How Did Weyse Lee Conrad's Espionage Negatively Affect National Security And Military Operations?

SPC Colby Michael Cummings
163rd MP Det, 716th MP BN, 16th MP BDE
30 March 2018
CLYDE LEE CONRAD Espionage negatively effects national security and military operations. Doing so impacts the United States missions and jeopardizes many lives. The espionage act of 1917 was enacted to improve national security for the war effort of World War One. Sergeant First Class Clyde Lee Conrad conducted espionage against the United States and NATO allies. Within this paper you will learn how Conrad was able to go against the interests of the country he swore an oath to, and the under lying reasons. The Information leaked by Conrad was enormous and greatly impacted the security
He shared thousands of classified documents with the enemy of the United States and its allies. Top secret documents labeled cosmic were also exchanged. Cosmic classification was used to label documents containing information on nuclear weapons. “Mr. Conrad gave away information on rocket bases in West Germany, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's secret oil pipeline in West Germany to resupply tanks, and on other military installations, according to West German and American officials. Previously, American officials had said that the spy network had disclosed secret NATO and American Army plans for the defense of Europe.” (Jeff Gerth 1). America was at the height of the Cold War. Conrad was selling information with Hungary, which gave the information to Russia. If a war occurred in Europe between the Soviet Union and NATO, the Soviet Union would have had the upper hand. Conrad and the spy ring were able to give the enemy NATO’s strategy in the event of a war and nuclear site
Conrad lived above his means for an enlisted soldier. “Conrad was living well-above his means, depositing large sums of money in numerous bank accounts, with take-home pay of $764 a month. He had no second job and a wife who did not work, but he had two new cars in the driveway and enough cash on hand that he did not notice when his retirement pay had not been deposited for several months in a row. Conrad had to have another source of income.” (Ruth Quin 1). Over the course of the spy ring, Conrad received over one million dollars and deposited it into multiple Swiss bank accounts. One million dollars back in 1980 is just over 3 million dollars in 2018. Conrad had retired in 1985 and resided in Germany. Due to no extradition from West Germany, Americans were forced to share their case with the German’s and for them to continue the investigation. Intelligence agents were able to compile a large amount of evidence against Conrad and the spy ring to ensure a conviction. Conrad was arrested on 23 August 1988 within Germany. Conrad received a life sentence for high treason and espionage, but only served eight of those years due to his death in jail from heart failure. The Kercsik brothers only received 18 month sentences due to assistance with testifying against Conrad, and identifying other individuals they worked with. Szabo who originally got Conrad into contact with the