How the CIA Used Cutting-Edge Mask Technology to Blend in With Russian Babushkas on Secret Mission (Exclusive)
In an exclusive excerpt from her book 'In True Face,' the CIA's former Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez shares fascinating insight into tools that fooled the KGB
By Dawn Klavon | Published on February 25, 2024 09:15AM ESTJonna Mendez spent nearly 30 years helping to mastermind life-saving missions at the CIA, where she became the Chief of Disguise — but she hasn't shared her full story until now.
“At the CIA, if you have a great idea, you can get it to the President,” says Mendez, who hopes her new CIA-reviewed memoir, In True Face: A Woman’s Life in the CIA Unmasked, out March 5, will inspire a new generation to serve. “That felt like a special power, because we knew that there always was the opportunity to save the world."
In the new book, Mendez shares numerous juicy details — from how she briefed President George H.W. Bush on the agency’s new mask technology while wearing one of the advanced pieces without him knowing, to her enduring romance with Antonio “Tony” Mendez, a charismatic CIA officer and former chief of disguise best known for rescuing six U.S. diplomats from Tehran in 1980. That experience inspired the 2012 Academy Award-winning film Argo, in which Tony is portrayed by Ben Affleck.
Jonna Mendez (left, giving a tutorial at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2002) says the center “isn’t just a project— it’s become a family". Courtesy the International Spy Museum