THE FINAL WORD
B lame mass media and pop culture for the misunderstandings around an intelligence career... James Bond is one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time. He drinks martinis, drives an Aston Martin, and has the most beautiful women in the world fawning over him... all while still managing to kill the bad guys and save the world. It looks like an amazing gig. But, of course, we all know intuitively that Bond lives in a fantasy with only the vaguest attachment to what a real spy does. I should know. The first job application I sent out my senior year of college was to the Central Intelligence Agency. After joining, I spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even briefed the president for the first time at 26. Here’s a few of the things I learned... First, those who work in the intelligence field eschew the term “spy.” The spy is the other guy (or gal) who steals information about a foreign adversary and passes it along to you. Professional intelligence personnel generally prefer to go by the title “officer” – which is a good clue as to what they really do. Intelligence work involves a lot of time in offices, doing exactly what one would expect from many other mundane jobs. There are meetings, memos, and lots of paperwork.
Most of the training does not involve karate chops or flamethrowers. Instead of exploding cufflinks and watches with lasers that can cut through steel, your average intelligence officer struggles with stubborn copiers and carpal tunnel syndrome. There’s good reason for an intelligence community joke that “ every mission starts with a coffee machine .” But today, there is a strong argument that intelligence work has never been more critical to our national security. “ Intelligence work has never been more critical to our national security. Counterterrorism, cyber warfare, and a slew of other critical threat challenges rely on having the best and most sensitive information at hand. How to acquire, process, and act on that information is the work of intelligence officers. It may not be glorious work, but it is essential. Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese military strategist, is credited with writing that “one good spy is worth 10,000 soldiers.” That’s an oversimplification – one you would tell a member of the infantry at your peril – but the sentiment rings more true now than
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American Consequences 99
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