It’s Always Your Fault (aka How This Job Is Like Any Other Job)
We have all heard the saying “the buck stops here.” Well, when it comes to taking the heat, the buck does definitely stop at the doorsteps of the case officer. When things start to go wrong, the case officer should not expect HQ bureaucrats to be sympathetic. There is no better backseat quarterback than the bureaucrat sitting on your country desk at headquarters trying to find a way to get back to the field as a case officer. There will be plenty of cables from headquarters on the issue giving you problems, but most will be “cover-your-ass” in nature; a few may provide some genuine help.
Sometimes things go wrong as a direct result of instructions given by the bureaucracy, but since the case officer is at the end of the pipeline, guess who gets to accept responsibility. I had an agent with a green card (US Permanent Residency), but the foreign government agency for which he worked would not let him travel to the US to renew his green card status nor to apply for an extension to renew it. In essence, they were forcing him to give up his green card. The agent was afraid that his government may suspect him as a spy; thus, he requested CIA permission to defect to the US. The agency came up with a complicated compromise that satisfied the agent and all was supposed to be in order.
However, some bureaucrat shortly forgot about the promise and the green card expired. The agent received a notice that his green card had expired and assumed this was part of the CIA ploy. He brought me a copy of the expiration notice and I sent it to the Station.
Soon it was determined that—oops—someone dropped the ball. When the bureaucracy finished assessing blame, it was determined that it was my responsibility to have initiated the action to remind headquarters that action needed to be taken on the case. Bottom line is that the CIA finally did take appropriate action and the agent maintained his green card. Years later, over the protests of the CIA, the agent did immigrate to the US and became a US citizen.
Don’t Fall in Love
Throughout your career with the CIA you will be told over and over again, “Do not fall in love with your agent.” This, of course, is not meant in the literal sense. What it means is to keep a safe emotional and psychological buffer between you and the agent. You will be told not to completely trust your agent, not to take all the agent has to say at face value, to develop a respectful sense of doubt about your agent, and to always question his motives and intentions.
If you are a perfect case officer with complete self-control, you may be able to do all this with every one of your agents. But few case officers are perfect. We are, after all, the product of our own upbringing and environment, and CIA training alone cannot change the very nature of a person. Few of us are able to maintain such profound judgment in all cases.
During your career with the CIA, there will certainly be some agents with whom you will “fall in love.” Just as some agents may earn your distrust, there will be others who will earn your complete devotion and trust by virtue of the fact that they are risking their lives or at least their freedom by entrusting it to you.
After years of secret meetings with your agents, a bond of mutual dependency will and should develop. How can this sense of trust and mutual dependency not develop? You are dependent on each other for your mutual personal security. You and your agent’s very lives are intimately interwoven. One mistake on your part by a poorly executed brush pass, a sloppy dead drop run, or a poorly run SDR could lead a hostile security service to the very door of the safehouse where you and your agent are huddled in the act of espionage.
Should you be exposed, as an OC case officer, you will have diplomatic immunity and all that will happen to you will be expulsion from your host country. As a NOC case officer without diplomatic immunity, you could be incarcerated for espionage for many years. Your agent, on the other hand, could face life in prison or even the death penalty, depending on the country. So to say you should not develop a sense of trust in your agent is absurd. Trust him but also test him, as he will surely be trusting of you. He will have more at risk than you do.
The CIA bureaucracy reinforces in its case officers the belief that agents somehow are expendable, and this implies that their value as human beings is less than ours as case officers of the CIA. But it is precisely this type of arrogance unconsciously and unknowingly practiced by the case officer in the handling of their agents that can lead to the downfall of an operation. The CIA’s inside officers, in particular, are prone to this problem because they are the closest to the bureaucracy and less able to isolate themselves from the impersonal influences of it.
On the other hand, the NOC case officer is more isolated from the bureaucracy, has himself often been the victim of the bureaucracy, and is more distrustful of it. Therefore, NOC officers are more likely to find themselves in sympathy with their agents in a common attempt to remain safe in a hostile operating environment where neither has the luxury of protection by the US government. So regardless of your position as inside officer or outside officer, try to treat your agents with the same respect as a human being that you expect for yourself.
Where Do You Go from Here?
You’ve convinced yourself that you have what it takes to become a CIA case officer. Where do you go from here? There are many avenues to employment with the agency. The CIA actually prefers résumés be submitted via the their website at www.cia.gov. Click on “CIA Careers,” and then “Clandestine Service.” Find a job description of interest to you and follow the upload instructions.
Alternatively, send your official résumé and transcript of your college grades directly to the CIA in Arlington, Virginia. The below address is for the Clandestine Service case officer or operations officer positions only.
CST Division ATTN: 98-IC
PO Box 12002, Dept. INTERNET
Arlington, VA 22209-2002
There are many CIA regional recruiting centers throughout the US that receive inquiries not only for case officer positions but dozens of other employment positions.
If you prefer a more personal touch, an employment fair will offer you direct contact and conversation with a CIA officer. These regularly occur at some seventy different universities across the US and you are encouraged come prepared with a résumé that highlights qualities the CIA desires. In years past, the agency concentrated on the Ivy League colleges for their recruits. This is no longer the case, as the CIA has become more concerned about recruiting a representative sampling of the US mainstream population into its ranks.
When you approach the agency officer at the fair, do so with professional self-confidence. Enter into conversation with him by highlighting your best qualifications and listen attentively as he talks about his experiences with the agency. Raise questions to show your inquisitive nature. The point here is to make an impression on the recruiter that will give him reason to remember you over the several hundred other candidates. It’s the impression you leave in the ten to fifteen minutes you talk with him that will make a difference in how he assesses your potential.
Of course, it is always an advantage to have an inside contact in your job hunt in any company, and the CIA is no exception. If any of your relatives, friends, or employers claims to have such a contact, follow up to see where it leads.
It is easier to move laterally into a position with the CIA from another government agency, especially if you already have a security clearance. The CIA hires heavily from the ranks of former US military personnel, especially those involved in intelligence work.
As a last resort, you may find the CIA in many major metropolitan areas in the telephone directory under US Government. The CIA maintains domestic Stations, or field offices, in more than thirty major US cities. Some of these offices also act as the regional recruiting centers. In the old days, one could contact and apply for a CIA position at one of the domestic Stations just to get the ball rolling. Today, this is discouraged in favor of the established routes noted above.
Keep in mind that you will not get ric
h as a CIA case officer. Salaries start at around $40,000 for an entry-level position straight out of college. If you have some special qualifications, such a second or third language with near native fluency, you may command a higher entry salary. If you are interested in a NOC case officer position, a proven civilian employment record will be a plus. You can expect a further advantage if you have previously lived abroad either as student or as an employee of a company.
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Hungry for more stories? Don’t miss True Accounts of Espionage, in which the Anonymous Spy shares first-person accounts and anecdotes from a career as an overseas Non-Official Cover case officer.
About the Author
The Anonymous Spy joined the CIA as a very expendable GS-8 paramilitary case officer after having served as a US Army Intelligence Officer on loan to the Company to work on the infamous Phoenix Program in Vietnam. As a PM case officer, he served two tours in Vietnam, after which he was selected to become a deep-cover Non-Official Cover case officer, a position he held for nearly twenty years. Prior to that assignment, he served one tour at CIA headquarters as a desk “bureaucrat” operations officer planning his own first NOC tour overseas. Rising in the ranks to become a senior level GS-17, the Anonymous Spy has had a taste of almost every area and level of duty the CIA has to offer. Now retired, he enjoys hiking, fishing, and hunting and lives a somewhat reclusive life.
Please contact the Anonymous Spy via the Publisher of this series.
Further Reading
The Anonymous Spy series is a comprehensive resource for anyone interested in the trade of spycraft.
The Espionage Glossary (The Anonymous Spy Series)
A glossary of espionage terms as well examples of their usage. A useful tool for those interested in pursuing intelligence work or writers, actors, and other artists searching to realistically portray the spy trade in their craft.
A Guide for the Aspiring Spy (The Anonymous Spy Series)
A basic guide of CIA recruitment, training, and employment from the point of view of a Non-Official Cover case officer. Ideal for those interested in pursuing intelligence work or writers, actors, and other artists searching to realistically portray the spy trade in their craft.
True Accounts of Espionage (The Anonymous Spy Series)
Accounts of the daily life of an Official Cover case offer and a Non-Official Cover case officer. Also contains thirteen first-person anecdotes from an overseas non-official cover case officer’s career.
A Guide for the Aspiring Spy (The Anonymous Spy Series) Page 9
