Lunchtime Series: It Wasn't in the Job Description with former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, Bill Hall
Time & Location
About The Event
Former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, William Hall, was serving as the U.S. defense attaché in Bulgaria in the late 1990s when fighting broke out over Kosovo’s bid for independence from Serbia. What do you say when an armed US missile lands in a friendly country? What are your obligations when the host country’s military chief of staff tells you, “God sent you?” How do you politely decline that full glass of vodka, offered by a Russian colonel, when you just came for a short visit to his embassy? Can you reach back to your training? The job description sometimes falls short... Bill Hall's stories illuminate the lesser known side of foreign relations, show that there is humor in surprising places, and still convey the serious work done by our military diplomats.
As always, this series is free and open to the public. Suggested donation for $10 for nonmembers. Please feel free to bring your lunch to eat during the presentation.
About the Speaker
Bill Hall is retired from the U.S. Air Force and a subsequent career at Martin’s Point Health Care in Portland. He grew up in Virginia and received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and a master’s degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. He was an intelligence officer for the US Air Force, serving on active duty from 1969 until 1999. He spent almost 18 years of that time overseas that included stints in the Balkans, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, Germany, Greece, Turkey, and northern Iraq. Assignments in the U.S. included the National Security Agency in Maryland. Bill is Vice President of the Council and chair of the Council's program committee. He served as the Interim Executive Director from 2017-18. Moving to Maine in late 1999, Bill lives on Peaks Island with his wife, Nancy. His international experience continues to be further refined and kept up to date by having a daughter-in-law from Kyrgyzstan and a son-in-law from Japan.