Name: Barry Broman
Nicknamed: Kiwi
Dates in Vietnam: January 1969 – June 1970
MOS: 0301, 0302 – Platoon Commander, Company Executive Officer, Liaison Officer, Press Officer, Company Commander
Rank: Captain
Barry Broman dropped out of college in 1962 to work for a year as a photographer for the Associated Press in Bangkok, Thailand, with assignments in South Vietnam and Cambodia. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1967 and at the same time was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. He went on active duty in 1968 after receiving a Master of Arts in Southeast Asian studies at the University of Washington.
Broman served as a platoon commander and company executive officer with Company H, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, in Vietnam for seven months in 1969. He then served in 1st Marine Division’s G-5 (civil affairs) and extended his Vietnam tour by six months. Part of his extension was spent as U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, liaison officer in Thailand.
Promoted to captain, he served as the Camp Pendleton, CA, press officer and then commanded Company H, 2d Battalion, 7th Marines.
He joined the Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1971 and served for 25 years.
Joining the CIA after fighting in Vietnam as a Marine, Broman’s first posting was war-torn Cambodia. During his career, he was twice chief of station, once a deputy chief of station, and supervised an international paramilitary project in support of the Cambodian resistance to Vietnamese invaders. Barry was actively involved in several assignments in counternarcotics operations in Southeast Asia including a major “bust” that yielded 551 kilograms of high-grade heroin from a major drug trafficker. His “favorite agent” against a variety of “hard targets” was a fellow whose only demand was that his assignments be “life threatening.” He survived them all.
He has written/photographed 15 books and produced nine documentary films. He lives with his wife Betty Jane in Kirkland, WA.
Barry is a sought-after speaker, an accomplished author and photographer, and he’s produced nine documentary films. He’s the author of Risk Taker, Spy Maker: Tales of a CIA Case Officer and his most recently published book is: “Indochina Hand: More Tales of a CIA Case Officer. In 2023, he published his first novel, “The Spy From Place Saint-Sulpice” and a second novel “The Spy From Sukhumvit Road” will be published soon.