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David M. Humpert
Dave Humpert recently retired as the Political and Military Analyst for Russia at NORAD/USNORTHCOM, J2 Directorate in 2016; a position he’s held for fifteen years, capping a long and storied career in and out of uniform. Mr. Humpert holds a B.A. in Russian Area Studies from Oregon State University (cum laude); and an M.A. in Russian Area Studies (summa cum laude) from the University of Washington. During his varied career as a Soviet/Russian military and political specialist, Dave relied on his extensive knowledge of Russian political and military history and its culture. His Russian language proficiency was invaluable as an interpreter, translator, and source-language analyst in a variety of challenging assignments for the U.S. Air Force and the intelligence community.
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About The Book
David M. Humpert
1983 was the most dangerous year in the U.S.-USSR Cold War confrontation since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Once elected, President Reagan declared a political and military campaign against the “evil empire,” although Soviet political leaders were looking to untie the Gordian knot that was hindering the Soviet Union’s economic development.
The U.S. intelligence community indicated that the Soviet Union was in an economic downward spiral marked by the quagmire in Afghanistan; the drain of funds supporting Third World revolutionary regimes; and the crushing cost of competing with the largest peacetime increases in the U.S. defense since the Second World War. The aging Soviet leaders believed that the “correlation of forces,” Soviet terminology for assessing the international balance of power, was sliding against Moscow and that Washington was in the hands of a dangerous anti-Soviet leadership determined to place the Soviet Union “on the ash heap of history.”
Testimonal
Positively riveting. Though fictionalized, this marvelous book tells us what very well could have happened in arguably the most tense year of the Cold War. It’s incredibly sobering to reflect upon how close the world was to terminating itself.
Riveting and masterfully written, its every word speaks for suspense.
Biography
Dave Humpert recently retired as the Senior Political and Military Analyst for Russia at NORAD/USNORTHCOM, J2 Directorate a position he’s held for fifteen years, capping a long and storied career in and out of uniform. Mr. Humpert holds a B.A. in Russian Area Studies from Oregon State University (cum laude) and an M.A. in Russian Area Studies (summa cum laude) from the University of Washington. As a Soviet/Russian military and political specialist, he relied extensively on his over forty years of knowledge of Russian history and culture and experience using the Russian language as an interpreter, translator, and researcher in a variety of challenging assignments for the U.S. Air Force and the intelligence community.
In 2002, Dave retired as a Lt. Colonel — after 30 years (both enlisted and commissioned) serving in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air Force Reserve. Prior to his assignment at NORAD/USNORTHCOM, Lt. Col. Humpert taught Russian at the U.S. Air Force Academy. While at the Academy, Dave was deployed to Bosnia where he coordinated reconnaissance and surveillance collection plans for SFOR. In 1991, then-Major Humpert was assigned to the Pentagon, Office of the Secretary of Defense where he served as the Policy Analyst, Russia and Transcaucasus. For the previous three years, Captain Humpert was assigned as an Air Liaison Officer at the U.S. Military Liaison Mission to the Commander-in-Chief, Western Group of Forces, Zossen-Wunsdorf, East Germany. He commanded nearly 300 operational missions into a hostile and potentially dangerous environment to observe readiness and war-fighting capabilities of Soviet and East German forces in East Germany. Before Germany, Dave’s knowledge of the Russian language, history and culture proved invaluable in his selection as a Presidential Translator, Washington-Moscow Direct Communications Link, or better known as the Hotline. Finally, in his first assignment in Washington, D.C., Lt. Humpert served four years at Bolling Air Force Base, Air Force Intelligence Service where he was in charge of translating and editing authoritative Soviet military literature for Russian linguists and analysts worldwide.
