‘Spookstock,’ the secret CIA gala – IOTW Report

‘Spookstock,’ the secret CIA gala

There were plenty of clowns at that party.

BPR: You may have never heard of Spookstock, but it’s one of the most elite annual charity galas in Washington, DC.

Held for the tight-knit intelligence and military special operations communities, the invitation-only gala is highly secretive and details are tightly guarded. The goal is to raise money to take care of the families of CIA officers and special operations forces killed in the field.

This year’s event happened sometime earlier this year with little fanfare, with about 1,800 people in attendance, according to the New York Post. Grammy-winning rocker Lenny Kravitz was featured as a performer.

Retired Maj. Gen. Clay Hutmacher, the former director of operations for U.S. Special Operations Command, told the paper that the galas are a “very causal” affair.

“I’ve done my share of formal events and black dress nights. This is a lot more fun,” Hutmacher said. “It’s very casual — if you want to show up in a Def Leppard T-shirt, that’s fine.”

Spookstock has been around for seven years now — the inaugural event featured former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper doing a “Blues Brothers” routine with Dan Aykroyd — and has raised millions for the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

Spookstock board member Mark Kelton said each charity received about $400,000 last year, after expenses. read more

17 Comments on ‘Spookstock,’ the secret CIA gala

  1. Hello Mark,
    Nice to meet you.
    What’s up?
    By the way, have you heard the news?
    There is this old kid in town.
    He doesn’t like you using that nic.
    A shade thing, know what I mean?
    If you catch my drift.
    Ask Uncle Al.
    He’ll tell you.
    F.D.R. in Hell too.
    How about you mod it just a little?
    Maybe add a 4 or a 6, not 5, or even Uncle.
    Whichever you decide to do you ought to just do it.
    Deal?

  2. So I’ll translate, I think.

    There is another contributor who has been using the name ‘Mark’ for longer than I have, right? So it would be cool if I picked up another handle out of common courtesy.

    Is that the gist of things??

    3
  3. One of the things I was recommended for when I first joined the Navy was Intelligence work. I still can’t believe it as I had no desire to be a spook. One of my friends in HS dad was an Air Force Intelligence official, he was never home and always was overseas in SE Asia someplace and he very rarely saw him until he retired. His dad was a nice enough guy but a little odd and very aloof. I didn’t have the desire nor the ability to live a double life as a spook, I’ve known a few spooks and frankly most of them scare the hell out of me. I also have a very smart friend from HS who did intelligence work in the Army after HS in the 70’s because of 4 years of learning Russian. He’s still one of the smartest guys I ever knew, I still see him occasionally and he turned out OK.

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  4. If James Clapper was used for anything other than Pin the Tail on the Donkey, I can’t imagine the gala was THAT much fun. Or how about Brennan in the Waterboard Dunk Tank?

    Blues Brother, pffft. Yeah, Clapper just screams “cool”. I can’t think of a dumber man to entrust with national Intel than this clown. Brennan? He’s uber creepy, but Clapper has him beat by a mile in dumbness.

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  5. Pink-slip every last one of their asses.

    No notice, just all of a sudden, key card won’t get them in the building, email doesn’t work, can’t log into the system. Total freeze out. How are these people actually protecting our country, instead of their own interests?

    6
  6. First, it should be noted that our country has some of the finest spies in the World on our government payrolls.

    Second, it would be great if we could find out what countries they’re all working for.

    6
  7. @wild bill, you could have walked down the hall and fired every single one of them of them in the OSS but back then the only spies were brits and they were all from oxford

    3

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