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Clarence Ashley
Clarence Ashley is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency who was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor...view moreClarence Ashley is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency who was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1957 and a master of science in the same field in 1964. During his military service at Vandenberg Air Force base, Mr. Ashley was part of the team that launched the first-ever strategic missile launched by an operational crew anywhere in the world. He later worked on the development of the Atlas Missile, one of the first ICBM missiles placed into service by the US Air Force during the Cold War, and worked for General Electric on the development and manufacture of the components of the Minute Man missile program. He was also part of the Polaris Missile program at Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Ashley then took a career turn and accepted a position as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, assessing Soviet strategic missile capabilities of the (then) USSR and preparing national intelligence estimates. At the CIA, he also contributed to the creation of procedures and techniques for evaluating the capabilities of alternative collection systems, designed to provide a foundation for resource allocation decisions. Mr. Ashley became interested in being in business for himself and left the military-industrial complex for a small commercial real estate firm in McLean, Virginia. It was there that he met George Kisevalter and formed a friendship that lasted twenty-four years, until Kisevalter's death in 1997. Though Mr. Ashley has published poetry in national publications, his first book, CIA SpyMaster , is an outgrowth of his friendship with the CIA's most decorated case officer. Currently, Mr. Ashley is the owner and principal broker of a commercial real-estate firm in northern Virginia and is an active member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. He lives in Great Falls, Virginia, with his wife.view less