theamericans | (Reply)

From:

jae

It sounds like the Department Three representatives were mostly stationed in language schools, so linguistic skills definitely. Here's an excerpt from my notes:

The Third Department of Directorate S deals with the selection and training of illegals. The officials of this department are constantly studying students attending institutions of higher education which teach languages and other subjects in order to select candidates for the role of an illegal. For instance, at the Institute which I attended, we knew that Tsarkov, the dean’s assistant, belonged to the KGB, and we believed that his main occupation was to keep tabs on the students. It then turned out that he was an officer in the Third Department of ’S’ Directorate. After I had started working in the KGB, I ran across him in my own Directorate. The Third Department maintains close contact with the KGBs in the republics. There are sections there in their First Departments which select and study candidates to become illegals. They pay particular attention to ethnic minorities who have settled in the Soviet Union from neighbouring countries. In practical terms this means the whole of Asia and Europe.

And yeah, Philip and Elizabeth are SO much cooler than Anna Chapman. :)

-J