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James Pryde was a former radio operator with the Tuskegee airmen. He joined the Agency in 1950 and was initially assigned to "the snake pit," an all-black Russian plaintext office, and then to the mailroom. Eventually, however, it was discovered that he could read automatic Morse tapes and he was transferred to a signals analysis section. A brilliant career in Soviet exploitation followed, first as an analyst, then as a manager becoming the chief of a Soviet analysis office in 1965. In March 1978 Mr. Pryde was named the Director of the Defense Special Missile and Astronautic Center (DEFSMAC). He retired from this position in 1980.