Challenge Coins & Watches - CIA and Military Culture

The History is Murky, but Challenge Coins Are a Key Aspect of Culture & Camaraderie in the W.O.E. Community 

Watches of Espionage started with a single picture. I was sitting in my (home) office, bored on another pandemic-driven Zoom call that had dominated my post-CIA life, and I was looking for an outlet. I slid my IWC off my wrist, placed it next to a challenge coin I probably pulled out of a desk drawer, and posted it under the newly created Instagram name @watchesofespionage. That was February 2021. If I had known at the time what Watches of Espionage would morph into, I probably would have deleted it and gone about my day. I am glad I didn't.

The watch was an IWC Mark XVII, a steel pilot’s watch with deep personal meaning. Looking back at pictures of the years I was at CIA, this was the watch most frequently on my wrist. It is a versatile watch that can fit in with a suit and tie at a diplomatic function in Europe or jeans and a dirty T-shirt in the African bush. It is also not overly flashy and does not draw undue attention.

W.O.E.’s first-ever post. I had no idea where it was going to go.

The IWC has three letters engraved on the back, only one of which is one of my initials. The engraving caused some problems during a training exercise when I was (REDACTED) pulled into secondary for additional “screening” (interrogation). Fortunately, I had come up with a cover story for the three letters as the initials of a fictitious father prior to the training exercise, and it was not a significant issue. It was a good lesson and reminder that the smallest details matter in the world of espionage.

The other item was a challenge coin, with a bald eagle and the phrase “Ye Shall Know The Truth And The Truth Shall Make You Free,” the words engraved in marble at the entrance of CIA’s Old Headquarters Building (OHB). Taken from the Gospel of John, it is an informal motto of CIA, apparently chosen by former Director Allen Dulles.

To the outsider, it may seem cool, but any Agency veteran will quickly recognize this as an “EAA coin,” purchased from the CIA gift shop next to the cafeteria. I don’t remember acquiring it; it was likely purchased as a potential gift to a foreign liaison service, or just found in a desk at CIA HQS. Aesthetically, I like the coin, but it has no real meaning because it was not earned. It is not tied to a PCS assignment, operational accomplishment, or a joint partnership. Unlike other coins in my possession (collection?), it is “just a coin.”

Inanimate Objects with Meaning

Challenge coins are at the heart of culture in the military, intelligence, and national security community, in the United States and among allied countries.  

Challenge coins are generally handed out to unit members and close associates to commemorate an assignment, operation, or mutual respect. The coins are unique in shape and design, but often carry a unit insignia, a motto, or, in the case of CIA coins, a subtle message that is often decipherable only to the recipient or unit. Generic coins can be purchased at the gift shop at CIA Headquarters, the Pentagon, and other government offices, but the best challenge coins are earned and carry real meaning. 

Like watches, they have developed real meaning that is difficult to understand from the outside looking in. Many collectors may view them as unique things to collect, but like unit watches, you cannot truly understand the meaning of the challenge coin if you bought it on eBay.

Receiving cell phone photos of watches and coins from members of the community is just the best.

The Challenge - The Unconfirmed History

The origin of the modern challenge coin tradition is murky at best. Some accounts trace it to volunteers in the Army Air Service during World War I. According to lore, a wealthy lieutenant passed out bronze coins to fellow aviators. One of the recipients was reportedly shot down, escaped German captors, and used the coin to prove his identity to suspicious French troops, narrowly avoiding execution as a spy. I always take these types of “origin stories” with a grain of salt, though there is probably some truth to it.

Intriguingly, another story credits the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to CIA, with developing coins for operational purposes. As the story goes, OSS officers used the coins to verify (challenge) identities when meeting contacts behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France, one of several unverified threads in the coin's murky lineage. Again, I hope this one is true, but I am skeptical. 

What I do believe is that modern military/intelligence challenge coins most likely trace back to the Vietnam War, which ironically is where I think one must begin to understand watch culture in National Security. During the conflict, US Army Special Forces and other infantry units designed coins, Zippo lighters, and even calling cards as a form of identification and a source of unit pride. Members would "challenge" one another to produce their coin as proof of membership. "Coin checks" verified affiliation, and a member unable to produce his coin owed the group a round of drinks. (Note: this is the most commonly cited origin history for challenge coins.)

Popularity increased through the 1990s and found wider adoption during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan after September 11th.  Coins expanded beyond units to individual generals, senior intelligence officials, and even the President of the United States.  Today, they have wide adoption across CIA and the broader military and intelligence community. This is roughly the same period unit watches came into their own, both objects filling the same need: something small, personal, and earned, that would continue to have meaning well beyond one’s government service.

Breitling unit watches produced for the NSA, along with an NSA coin.

Challenge Coins at CIA

At CIA, coins are handed out sparingly, usually only after completing a two- or three-year assignment overseas or at HQS. Most offices, departments, mission centers, and overseas stations have their own challenge coin. To outsiders, they can be hard to decipher, and this is by design. CIA officers do not wear uniforms or rank insignia, so these often vague coins are the only tangible proof officers have of where they have been and what they have done. They are inherently unclassified, produced by outside manufacturers, and items you can take home, but they can be somewhat sensitive (I have not posted any with specific locations on them).  

For many, myself included, they are one of the few tangible talismans of a career of quiet service. When I was in government, these coins meant little to me. Most sat in a box under the desk of a trusted Collection Management Officer (CMO) while I was overseas. When I rotated back to HQS, I would add a few more to the pile, unsure if they would still be there when I returned.

Since leaving the government, they have developed real meaning, which is why they featured so heavily in the early days of Watches of Espionage and continue as a feature in our current form. Each one signifies an operational accomplishment, an overseas tour, a snapshot in time, a completed training pipeline, or a joint operation with another agency. They tell a story, the details of which only I know. They are talismans of a life of service, and, like watches, they have become collectible in both the military memorabilia and civilian markets. 

Final Thoughts

When I posted that first photo, I didn’t think about the deep parallels between watches and challenge coins or how much these objects have come to mean in my post-government life. But over the coming months, I would continue to post watches and challenge coins, something that many would go on to emulate. But looking back on it, it was a subconscious recognition of items with meaning.  

The first "product" I developed was our challenge coin and the W.O.E. Travel Pouch. Handmade by my first partner, Leather Works Minnesota, each case tells a story and honors our community with a camouflage flap catcher constructed from recycled Battle Dress Uniforms; the first version was built from Tiger Stripe, the camouflage most closely associated with the intelligence and special operations communities in Vietnam. 

Each pouch includes a W.O.E. coin inside, not sold separately, and included for those who understood what it was. While, again, somewhat subconsciously, it was about building, in physical form, the same idea behind that first Instagram post: a tool you use and a token you keep.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider signing up for our weekly free newsletter for further updates HERE.