before reading.Rick Ames had been an employee of CIA for 31 years, with most of his career spent in the Directorate of Operations. The extent of Ames’s espionage activities was unclear at the time of his arrest. After concluding their investigation, Justice Department officials confirmed that Ames was believed to have caused the death or imprisonment of a number of Soviets who had been sources of CIA and the FBI.Ames was trained by CIA to be an operations or case officer. A psychological assessment of Ames prior to his training—a routine procedure for all successful applicants—identified him lacking the qualities necessary for a successful career as a case officer. Ames came across as an intellectual and a loner, rather than a gregarious person capable of meeting and recruiting people of diverse backgrounds and cultures. However, at the conclusion of his training, Ames was assessed as a “strong” trainee, depicted as intelligent, mature, enthusiastic, and industrious.[1]In a statement read to the court at the time the plea agreements were entered, Ames admitted having compromised “virtually all Soviet agents of the CIA and other American and foreign services known to me” and having provided to the Soviet Union and to Russia a “huge quantity of information on United States foreign, defense and security policies.”[2]Ames’ conceit was so deep that even his admission of guilt rang hollow: “For those persons in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere who may have suffered from my actions, I have the deepest sympathy even empathy. We made similar choices and suffer similar consequences.”[3]During Ames’ first tour in Ankara, Turkey, he was rated as a strong performer and was promoted to GS-11 after his first year there.[4] By the end of his second year, however, his rating dropped to “proficient”; and after his third year, his performance was deemed “unsuited for field work.”[5] Ames’ superiors recommended he spend the remainder of his career at CIA Headquarters in Langley—in effect, a demotion.Though Ames’ overall evaluation was “satisfactory,” he was deeply bothered and discouraged by this critical assessment of his job performance. Ames himself told colleagues in 1988 that he felt unduly criticised and considered leaving CIA.In 1972, Ames returned to CIA headquarters where he spent the next 4 years in the Soviet-East European (SE) Division of the Directorate of Operations. In 1973, he was given Russian language training, and thereafter was assigned to a position where he supported CIA operations against Soviet officials in the United States. While at Headquarters, Ames won generally enthusiastic reviews from his supervisors, apparently because he was more proficient in managing paperwork than he was managing people.It was here that evidence of Ames’ drinking problems surfaced. At a Christmas party on December 20, 1973, Ames became so drunk that he had to be helped home by employees from CIA’s Office of Security. The following Christmas, Ames also became intoxicated and was discovered by an Agency security officer in a compromising position with a female CIA employee. Each incident resulted in an Office of Security “Eyes Only” memorandum being placed in his security file.[6] There is no evidence, however, that any of Ames’ supervisors were made aware of the incidents.While serving as a desk officer supporting field operations through June 1976, Ames received four evaluations rating him a “strong performer” and one as “proficient”; there were occasional commendations for his motivation and effectiveness. However, these favorable evaluations also noted Ames's procrastination and inattention to detail—issues that would become chronic problems.[7]From 1976 until 1981, Ames was assigned to New York City where he handled two important Soviet assets for CIA. HIs performance appraisals during this period were the highest of his career. Ames's supervisors regarded him as interested, articulate, and capable. As a result, Ames received several promotions and a bonus. In May 1982, following the conclusion of his New York tour, and largely on the basis of his performance in New York, Ames received what was to become his last promotion to GS-14.However, Ames’ issues regarding procrastination and inattention to detail were such that his supervisors felt compelled to note this in Ames’ evaluations.Ame’s drinking and inattentiveness led to two security violations. In 1976, when Ames was on his way to meet a Soviet asset, he left his briefcase on a subway train. The briefcase contained classified operational materials which could have compromised the Soviet asset concerned. Within hours, the FBI retrieved the briefcase from a Polish emigre who had found it, but it was unclear to what extent the information may have been compromised. For this, Ames only received a verbal reprimand. In October 1980, Ames was cited for leaving TOP SECRET communications equipment unsecured in his office, but this, too, only resulted in a verbal warning.Adding to Ames’ problems, his marriage was strained. He refused several overseas assignments because his wife did not want to leave New York. Ames finally accepted an assignment to Mexico, assuming he could stay in close contact with his wife.While in Mexico, Ames’ performance followed a similar pattern, His first assessment was positive while future reviews showed poor performance. Yet, his Agency superiors gave him good reviews, citing his enthusiasm. This appears to be a systemic flaw in the way the Agency evaluates its heads of station. Negative reports of an officer reflect poorly on station heads, meaning less advancement. Human nature comes into play here, and obvious warning signs are overlooked in favor of a satisfactory job performance review.Perhaps a sign of things to come was when Ames was considered for the position of Deputy Head of Station in another Latin American Country, yet none of his superiors would endorse the promotion because of Ames’ mediocre performance.Ames always seemed to perform at a level just above acceptable. But he felt he was intellectually superior to his fellow officers and resented being overlooked for promotion.While in Mexico Ames had three extra-marital affairs. As his first marriage dissolved, Ames was introduce by a CIA colleague to a paid asset, Maria del Rosario Casas Dupuy (hereinafter referred to as "Rosario"), the cultural attache at the Colombian Embassy in Mexico City. Though some of Ames’ colleagues were aware of the relationship, Ames defied Agency regulations and did not report his romance with a foreign national to his superiors.It was also in Mexico that Ames continued to drink heavily. He would regularly go out with a group of people, take long lunches, and drink too much. At a diplomatic reception at the American Embassy in Mexico City, he had a loud, boisterous, alcohol-fueled argument with a Cuban official. On another occasion, Ames was involved in a traffic accident in Mexico City and was so drunk he could not answer police questions or recognize the U.S. Embassy officer sent to help him.[8]Ames’ superiors recommended that he undergo counseling upon his return to the U.S. Ames was administered blood tests which proved normal, and he denied to the counselor that he had a drinking problem. The Inspector General’s report indicates that the medical office was not aware of, and did not request, additional information about Ames's drinking habits.[9] Ames himself has said that there were much more serious problems of alcohol abuse in the Directorate, such that his was subsequently overlooked.At Langley, Ames was selected for a sensitive position as counterintelligence branch chief for Soviet operations. Ames was in a position to gain access to all CIA operations involving Soviet intelligence officers worldwide. His assignment also gave him access to all CIA plans and operations targeted against the KGB and GRU intelligence services.[10]Ames also began providing intermittent support to a CIA field office responsible for developing Soviet sources in the Washington, D.C. area. He met occasionally with one Soviet official to assess that individual as a potential source, and when that individual returned to the Soviet Union, Ames established a new relationship with another Soviet embassy official, Sergey Dmitriyevich Chuvakhin, also to assess him.[11]While in this position, there was evidence that Ames’ drinking problem had resurfaced.It was at this time that Ames’ informed the Office of Security of his intentions to marry Rosario. She was given a polygraph exam, which she passed. However, no effort was made to substantiate claims that she was an heiress from a wealthy family. The counterintelligence staff of the D.O. recommended that in light of Ames's intent to marry a foreign national, he be transferred from his position as branch chief in the counterintelligence section of the Soviet-Eastern Europe Desk to a less sensitive position in the Directorate of Operations. However, there is no record of management pursuing this.Ames’ drinking problem did eventually resurface. After consuming several alcoholic drinks at a meeting with his Soviet contact, Ames continued to drink at a CIA-FBI softball game until he became seriously inebriated. Ames had to be driven home that night and “left behind at the field his badge, cryptic notes, a wallet which included alias identification documents, and his jacket.”[12]Another breach of security occurred when Ames was temporarily detailed to New York. Along with two fellow officers, Ames would stay at Agency-provided quarters. Ames showed up with Rosario. One of the other officers complained to a local CIA officer that Rosario's presence in Agency housing compromised the cover of the other case officers as well as their activities. A second CIA officer confronted Ames, who said he and Rosario moved to a hotel. Once again, there is no record of an official reprimand, only a verbal one upon his return to Langley.Beginning in June 1985, Ames’ divorce settlement from his first wife required him to pay alimony, all outstanding credit card and other debt totaling well over $33,000. At this time, Ames has acknowledged to IG investigators that his monthly indebtedness had grown since living with Rosario. It was these pressures, said Ames, which in April 1985, led him to conceive of “a scam to get money from the KGB.”Using his considerable knowledge of Soviet operations and experience in clandestine operations, Aldrich Ames concocted a plan to obtain money from the Soviets without being detected by the CIA or the FBI. In April 1985, Ames arranged a meeting with Chuvakhin. Chuvakhin thought the meeting was to discuss broad U.S.-Soviet security concerns; CIA thought Ames was meeting with Chuvakhin to assess the Soviet as a possible source for U.S. intelligence. In fact, Ames’ plan was to offer the Soviets classified information in exchange for money.Ames’ treachery has been documented and reviewed by the media ad nauseum. What complicated Ames’ discovery was that a second traitor, Edward Lee Howard, was also cooperating with the Soviets. Howard’s reason for turning traitor stemmed from his bitterness toward CIA. He had made several damning statements while being given a polygraph exam that led to his abrupt termination.After a planned meeting between a CIA officer and his Soviet source was thwarted, the Agency turned its attention to Howard. Later, evidence has shown that Ames had turned over the name of the Soviet asset to his KGB contact as well as had Howard.While CIA hierarchy debated institutional shortcomings that caused them to miss the warning signs in Howard’s case, the D.O. considered it unthinkable that one of their own could have been turned, despite the losses in Soviet assets accrued under Ames’ aegis.It is this confluence of institutional blindness and the emphasis on career advancement that ultimately gave rise to opportunities for the Aldrich Ames of the world to betray their country.[1] https://fas.org/irp/congress/1994_rpt/ssci_ames.htm[2] Ibid.[3] Ibid.[4] The People of the CIA ... Ames Mole Hunt Team[5] Op. cit. “Congress…”[6] Op. cit. “CIA…”[7] Op. cit. “Congress…”[8] Ibid.[9] https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a311780.pdf[10] Ibid.[11] Op. cit. “Congress…”[12] Ibid.