Our speaker for our October 13, 2020, will be Art Lindberg. Art will be giving a follow on speech to his 2014 talk on Operation Lemonade, and will detail the unintended consequences of this operation. During his 28 years in the Navy, he received numerous decorations including the Legion of Merit. . He served aboard ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets as well as tours in the Republic of the Philippines and Antarctica. After his first three year tour in which his primary position as a Line Officer on an aircraft carrier was Officer of the Deck Underway and for Special Sea Details, he transferred to the Supply Corps with specialties in Navy Logistics and Procurement.
His final tour was at the Naval Air Engineering Center (NAEC), Lakehurst, NJ. The Center is the world’s leading research and development organization in support of naval aviation from touchdown to take-off; arresting gear, catapults and ground support equipment. At that assignment he was the Director of the Major Field Procurement Office, NAEC and stood watch as Command Duty Officer. As such he had access to highly classified information.
In 1977, while at NAEC, the FBI requested that he take on, in addition to his regular duties, a secret undercover assignment as a double agent. This was in addition to his regular duties and resulted in “Operation Lemonade”. This world famous case included the infiltration of a Soviet spy ring operating out of the United Nations, the arrest and conviction of two Soviet spies and the subsequent swap of the spies for five Soviet dissidents imprisoned in Siberian Gulags.
In recognition of his leading role in “Operation Lemonade” Lindberg received the Legion of Merit from Secretary of the Navy. This is the highest award given in peacetime to a military person. President Carter described Operation Lemonade in his autobiography as his “most significant Humanitarian accomplishment of his presidency.” The operation resulted in literally 10s of thousands of inmates obtaining freedom from Siberian Gulags. Lindberg was awarded the Soviet Jewry Freedom Award by the Russian Jewish Community Foundation which represents 40,000 Refusniks residing in New England.
Mr. Lindberg went on to have a second career as a senior executive with Jersey Central Power and Light Company. He continued to be involved with international intelligence as President of the New England Chapter of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. He has also been very active in leadership positions for numerous charities.
Mr. Lindberg is currently retired and resides in the Las Vegas, Nevada area where he continued with volunteer efforts associated with the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, Veterans groups and management of the 7400 Home Owners Association responsible for management of Sun City Anthem senior community.
Please note that the time for this meeting due to scheduling constraints will be at 2 PM in the Delaware Room. Please enter through the door down by the fitness center to check in and then walk down to the Delaware Room. Reservations will be required and limited to 35 active members. Please call Phil Simmons at 702-263-0081. All other members can watch the meeting on their computers via the GoTo Meeting website. We will send out detailed information on how to login to GoToMeeting the week prior to the meeting.