How do people become spies…
-
leobourne — 12 years ago(April 04, 2013 01:49 PM)
I was looking for someone like Thrillhouse8 to make a statement about Bond and Bourne. Everyone is swept away with movies and how glorious it looks to be swimming around the world in posh cars and jets. It's like the 'lowest rung' of everything. Just like how a driver or secretary can be the biggest leak, because they are the only ones who know minute details of a scheduleI'd have to make an argument with 'corporate nature'The lowest funded Governments and the poorest Governments bank on spies for everything, because they simply don't have the money to wage warsAnd what they do is this - Use them, hang them out to dry, make them beg in some circumstances (like even for food)And care two hoots if one dies because they're too busy with money and powerThe game is disgusting, the politicians worse and plenty of other unethical things they do just for the name of 'saving the country', whatever that means. It means nothing. Each soldier has to save their own life.
-
Razar_C-1 — 11 years ago(December 10, 2014 10:23 AM)
Actually, most of the worlds intelligence agencies do the very same thing:
They all list an ad in the 'employment' section of the newspaper. Sorry to burst your bubble, but "scouting for talent' and such would make up a very small minority of admissions.
If you're genuinely interested in intelligence agency work then you should know that the reality of it is far different from the sensationalised version. Most intelligence work is actually just listening to and analysing gathered intelligence. The Pitt/ Redford/ Bond/ Etc type of spies just aren't very common any more.
If that doesn't dissuade you, then keep a sharp eye on the newspapers, because they only list their employment ads once a year or once every two years. If you're lucky enough to find their ads and you're lucky enough to have your application accepted, then get prepared to join a LOT of people who want to prove that they are better candidates than you. Also, be prepared for multiple different phases of aptitude testing where undesirables are weeded out. Things like physical testing/ psychological screening/ various types of intelligence/ common-sense tests (sometimes called idiot-tests)/ etc
If at any point, you either fail to live up to what they expect, or you are outperformed by other applicants, then say goodbye to what you hoped would be your new career, for up to two years, because they won't allow you to apply again for -usually- that long.
Of course, the easy way to get in, would be to transfer in. Either join the army/ police force, and then work very hard to get into military intelligence/ whatever the police equivalent of M.I. is, and then request a transfer. You still have to wait for an actual intake-period, but you start out ahead of the curve of most of the applicants.
Peace
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most -
defiant-10 — 19 years ago(October 03, 2006 10:14 AM)
There are all manner of "spy" jobs.
You may already have been "interviewed", depending on where you've worked and what was done there. How do you "become" anything?
Some things can't be taught- only learned.
What I had in mind was boxing the compass. -
ihidetheremote — 18 years ago(August 16, 2007 03:22 PM)
Ok, some of you have no idea what your talking about, especially about the assassin things. While in office Ronald Reagan signed and executive order stating that it is illegal for the CIA to have any part in assassinations (including paying independent contractors) or killings (unless self defence). If anyone references a movie to contradict this well your an idiot because its a movie.
-
liakyh — 18 years ago(February 13, 2008 11:40 PM)
In times of conflict most spies tend to be locals, in the area where the spying takes place. In Cold War GDR for instance, the spy network consisted mostly of unhappy officials high up in the government hierarchy or military officers looking to defect to the 'land of the free'. Many of these people didn't do it for profit, they did it out of a personal want to see the socialist government fall. Most of these people never killed anyone either. Spies aren't supposed to be killing people. They got recruited mostly by approaching known NATO officials. Once a case officer feels that he isn't a double agent, the spy is set to work collecting information.
In more modern times, because of a lack of real established enemy states, the CIA's network has been greatly reduced when it comes to field agents. Most on the CIA's roster are analysts who work at Langley sifting through information from around the world. These analysts tend to be picked straight from graduating college batches who show promise in the relevant areas. People who work field ops tend to, like Mike Spann, killed at Qala-i-Jangi in 2001, be ex-military. Field ops in the modern CIA involves mostly open information gathering and building up of allies in warzones. For example prior to the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, CIA field operatives were dropped in with money to buy the loyalty of local warlords to help fight the Taliban, or in fact just to promise not to attack US forces. Penetrating large governments like the Soviets during the Cold War doesn't happen any more. This is in part because most of the United State's enemies are radical Islamic groups. These groups recruit from students who attend madrassahs for years gaining the trust of the higher ups, or from tribes who have lived together as family in remote parts of the Middle East and former Soviet Central Asia. -
defiant-10 — 18 years ago(March 01, 2008 06:53 AM)
"In times of conflict most spies tend to be locals, in the area where the spying takes place."
Very good. Then, there are those such as Robert Hanssen, who are not only locals that are unhappy, but also possibly mentally unhinged.
What I had in mind was boxing the compass. -
justshovejayohbe — 18 years ago(March 10, 2008 12:51 PM)
My sister and I were both targeted for recruitment by intelligence agencies. The NSA tried to recruit her because of her computer skills. She graduated as one of the few women at RPI in the early 90s, and she had a lot of skills involving haptics (specifically she did stuff with users being operate computers and write and draw pictures using slight body movements and stuff in massage chairs without needing a monitor (kind of like a brail computer). Apparently they were fascinated by this. It started with a couple letters encouraging her to apply for a sort of standard computer operator type job, but then as her graduation neared she started getting calls and all that.
I graduated with a history master's specializing in martime history on my thesis and that sort of thing, and I started getting calls from the Office of Naval Intelligence in the US Navy. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the Iraq war starting at the time so I told the guy thanks but no thanks. He kept hounding me though and calling my house and made my parents furious because they thought i was thinking about joining the navy and yeah it was a big debacle -
Ace_In_The_Hole — 18 years ago(March 10, 2008 05:22 PM)
Office of Naval Intelligence?
I would've taken the job, it's not like you're gonna be dropped in downtown Baghdad patrolling in a Humvee.
I'd figure it'd be your job to gather intel on foreign navies, particularly the Iranian Navy. Maybe go after pirates off the Somalian coast, etc.
But the pay wouldn't be very stellar, I'd imagine
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today"- James Dean
-
atila0603 — 18 years ago(March 15, 2008 05:41 PM)
I had this american English teacher (I'm from Mexico) who I think is a CIA agent. In the beginning of every course runs a little game that he calls "Johnny's got in his pocket". It's about remembering words in a specific order, he keeps a record of the highest scores. He even runned a little IQ test, I mean, it was a 3-question test, but, still. I suspect he's recruiting.
In his various stories he mentioned that he worked in law enforcement agencies back in the US and once told us about his experience in Viet Nam. Also, he has a friend (who happened to be my teacher) that once told me that he did some military intelligence in Germany for the US Army.
Maybe I let my imagination fly anyway, I wasnt recruited lol but, if my guess is right, I just blew their cover _ -
Filmfan-31 — 18 years ago(April 03, 2008 10:28 PM)
Army Green Berets are taking the position that CIA officers once held in the field. There was a National Geographic special where the operative work they were doing involved rallying the people in smaller villages of Afghanistan against the Taliban.
If you don't feel like going the Special Forces route, a lot of what the CIA looks for is intelligence related. Get a bachelors in international business and you've basically created an overseas cover for yourself. The ability to be fluid in the field is highly important also though. That's why they prefer military background, less training on what to look for when you're undercover and also recognition of how a foreign police/military force will come after you should you be exposed.
Lastly, physical fitness plays a part. I'm not sure how big of one though, it depends how deep you're really looking to get undercover.