Author, Military Figure, Intelligence Analyst. He was a distinguished veteran of World War II, a long-time CIA analyst and pioneer in geospatial intelligence, and author of five books and more than one hundred scholarly articles. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, flying 66 bombing and reconnaissance missions in the European Theatre. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, nine Air Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation. After the war, he received bachelor's and master's degrees from George Washington University. He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in March of 1948, becoming an expert in Soviet industrial installations. In 1955, he was selected for the Photographic Intelligence Division which would later become the National Photographic Interpretation Center. The group was tasked with the interpretation of U-2, SR-72 and satellite imagery in strategic and crisis situations, specifically assessing Soviet military assets and readiness. Bruginoi was a key deputy to Art Lundahl and presented the team's interpretation of the October 14, 1962 U-2 surveillance photos that discovered Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba to President John F. Kennedy, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. During his 35 year tenure with the CIA, he analyzed intelligence in several major conflicts including the Vietnam War and served as an adviser to historians on the use of aerial imagery as source material. He received numerous awards for his service, including a citation from President Kennedy for his performance during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the CIA Intelligence Medal of Merit, the CIA Career Intelligence Medal, and the Pioneer in Space Medal for his role in the development of satellite reconnaissance. He was twice awarded the Sherman Kent Award, the CIA’s top award for outstanding contributions to intelligence literature. In 2005, he was inducted into the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s Hall of Fame. His publishing career cemented his reputation as an expert in imagery interpretation and doctored photos. Notable works include "Eyes in the Sky: Eisenhower, the CIA and Cold War Aerial Espionage" (2010), "Photo Fakery: A History of Deception and Manipulation" (1999), "Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis" (1992), "The Civil War in Missouri: As Seen from the Capital City" (1986), and his 1979 study of aerial photos of the Auschwitz concentration camp "The Holocaust Revisited". He toured extensively, lecturing at more than fifty universities, and military and industrial organizations. In 2002, he was a member of the ten-person U.S. delegation to Havana to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.