In 1983, Australian intelligence became a laughing stock after spies trashed a hotel and threatened staff during a botched training exercise

In 1983, a hotel in Melbourne, Australia, found itself under siege by 5 men wearing masks and brandishing sledgehammers, tear gas, and submachine guns. They smashed one of the doors to a room, kidnapped a man, and threatened staff and bystanders who stood in their way. What hotel staff and almost 400 guests in the building didn’t know was that this was all a part of an intelligence training exercise.

The Sheraton Hotel in Melbourne became the center of a national embarrassment for Australia after a group of trainee agents working for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) made fools of themselves during what was supposed to be a covert training exercise.

What was the training exercise?

According to an article from upi.com the trainee spies had been tasked with rescuing a “hostage” who was being held captive by two men in another hotel room. In reality, the hostage was just another intelligence worker posing as a captive.

The group had been instructed to ‘use deception and subterfuge’ to subdue the guards and get the hostage to safety. However, the five agents opted for the loud and messy approach, opting for a violent attack on the room which involved using a sledgehammer to destroy the door. Why they thought this was a good idea is anyone’s guess.

Sheraton Hotel staff intervene

The biggest problem with the training exercise was the fact that nobody in the hotel had been notified that it would be taking place. So when the group of five armed men began behaving violently and damaging property the hotel manager tried to intervene.

Sheraton Hotel Manager, Nick Rice, described how his staff had informed him of the agents breaking down a door on the tenth floor. When he went up to investigate he found a man in a mask and carrying a gun. Rice and the man began wrestling and when the manager escaped he was pursued by the agent who told him “nobody was going to get hurt,” although Rice claimed “It was hard to believe him while he was holding a gun.”

Rice and other staff members were then ordered into a kitchen. One agent supposedly shoved Rice in the gut with his gun. The five then left the hotel through a rear exit although they were apprehended by police shortly after.

The aftermath

The group were released by police several hours later although the whole ordeal quickly became a national embarrassment for the Australian intelligence after newspapers caught wind of this embarrassing mess up. Foreign Minister Bill Hayden labeled it an “intolerable incident,” and claimed that it had been organized without his knowledge.

The controversy also cost the career of John Ryan, the then Director-General of ASIS. It’s safe to say it was a pretty embarrassing moment for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, who seemingly forgot the “Secret” part in their name.