The Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA)

The CIA is the largest and best-funded civilian intelligence service of the U.S. government. It is tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing information from around the world—and with covert paramilitary action and counter-terrorism, which became its primary focus after 9/11. The CIA is also involved in cyber warfare, both defensive and offensive. The CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence, and is one of the most influential organizations in the intelligence community. The CIA has no official law enforcement function and is focused on covert action and overseas intelligence gathering, with limited domestic collection.

BUDGET: Approximately $15 billion in 2015, officially; likely more due to black-book funding.

The Agency Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? Only in covert action. In intelligence work, going armed usually ruins your cover story.

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Can be supplied with a significant credit line (up to a Major Expense without eliciting an official review). Lavish expense accounts are available when on a covert mission.

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? With the Bureaucracy skill, an Agent may request military-grade weapons and equipment; specialized communications and surveillance tools, including personal drones and advanced cryptographic tech; or rare or specially-controlled intelligence. These are equivalent to Unusual expenses. Practically speaking, however, operatives in the field can get the most impressive equipment only with active support from their superiors, which is often difficult to secure.

The Organization

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency reports to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and is the senior intelligence agency serving DNI. The CIA’s Executive Office provides the President and other government leaders with detailed and timely intelligence analysis and classified updates on world events. Under the Executive Office are five major divisions: the Directorate of Digital Innovation, the Directorate of Analysis, the Directorate of Operations, the Directorate of Support, and the Directorate of Science and Technology. The CIA headquarters is located in Langley, Virginia.

The Directorate of Analysis (DA) creates reports on key foreign personnel and issues based on the intelligence gathered by the other directorates. DA employees often come directly out of university or graduate programs, and commonly have legal, arts, and science backgrounds. The DA houses the large Information Operations Center’s Analysis Group (IOC/AG), which performs clandestine cyberattacks on enemies of the United States.

The Directorate of Operations (DO) has a number subdirectorates that cover collecting intelligence paramilitary missions, psyops, counterintelligence, counternarcotics, and
other clandestine programs. The elite Special Activities Division (SAD) falls under the DO. Within SAD are two specialized groups, the Special Operations Group (SAD/ SOG) for tactical paramilitary operations and Political Action Group (SAD/PAG) for clandestine and subversive political action. As the action arm of the DO, SOG performs raids, ambushes, sabotage, targeted killings and unconventional warfare. SOG also trains guerrilla and military units of other countries. The Political Action Group within SAD conducts psychological warfare, covert political influence, and destabilization operations.

The Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T) develops and implements technology to
support the CIA’s offensive and intelligence collection efforts. While DS&T mostly focuses on electronic and imagery collection, it was also home to Cold War-era parapsychology research into remote viewing and experimented with drugs and hypnosis to control information and aid interrogations.

The Directorate of Support provides the logistical and bureaucratic support for the rest of the agency, and the Directorate of Digital Innovation develops cyber tradecraft and IT platforms for use by the CIA’s personnel.

Key CIA Directorates
»» Analysis
»» Digital Innovation
»» Operations
››Special Operations Group
››Political Action Group
»» Science and Technology
»» Support

Operatives

A CIA applicant must go through a battery of tests and interviews, submit to a background check, and secure a Top Secret security clearance. The CIA relies on a polygraph to weed out potential liabilities, such as applicants with personal vulnerabilities that through contacts and “recruited” assets, covert enemies could leverage. World travel, foreign language experience, and a strong educational performance are assets. The end result is a pool of employees who are smart, motivated, and personally stable. But they tend towards homogeneity, with most recruits coming from well-educated, middle class and upper middle class suburban backgrounds.

Training for most DI personnel is broad but rarely deep, since their intelligence and resourcefulness are expected to fill in the gaps. The exceptions are technical specialists, such as computer programmers and engineers in the IOC/AG.

DS&T personnel usually have computer, technical, and engineering backgrounds and do not need much extra training.

DO personnel who handle recruiting assets and field debriefings are known as case officers. Training for DO employees is rigorous, and involves “tradecraft” classes to teach espionage. The best DO agents are charismatic and personable across cultures. Likability is an important trait for recruiting “assets,” foreign (and sometimes American) individuals with useful knowledge, social capital, or access to valuable information. Case officers are also trained in self-defense and a wide variety of weapons.

The DO also operates the Special Activities Division. SAD operatives are known as paramilitary operations officers. They are selected from within the CIA’s ranks and from the military, particularly special operations. Paramilitary officers are the elite of the elite, who operate in hostile environments for extended periods of time on the most difficult missions. They train constantly to ensure peak physical and mental capabilities. SAD personnel train to use the weapons and vehicles of the armies and guerrilla groups they are likely to confront. They train in urban and wildernesss survival in order to work behind enemy lines. Paramilitary officers operate under extreme stress, and their career length is among the shortest in the CIA.

SAD’s political-action case officers are also specially selected and go through extensive training, though they do not focus as heavily on weapons-related skills.

Authority and Mandate

The CIA’s focus has largely been outside of the United States, but that changes as the War on Terror continues. The need to pursue targets, recruit assets, and collect intelligence often focuses on non-state actors like terrorist cells or guerrilla groups, many of whom operate within the United States. The clandestine nature of the CIA, and the classified nature of most of the Agency’s reporting, means that most official and bureaucratic boundaries can be effectively ignored. CIA personnel do not carry around badges like law enforcement. In fact, they usually carry nothing that identifies their employer. The CIA operates covertly to avoid unwanted attention and, ultimately, to prevent prosecution or retaliation by foreign governments.

Field Operations

The CIA is large, well-funded and relatively well-managed. This results in fairly wide latitude and reasonably large travel budgets for Agency personnel.

CIA officers are deployed for three primary reasons: to support other federal agencies, to pursue a target, or to gather intelligence. Support of other agencies and gathering intelligence rarely involve an expectation of violence. DA and DS&T personnel are usually the ones sent to help other federal agencies. Gathering intelligence is usually handled by DO or DS&T personnel.

The CIA maintains small offices throughout the world. Most focus on collecting data through electronic means and are staffed primarily by DA and DS&T personnel. DO officers use secure offices as bases of operations. While small, these offices maintain resources like vehicles, secure computer terminals, and small armories. To maintain cover, the CIA often attaches these offices to another federal agency’s physical infrastructure, such as embassies or FBI field offices. Usually, the majority of the hosting agency’s personnel do not know of the CIA presence and the CIA operatives do not answer to the host agency except as a courtesy. The CIA lead in these branch offices is called the station chief.

Away from headquarters, CIA officers usually take on cover identities to keep their employment and activities secret. To help provide cover, the CIA maintains shell organizations embedded within the bureaucratic structures of other federal agencies. The CIA also embeds its operatives in other agencies, often training side by side.

The Agency provides its officers with logical cover stories and background materials such as fake identification. The need to maintain secrecy and professional distance from all but the most friendly of fellow agencies also means the CIA typically gives its deployed personnel their own equipment.

Not everything is covert. When operating in the U.S. and friendly nations, Agency personnel, with permission, can be “declared.” Declared personnel may tell people that they are employed by the CIA. When not declared, but working with friendly agencies, CIA officers may reveal their employment only to those with Top Secret or higher clearance. Close family members likely know the CIA officer’s profession. But to the rest of the world, a CIA officer is either bureaucrat or in the military.

SAD paramilitary officers look more like traditional special forces and often cooperate closely with the units assigned to Special Operations Command (SOCOM). They operate in hostile environment with little support. The CIA’s resources for these operatives is constrained only by logistics, and the potential need for plausible deniability. Before an operation begins, SAD paramilitary officers and political action officers can access a wide range of weapons, communications gear, survival gear, and technical equipment. Resupply is more problematic, so SAD operatives select versatile and durable equipment. SAD personnel operate in small teams, typically made up of no more than six operatives.

The Agency trains its clandestine operatives in techniques to misdirect hostile interrogations, resist torture, and handle the most stressful and difficult mental challenges. But stress disorders still plague the clandestine services.

Areas of Friction

No one trusts the CIA. Even friendly foreign governments know the CIA is likely gathering intelligence and recruiting assets within their borders. The CIA’s reputation for using torture during the War on Terror only further raised suspicions of its motives and methods.

CIA leadership does not always cooperate well with other clandestine direct action groups, particularly SOCOM. This does not usually affect individual and unit cooperation, but it means the CIA is often reluctant to provide Special Activities personnel to SOCOM actions without considerable consideration and analysis of the mission.

Playing a Spy

You are usually the smartest person in the room. If you aren’t, you act as though you are. You work for an organization that, in many ways, is even more selective than the vaunted special operations forces. Your organization uses a unique blend of a black-book budget, kinetic operations, and superior knowledge to protect the United States. You are accountable to your superiors and to no one else. Those superiors demand a lot from you. They expect you to give the Agency everything you have. Kiss your personal life goodbye.

You don’t talk about your job. Most of your acquaintances aren’t cleared to know what you do or who you work for. Even those that are could compromise your cover, so you don’t tell them, either. Your family may know who you work for, but not what you did today at the office. You go out of your way to avoid uncomfortable questions. Your real friends are all within the Agency, because those are the people you can actually relax and be yourself with. It’s a very insular society. This isolation is even more pronounced for members of the Special Activities Directorate.

CIA headquarters at Langley is a big office building with impressive security. The Agency’s office work—unclassified budgets, requisition, and human resources—is often indistinguishable from any other office. There are data entry professionals, janitors, legal advisors, secretaries, and all the other professions that make a large bureaucracy go. But even the off-site recycle collections crews have to be cleared to come onto campus.

If you are part of DA or DS&T, you sit in a cubicle and write reports or work in a lab. While working, you stay on campus or in a field office in a controlled environment. Only occasionally do you go on to the field to augment your understating of a particular issue or area.

If you are a case officer, things are a lot less restrictive. You are expected to get out into society. You are measured by the intelligence you gather and the value of the assets your recruit. Your job is to integrate and blend in while you do your job. You need to be paranoid, but you need to hide it well. If your real identity or mission is uncovered, your life becomes a lot more uncomfortable. In the U.S., it could end your career. In the field, it could get you killed. Best not let that happen.

When a case officer finds a likely asset, recruitment is usually based on the M.I.C.E. principle: money, ideology, compromise, or ego. That means cash payments, appealing to their sense of what’s right, blackmail, or appealing to their sense of superiority to the people around them. In all cases, trust between officer and asset is key. You must convince the asset of your sincerity and loyalty—while knowing that loyalty must end as soon as the asset has no more use to the Agency. Gradual and deliberate development of an asset is ideal. A willing asset is usually the best source of information.

DG Note

Lots of contacts. Used to compartmentalization. Happy to break the law for a cause. Versatile. Black sites, black money, black ops. Plenty of practice killing terrorists.

Suggested Professions

Directorate of Operations (DO)
Clandestine Service
Case officers of the National Clandestine Service develop human assets to gather useful intelligence and occasionally are called upon to act on that intelligence.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Case Officer.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, HUMINT,
Persuade, SIGINT.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to classified reporting.

Special Activities Division Special
Operations Group (SAD/SOG)
The SOG is the CIA’s elite paramilitary unit. SOG is deployed to undermine the plans of the United States’ enemies before they come to fruition. SOG performs demolition, destabilization, and extraction/rendition missions. It acts clandestinely in concert with special operations forces.
 PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Alertness 60%
»» Athletics 50%
»» Demolitions 40%
»» Firearms 60%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» Heavy Weapons 50%
»» HUMINT 30%
»» Melee Weapons 50%
»» Military Science (Land) 50%
»» Navigate 50%
»» Persuade 40%
»» Stealth 50%
»» Survival 50%
»» Swim 40%
»» Unarmed Combat 60%
 BONDS: 1
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Alertness, Firearms,
Stealth, Survival.
 EQUIPMENT: See TOOLS OF THE TRADE: SPECIAL OPERATOR as well as access to classified reporting

Special Activities Division Political
Action Group (SAD/PAG)
The PAG works in foreign countries to “nudge” their key government personnel towards decisions that benefit the United States. The PAG has deep propaganda experience and often uses open media sources to influence decision-makers and popular opinion. The PAG specializes in gathering intelligence to use against anti-U.S. personalities.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
»» Accounting 40%
»» Anthropology 40%
»» Athletics 40%
»» Bureaucracy 60%
»» Disguise 40%
»» Firearms 40%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 50%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 50%
»» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
»» History 40%
»» HUMINT 50%
»» Law 40%
»» Persuade 50%
»» Stealth 50%
»» Unarmed Combat 60%
 BONDS: 1
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Criminology,
Persuade, SIGINT.
 EQUIPMENT: See TOOLS OF THE TRADE: SPECIAL OPERATOR as well as access to classified reporting.

Directorate of Analysis
DA Subject Matter Analysts gather and analyze intelligence and report on their findings. DA reports are read by leaders and policymakers including the President. Some analysts work in embassies overseas to support CIA operations, but most work at CIA headquarters in Langley.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Anthropology, HUMINT,
SIGINT, History.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to classified reporting.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:49, Sat 20 Apr 2019.

The Department of State
(DOS)

The State Department is the lead U.S. agency on foreign policy and is technically the senior-most federal agency in the executive branch. The State Department is a relatively small agency in terms of equipment and personnel, but it is a key coordinator of other agencies.

Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) are typically smart and creative problem solvers. As diplomats, their status opens doors and grants them significant leeway with foreign governments. State Department diplomats have a plausible reasons to travel anywhere with their black diplomatic passports. Diplomatic Security (DS) agents have some of the widest latitude to travel and make arrests of any law enforcement officer. As the senior law enforcement representative in an embassy, a DS agent often makes arrests on behalf of other U.S. law enforcement agencies.

BUDGET: Almost $67 billion in 2015.

The DOS Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? Diplomats: No. Diplomatic
Security: Yes.

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? Diplomats: No. Diplomatic
Security: Yes.

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Limited (no more than Incidental Expenses in most cases).

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? A Delta Green Agent in the State Department can access funds in the same way as a program manager. These funds may only be at the Standard expense level, and represent illegal appropriation of grants or program budgets meant to support overseas contacts.

The Organization

More than 250 DOS posts around the world maintain relations with nearly every country and international organization. About 68,000 diplomatic, professional, technical, and administrative employees work for the DOS in a large and complex bureaucracy. About 5,000 of those are in diplomatic positions, including generalists, diplomatic security and specialists. There are Foreign Service Officers (FSOs; diplomats), Civil Service, the Foreign Commercial Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, Marine Security Guards, the Diplomatic Security Service, and more.

Under the Secretary of State and the Deputy Secretary are regional and functional bureaus. Regional bureaus focus on geographic areas such as the Western Hemisphere, Europe, or Africa. Functional bureaus fulfill specific roles, such as human rights, anti-narcotics, anti-piracy, or political-military. The senior bureau is Political Affairs. Others include Economic Growth, Energy and Environmental Affairs, Security (diplomatic security), Consular Affairs (visas, passports, and American citizen services), Public Diplomacy, Arms Control and International Security Affairs, Democracy and Human Rights, and special offices to address other areas of interest.

Key DOS Bureaus

»» Western Hemisphere Affairs
»» European Affairs
»» South and Central Asian Affairs
»» East Asian and Pacific Affairs
»» Near Eastern Affairs
»» Conflict and Stabilization Operations
»» Counterterrorism
»» Political-Military Affairs
»» International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
»» Intelligence and Research

Operatives

The Department of State assigns employees to diplomatic missions abroad to represent America; to analyze and report on political, economic, and social trends; to adjudicate visas; and to respond to the needs of American citizens abroad.

Embassies and consulates are staffed with two different types of Foreign Service Officers (FSOs), generalists and specialists. Generalists fill most policy and some support positions. Most leadership positions in embassies and consulates are held by generalists. FSO specialists are hired for specific skill sets, such as information technology, accounting, or human resources.

Applicants must go pass tests to evaluate their resourcefulness, skills, and intelligence. All FSOs must qualify for Top Secret clearance, and many speak two or more foreign languages.

The Diplomatic Security Service (DS or DSS) is the law enforcement arm of the DOS. A DS office in an embassy is called a regional security office (RSO). In most cases its special agents at an embassy take the lead on U.S. law enforcement issues in the host country. DS agents are responsible for the security of the embassies, consulates and personnel; international investigations; fugitive extradition and rendition operations (along with the U.S. Marshals Service); and counterterrorism and counterintelligence (along with the FBI and CIA). DS operates field offices in most large U.S. cities, where special agents conduct passport and visa fraud investigations, criminal investigations connected to foreign policy, counter terror actions, and security for visiting VIPs and diplomatic personnel.

Domestically, the Civil Service (CS) conducts capital- based and long-term foreign policy initiatives, as well as providing institutional knowledge and expertise to the missions abroad. Unlike the Foreign Service, civil servants do not often rotate from their positions, and are expected to be experts in their specific fields or regions. Civil servants include technical or policy experts where significant background knowledge is essential. Civil servants include specialists in human rights, negotiations, security, and international law.

Authority and Mandate

The core mission of the DOS is to promote U.S. objectives and interests in the world: economic promotion, security, protecting American citizens, facilitating travel by foreigners to the United States, and more. Even agencies that don’t normally have a presence in foreign countries rely on the State Department for advocacy and coordination overseas.

Foreign Service Officers are the authority on their host countries. Political and economic officers handle “high policy” issues such as economic engagement, high-profile sales by American companies, human rights, and security cooperation.

In foreign countries, the ambassador is usually the ranking U.S. government official, and is responsible for all executive branch personnel in that country.

The State Department is mandated by law not to interfere with American domestic politics.

Field Operations

According to the Geneva Conventions, diplomats carrying classified or sensitive material and traveling with a diplomatic passport can refuse to allow their bags to be searched. But invoking that privilege can draw attention and hostility from security personnel, so it must be used sparingly.

Junior FSOs have very little leeway with an office’s budget. They generally do not travel except in support of important fact-finding missions or, more commonly, in support of an embassy or consulate’s higher-ranking FSO or a visitor. Higher-ranking FSOs head embassy or consulate offices. They have a lot of leeway on when and where to travel and how to spend their budgets. Travel budgets for FSOs are usually meager despite the demands of their missions.

All embassies and most consulates have motor pools of SUVs and sedans. Vehicles with armor are reserved for the Ambassador and Marine Security Guards.

Diplomatic Security’s domestic field offices like most law enforcement field offices, with small armories and motor pools that include a few armored vehicles. For more exotic equipment, DS turns to the FBI or another agency for support. Overseas, DS coordinates with the embassy’s Department of Defense attaché for transport planes to move State Department employees securely. DS agents have wide latitude to travel and control their own budgets.

The State Department operates a small air wing of transport and surveillance planes, mostly used by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and in high threat posts. These craft are used to help interdict and combat the international drug trade, particularly in South America.

The majority of domestic DOS positions are in Washington, D.C., and New York (at the United Nations). Passport offices in other large cities employ only a small number of civil servants and FSOs.

Areas of Friction

Diplomats are legendary for being egotistical. Overseas, dealing with protocol-conscious fellow diplomats,this often isn’t a problem. But FSOs can rub sister agencies and domestic organizations the wrong way. Military and law enforcement officers often see diplomats as pampered and weak-willed—especially when diplomats object to proposed military, paramilitary, or law enforcement operations abroad.

Playing a Diplomat

You are adaptable and intelligent, and comfortable with situations where you are the outsider. It takes alot to faze you. The State Department throws junior officers into complex assignments with little or no training. Your hair may have prematurely greyed, but you are confident you can take on just about any high-pressure situation.

Very few people understand what you do. Sure, everyone knows generally what a diplomat is, but they have no idea what authority you have or what issues you work on. You can sometimes use this to obscure your actions and purposes.

If you specialize in political and economic affairs, your job is to promptly get the best information and analysis you can back to Washington. You are expected to see the currents of international politics and economics, anticipate changes, and figure out what it means for the United States.

You get the best inside information from people with whom you have built a rapport. The State Department doesn’t allow bribes, so your best tools for building relationships are talking over lunch or dinner. Many contacts come to you wanting to share information. They know you are the one that works at the grassroots level for crafting policy and want to influence that policy right from the start. The problem isn’t gathering good contacts; it’s knowing which ones are truthful.

Diplomatic Security agents have one foot in theworld of diplomacy and the other in law enforcement. Most of them are both Foreign Service Officers and special agents, but they look and act more like FBI than diplomats. DS agents regularly transition between a bewildering array of cultures: from foreign and domestic civilian life to international diplomacy to getting into the mud with the DEA or U.S. Marshals Service. They must contend and cooperate with Marine Security Guards, and ensure the embassy and the Marines are ready for any contingency. A DS agent must be comfortable going to a fancy ball dressed in a tuxedo the night before wearing full tactical gear to arrest a dangerous fugitive.

DS agents posted domestically bounce between VIP protective details, investigating passport fraud, tracking and assessing threats to high-profile individuals from foreign entities (particularly terrorists), and cooperating with other law enforcement agencies.

DG Note

Not much DOS in DG. Useful access to other agencies and other governments. Good at keeping profile low and smoothing things over. Capable of getting useful intel from other agencies good to have FSO or DSS on a team with CIA, FBI, Marshals, SOCOM, etc.

Suggested Professions

Western Hemisphere Affairs Regional
Bureau (WHA)
Regional bureaus like WHA (which covers the Americas) are where many FSOs work when posted to State Department headquarters. Other bureaus specialize in Europe and Russia (EUR), Middle East and North Africa (NEA), South and Central Asia (SCA), Africa (AF), or East Asia and the Pacific (EAP).
 PROFESSION: Foreign Service Officer.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Anthropology, Bureaucracy,
Foreign Language (choose one), History.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to classified reporting on their area of the world. Laptop, satellite phone, and smart phone with access to the DOS’ unclassified system.

Bureau of Diplomatic Security
Diplomatic Security protects VIPs, investigates fraud, conducts security investigations, and protects American personnel and facilities abroad. Most DSS special  agents are jointly Foreign Service Officers and law enforcement officers.
 PROFESSION: Federal Agent.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Foreign
Language (choose one), HUMINT, Persuade.
 EQUIPMENT: See TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT

Diplomatic Courier Service
Diplomatic couriers transport and secure sensitive information and papers around the world. Per the Geneva Conventions, diplomatic couriers cannot be searched while transporting official material.
 PROFESSION: Foreign Service Officer.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Foreign
Language (choose one), Law, Persuade.
 EQUIPMENT: An ungodly amount of frequent flyer miles and hotel points. Bureau of

International Crime and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)
INL contractors and FSOs help other countries fight transnational criminal and narcotics networks. INL is well-funded.
 PROFESSION: Program Manager.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Accounting, Bureaucracy,
Criminology, Law.
 EQUIPMENT: Control of an INL project’s budget

Bureau of Intelligence and Research
(INR)
INR is a small intelligence unit. They collect information from DOS cables and synthesize insights from them with conclusions from the rest of the intelligence community. Each INR officer specializes in a region or country.
 PROFESSION: Foreign Service Officer, Media Specialist,
or Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: History, HUMINT, Persuasion,
SIGINT.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to classified intelligence databases, including those of other agencies.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:50, Sat 20 Apr 2019.

Intelligence and Diplomacy

Clearances

Security classifications are standardized throughout the federal government. Classifications tell the reader how to handle information. A government employee or contractor with clearance can read materials at that level and all levels below—unless a document is restricted to particular personnel. The level of classification on a document is determined by the authority that approves (or “clears”) the document.

A clearance is an expression of trust. Clearance holders are expected to act responsibly with data and with viewing privileges. For an employee to acquire a security clearance, an agency must put in a request and the employee must agree to a background check. In a background check, federal officers (usually FBI) question friends, family, and neighbors, and investigate the employee’s criminal and financial history. Minor drug offenses are usually not enough to preclude a security clearance but use of serious drugs can. Anything in a person’s background that could be used as blackmail material may prevent the clearance, including significant debt or embarrassing sexual proclivities.

If you have no clearance at all, viewing restricted materials is not a crime. If you have a clearance, improperly sharing restricted materials, or viewing materials you are not allowed to see, can lead to prosecution (with fines or jail time) and/or the loss of your clearance (which could lead to the loss of the job if it requires a clearance). Similarly, viewing classified documents at your clearance level, but for which you don’t have “need to know,” can lead to punishment. “Need to know” is usually broadly defined, but it is possible to have the right clearance level and still be denied access by the controlling office.

Restricted documents must be explicitly labeled as
follows:

UNCLASSIFIED (U): No special handling instructions are required. The information would not be harmful if released to the public and may already be publicly available.

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED (SBU): SBU documents are meant to stay within government facilities and on government computers, but may be processed on unencrypted computer systems and accessed over the Internet. The information may be embarrassing or could point to more heavily controlled information. Most government and diplomatic work is done at the SBU level.

PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII): A relatively new sub-designation of SBU, PII includes unclassified but potentially damaging data: Social Security Numbers, home address, marital status, credit status, the names of family members—anything that could be used to punish or extort an American or a family member. PII generally does not apply to non-American personal information.

CONFIDENTIAL (C): The most commonly used security designation and the lowest level that requires clearance. Confidential material is labeled “Classified” to protect information that would be dangerous if released to the public, but would not threaten national security. Confidential communiqués have pertained to food shortages, local security lapses, and sensitive diplomatic travel plans. Confidential material must be processed on encrypted computers (commonly called the “High Side”). These computers do not have open access to the Internet and only occasionally have access to agency intranets. Material at the Confidential level and all levels above must be kept within specially designated “Controlled Access Areas” (CAAs), where uncleared personnel must have an escort at all times.

SECRET (S): This classification is for significant national security value. Anything that involves threats to the United States, its allies, or friendly personnel will usually be S-level clearance or higher.

TOP SECRET (TS): The highest level of U.S. government clearance, Top Secret is used for state secrets and information that must be handled with extreme care. Most materials generated by the intelligence and counterterrorism communities require TS clearance.

FURTHER RESTRICTIONS: Many agencies have special classifications that control information or access with even more specificity than Top Secret. These designations are added to Top Secret clearance. The best known is Special Compartmentalized Information (SCI), which indicates information that may only be generated and read in special rooms designed to defeat eavesdropping devices.

Many special access programs require specific clearance. Special access clearances include the National Security Agency’s “COMINT Channel Only” (CCO),which instructs that the information stay within specific intelligence community offices, and the Department of Energy’s “L” and “Q” designations, which allow access to nuclear data and facilities. Some special access programs include even more restricted programs nested within them.

Other Intelligence Agencies

Delta Green has deep roots in the intelligence community
beyond the CIA.

DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (DIA): The Pentagon’s primary all-source intelligence agency, and the chief rival to the CIA for conducting intelligence analysis and covert operations. It works closely with the Unified Combatant Commands, particularly SOCOM.

THE NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER (NCTC): Coordinates intelligence-gathering on terrorism-related threats. Information from any source about potential terrorist acts against the U.S. are made available through NCTC channels throughout the government.

NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY (NSA): Performs computer, signals, data and network-related espionage. The NSA is the lead agency to monitor and protect all of the federal government’s computer networks from cyber-terrorism.

NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (NGA): Provides maps and targeting documents (GEOINT) for strikes against enemy targets. It also creates strategic briefing documents, atlases, and battle damage assessments using imagery intelligence (IMINT).

NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE (NRO): Builds top-secret satellites used by the Pentagon and the intelligence community. The NRO specializes in collecting imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT).

OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE (ONI): Part of the Navy; the leading provider of maritime intelligence. The ONI has particularly strong technical analysis of foreign military equipment and units.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:16, Sun 29 Jan 2017.

The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC)

The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) was established in 2004 to ensure that information about potential terrorist acts could be made available to analysts throughout the government. As a component of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), NCTC is composed of analysts with backgrounds in many government agencies and with access to various agency databases. It prepares material ranging from strategic assessments of potential terrorist threats to daily briefings and situation reports. It is also responsible for planning (but not directing) counterterrorism efforts.

BUDGET: Classified, but estimated to be $35 million in 2015.

The NCTC Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? No

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Can be supplied with a credit line if traveling or on an investigation or fact-finding mission, up to an Unusual expense without eliciting official review. NCTC provides its employees with more robust budgets than other agencies, but does not offer access to equipment of its own.

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? With Bureaucracy, an Agent can request access to classified security-related reports from any other federal agency as well “recovered” analysis from other countries’ intelligence services. These requests are the equivalent of an Unusual expense. A failed roll immediately triggers official review. A second failed roll triggers a criminal investigation into the Agent’s actions, as they are suspected of mishandling classified material or engaged in espionage.

The Organization

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, NCTC was established to bring together analysts from the sprawling U.S. intelligence community under one roof. It collects information on terrorists and their plans, analyzes that information, and warns of potential attacks. Sixteen federal agencies sit side by side at NCTC. It is designed as a place where the various organizations in the intelligence community must work together and learn from one another. But in the face of competing interests among its member agencies and the lack of authority to require them to cooperate, NCTC’s execution of its goals has always been lackluster.

NCTC integrates foreign and domestic analysis from across the intelligence community and produces assessments of those threats to inform senior policymakers and other agencies. NCTC is organized differently than other intelligence agencies due to its small size and focused mandate. It maintains a number of regional desks. These regional desks are clearing houses for both raw and finished intelligence. Alongside but independent of the regional desks are a number of focus cells who track, analyze, and anticipate the moves of terror groups and leaders. NCTC maintains databases of international terrorist identities in a system known as the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE).

NCTC is the central player in a number of task forces and fusion groups. The ODNI’s Homeland Threat Task Force, which orchestrates interagency collaboration and keeps senior policymakers informed about threats, is chaired by members from NCTC. NCTC’s Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) facilitates information sharing between federal, state, local, tribal, and private partners in coordination with DHS, FBI, and other members of the ITACG Advisory Council. NCTC also heads the Radicalization and Extremist Messaging Group (REMG), which coordinates members of the intelligence community on identifying radicalization. NCTC’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Counterterrorism Group pools scarce analytical, subject matter, and scientific expertise from NCTC and CIA.

Key Offices, Desks, and Task Forces

» Africa Desk (AF)
» Europe and Central Asia Desk (EUR)
» East Asia and the Pacific Desk (EAP)
» Near East and Middle East (NE)
» Operations Center (Ops)
» Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG)
» Radicalization and Extremist Messaging Group (REMG)

Operatives

Intelligence analysts are at the core of NCTC. In all but a few cases, these analysts come from other agencies, especially the FBI and CIA. In theory, these are terrorism-focused specialists. In reality, they are often junior or extremely senior (near retirement) members of their organizations who have little pull or influence. NCTC is seen by other agencies as a place to dump problem employees, or send junior analysts who need exposure to interagency processes. The result is that NCTC is often staffed by the expendable and forgettable.

In general, NCTC leadership likes to staff regional desks with detailees with specific regional experience, but staffing patterns do not always facilitate this. Far too often, a detailee from another agency with background in a specific subject or region is assigned to a focus cell or regional desk that simply needs personnel to help with the workload. NCTC leadership suggest that these assignments “broaden the experience” of the detailee.

NCTC’s Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team is a blend of first responders (usually sheriff’s deputies and state police officers) and public safety professionals who volunteer to be trained by NCTC and serve as impromptu terrorism analysts. JCAT members work with federal intelligence analysts, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the FBI to research, produce, and disseminate counterterrorism intelligence. JCAT participants provide local insights to federal counterterrorism intelligence. After a yearlong fellowship, a JCAT officer returns to his or her home department.

Authority and Mandate

Under law as well as executive order, NCTC serves as the nation’s primary agency for analyzing and integrating terrorism intelligence. It also conducts strategic operational planning for counterterrorism operations at home and abroad. In practice, it has few true leadership responsibilities outside of sharing information and occasionally spearheading analysis on emerging threat groups.

NCTC is inadequately organized and resourced for its missions. It simply doesn’t have enough people to sift through all the intelligence produced by other agencies and then refine that data into something useful.

Field Operations

NCTC employees mostly work from cubicles and offices at headquarters. However, most offices have small travel budgets that allow analysts to travel to their regions of focus. In these cases, the analysts sometimes travel undercover as civilians or as employees of other agencies. While in the field, NCTC analysts work to gather firsthand information and do research that is otherwise unavailable at a computer.

Areas of Friction

The relationships between NCTC and terrorism-focused departments in other agencies are often poor. Despite NCTC using personnel from those sister agencies, it is rare for those NCTC detailees to push for NCTC’s interests. Many back down when faced with opposition about roles or responsibilities from their home agencies; they still need a soft place to land when their tour of duty concludes. The relationships between NCTC and the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center—which, prior to the establishment of NCTC, was responsible for performing much of NCTC’s current mission—remains particularly acrimonious. The CIA’s CT Center largely disregards NCTC as ineffectual, amateurish, and disorganized.

NCTC also has issues finding an appropriate audience for its analysis. Since many other agencies already have established and dedicated counterterrorism cells, it is often up to NCTC to justify the use of its products and reports over something generated “in house.” There is still a good deal of reluctance by the intelligence community to use “suspect” analysis from other agencies, especially NCTC.

Playing NCTC

You took the NCTC gig because someone from your home agency had to do it and you drew the proverbial short straw. In theory, NCTC’s job is critical, but it lacks the leadership and motivation from analysts like you to put it all together. Instead, NCTC ends up as a place where you have to spend a couple years in a “familiarization tour” that feels like you are wasting time. Most NCTC analysts feel the same. The unspoken reality is that you are here for a reason; because you were expendable.

The daily challenges in working at NCTC involve sifting through mountains of data. NCTC has access to an ever increasing number of agency reports and raw data on terrorists and suspected terrorists. NCTC analysts must learn to process a lot of data in a short time. For inexperienced analysts and intelligence officers, this is a daunting task. If you are from the CIA or FBI, you and your leadership likely see NCTC as completely superfluous. If you are from State or Defense, you likely see NCTC as an oddity, with no meaningful pull and little to offer. If you are from one of the other intelligence or law enforcement agencies, you probably see your time at NCTC as a roadblock to getting your real work done or, worse, as the place where middling careers go to die.

So, when rare opportunities come up for you to shine, you better be ready to take them. NCTC is an agency that advises and recommends; it does not have its own dedicated kinetic operations unit. This undermines the credibility of the organization, since it always has to hand useful intelligence to the CIA, FBI, or SOCOM. It shouldn’t be important which agency actually gets the bad guy, but in the age of limited congressional budgets and competing resources, always being on the sidelines hurts.

Suggested Professions

Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT)
The most prestigious of the joint task forces, JCAT sets policy and threat priorities for the intelligence community.
 PROFESSION: Foreign Service Officer, Intelligence Analyst, Intelligence Case Officer, or Federal Agent
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Foreign
Language (choose one), HUMINT, Law.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to NCTC’s extensive media and intelligence stores, including reporting from the CIA, NSA, FBI, ONI, National Security Council, and allied agencies in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Badges to access the main offices of all of the above (but not their satellite offices or “black” sites). Because many detailees to NCTC desks are on the outs with their home agencies or simply new to the job, they do not have access to their home agencies’ equipment until they return to full-time work there.

Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG)
ITACG is meant to coordinate intelligence and law enforcement agencies in sharing critical information on high priority groups (those identified by the JCAT). While agreements are made in the ITACG, the task force often has little success in actually getting the information to flow.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst or Federal Agent.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Criminology,
Foreign Language (choose one), HUMINT.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to NCTC’s extensive media and intelligence stores, including reporting from the CIA, NSA, FBI, ONI, National Security Council, and allied agencies in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Badges to access the main offices of all of the above (but not their satellite offices or “black” sites). Because many detailees to NCTC desks are on the outs with their home agencies or simply new to the job, they do not have access to their home agencies’ equipment until they return to full-time work there.

Near East Desk, Analysis (NE)
The Near East desk focuses on terrorist threats originating in the Middle East and North Africa, both groups and individuals. It gathers information from the intelligence community and builds reports that it shares with other agencies.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Criminology,
Foreign Language (Arabic, Berber, French, Kurdish, Persian, or Urdu), History.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to NCTC’s extensive media and intelligence stores, including reporting from the CIA, NSA, FBI, ONI, National Security Council, and allied agencies in the U.K., Canada, and Australia. Badges to access the main offices of all of the above (but not their satellite offices or “black” sites). Because many detailees to NCTC desks are on the outs with their home agencies or simply new to the job, they do not have access to their home agencies’ equipment until they return to full-time work there

The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the leading provider of maritime intelligence to the U.S. Navy and joint warfighting forces, as well as to national decision makers. Established in 1882, ONI offers particularly strong technical analysis, focusing on the capabilities of foreign military equipment and units.

BUDGET: Classified, but estimated to be approximately $6 billion in 2015.

The ONI Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? No

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Can be supplied with a credit line if traveling or on an investigation or mission, up to a Standard expense without eliciting official review.

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? With Bureaucracy an Agent can request access to
classified reports from the other branches of the military or CIA. These requests are the equivalent of a Major expense. If a report does not contain technical data about a piece of equipment or a vehicle, the request triggers official review. It is often reasonable for ONI analysts to request non-technical analysis, but ONI leadership wants to verify the justification.

The Organization

Created at the beginning of the Spanish-American War, ONI is the oldest member of the United States intelligence community. It is headquartered at the National Maritime Intelligence Center (NMIC) in Suitland, Maryland.

Within ONI are a number of divisions and subdivisions. Because ONI is a part of the Department of Defense, many of its offices have a regional focus congruous with the unified combatant commands’ areas of responsibilities (NORTHCOM, EUCOM, etc). ONI’s regional offices largely fall under its Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) mandate, with each regional office tracking and identifying notable sea traffic in its area of responsibility. Technical and policy divisions house many of ONI’s mechanical and scientific personnel. ONI’s intelligence departments include: Scientific and Technical Intelligence, Maritime Intelligence, Ship Tracking, Counter Piracy, Counter Proliferation and Trafficking, Foreign Naval Analysis, and Fleet Intelligence Support.

The small ONI Police Force (OPF) protects the National Maritime Intelligence Center. While not a true SWAT-equivalent, the ONI Police Force is highly trained and well equipped and can handle many crisis situations. For serious or particularly dangerous events, the ONI Police Force defers to a dedicated federal tactical response police unit, such as an FBI SWAT team or HRT.

Key ONI Offices and Divisions
» Office of Maritime Domain Awareness
  › CENTCOM MDA
  › SOUTHCOM MDA
  › PACOM MDA
  › EUCOM MDA
» Science and Technical Analysis Division
» Maritime Intelligence Division
» Foreign Naval Analysis Division
» Counter Piracy Division

Operatives

ONI employs more than 3,000 military, civilian, mobilized reservist and contract personnel worldwide, with analysts, scientists, engineers, specialists and technicians making up the majority. More than 800 mobilized Navy reservists provide specialized or technical skills such as IT support and mechanical expertise.

ONI recruits experienced active-duty intelligence officers and specialists, information professionals, aviators, surface warfare officers, and submariners for duty assignments. On the civilian side, ONI is likewise selective in its hiring, and because of the prestige of the agency, usually has a large number of qualified analyst candidates. In general, civilians and active duty analysts work side by side, with active-duty personnel providing real-world viewpoints while the civilians provide specialized knowledge.

Authority and Mandate

In house, the Navy refers to ONI as the “Information Dominance Corps.” ONI produces maritime intelligence for key decision makers within the Navy, for the larger intelligence community, and for government leadership. Currently, ONI focuses on the analysis of naval weapons, tracking technology proliferation, early identification of transnational threats to civil maritime operations, counter-proliferation of weapons, and counter-narcotics.

Field Operations

With no case officers, ONI relies heavily on SIGINT and post-operation briefings by operational intelligence agents. Travel is relatively rare. Most ONI work involves poring over digital intelligence, such as recovered cell phone transcripts or satellite imagery of suspicious ships. Rarely, an ONI analyst specializing in a particular subject or group may travel to an embassy or remote site to perform a first-hand interview of a subject-matter expert. In most cases, if ONI needs a report, it tasks naval or intelligence personnel in the field and expects it to be transmitted via classified computer system.

An ONI analyst given the green light to travel often does so with a large budget and little oversight. Since travel is relatively rare, and the nature of the mission classified, bureaucratic bookkeeping is kept to a low roar. Not all travel by ONI analysts is to some highly limited location in a foreign country. Some of it is domestic, visiting other intelligence agencies or receiving a debrief of a recently-returned special operations team. Rarely, an analyst is sent to another agency either on temporary detail (such as to NCTC) or to consult for a time on a specialized area. Each travel event is specific to the person and the position.

Areas of Friction

ONI is generally well-regarded in the intelligence community and armed forces because of its small size and longstanding reputation for focused and successful work, and because its limited mandate to support the Navy means it doesn’t often step on other agencies’ toes. However, ONI does have trouble with in-house intelligence units in other military branches. There is a distinct rivalry between the various armed forces’ intelligence communities, and sharing information is still the exception rather than the rule.

Playing an ONI Analyst

When you are hired, you hear the phrase “tip of the spear” a lot. It is an unofficial motto of ONI. What it means is that your work is used by the guys that get into the middle of the worst situations you can dream up. DEVGRU, other SEALs, Marine Force Recon, and forward deployed units around the world rely on your analysis and insight. Information wins wars, and ONI is expected to be among the best at gathering and analyzing the information the Navy needs. You work with experts at analyzing photographic and technical intelligence.

Other intelligence agencies have sweeping mandates to cover all aspects of national security. ONI does not. The core of your mission is to identify threats to Navy operations. You make sure the Navy is one step ahead of its enemies and potential rivals. You are concerned about terrorism and asymmetrical combats in so far as they touch on naval special operations, but your bread and butter is keeping up with what the Russian, Chinese, and Indian militaries are doing.

Working for ONI means you are very focused on analyzing new technology. When the Chinese roll out a new air-to-ship missile, ONI analysts, scientists, and engineers figure out just how dangerous it is. In some cases, they make initial suggestions on likely countermeasures.

When Navy personnel or equipment are ordered into harm’s way, the Navy looks to ONI to produce up-to-the-minute briefings and analysis. This is where having good contacts with other members of the intelligence community is particularly helpful, because they may have a more specific understanding of a threat—especially if the threat is a terrorist group or a non-state actor.

Even when you pull information and data from other agencies, you are expected to repackage it and give it the “Navy touch.” That means deconstructing the raw intelligence and making it useful for Navy decision-makers.

Suggested Professions

Office of Foreign Naval Analysis (FNA), Nimitz Operational Center
FNA scrutinizes the capabilities of foreign naval assets like ships, missiles and aircraft.
 PROFESSION: Engineer or Sailor.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Computer Science, Craft (Mechanic or Electrician), Science (Chemistry, Physics or Materials), Military Science (Sea).
 EQUIPMENT: Access to imagery intelligence from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and National Reconnaissance Office, as well as technical schematics of nearly every ship, aircraft, and weapon ever made.

Maritime Domain Awareness—PACOM
The Pacific Command MDA team tracks the naval assets of foreign militaries in the Pacific and Indian Oceans so the Navy knows where those assets are and what they carry, and can make logical guesses as to where they are going and why. MDA is particularly interested in tracking foreign submarines.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Awareness, Foreign
Language (Chinese, Hindi, or Russian are most likely),
Military Science (Sea), Search.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to up-to-date tracking intelligence from human reporting and military satellites (including the National Reconnaissance Office and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency).
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:14, Wed 18 Oct 2023.

The National Security Agency (NSA)

The National Security Agency (NSA) is on the forefront of technical, electronic and computer-driven espionage. It is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and processing of information for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence operations. Originating as a unit to decipher coded communications in World War II, the NSA is now one of the largest U.S. intelligence organizations in personnel and budget. The NSA is part of the Department of Defense but also reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence. While scandals and leaks in recent years have shaken confidence in the integrity of the NSA, it remains powerful and influential.

BUDGET: Classified, but estimated to be more than $11 billion in 2015.

The NSA Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? No

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Can be supplied with a credit line if traveling or on an investigation or mission, up to a Standard expense without eliciting official review

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? With Bureaucracy or SIGINT, an Agent can request access to classified security-related reports from any other federal agency as well “recovered” analysis from other countries’ intelligence services. These requests are the equivalent of a Major expense. A failed request roll immediately triggers official review. A second failed roll triggers criminal investigation for suspected mishandling classified material or even espionage.

The Organization

The NSA is led by the Director of the National Security Agency (DIRNSA), who also serves as Chief of the Central Security Service (CHCSS) and Commander of the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM). NSA’s headquarters is at Fort Meade, near Baltimore.

The National Security Agency underwent a major reorganization process starting in 2017. During this process, NSA merged and rebranded a number of its core directorates. Key directorates include the Operations, Capabilities and Research Directorate (“O Directorate”), responsible for developing and implementing intelligence gathering programs and technology and for codebreaking and developing new encoding methods; Information Assurance(“IA”), which is responsible for securing NSA’s systems as well as thwarting hostile actions; the Business Management and Acquisition Directorate, which is responsible for outreach to important companies to improve their information security and to leverage private-sector developments for the NSA’s use; the Foreign Signals Intelligence Directorate (“S Directorate”), which collects, analyzes, produces, and disseminates signals intelligence to partner organizations; and the Engagement and Policy Directorate, which engages with other government agencies and the U.S. legislature and sets overall policy.

The National Security Agency Network (NSANet) is a closed-system NSA intranet. NSANet is a highly secured network consisting of fiber-optic and satellite communication channels, almost completely separated from the public Internet. The network allows NSA personnel, and civilian and military intelligence analysts anywhere in the world, access to the agency’s systems and databases. Access is tightly controlled and monitored. Every keystroke is logged, activities are audited at random, and downloading and printing of documents from NSANet are recorded and reviewed by Information Assurance.

Key NSA Directorates
» Operations Directorate (“O”)
  › Cryptoanalysis Unit
  › Encryption and Confidentiality Unit
  › Signals Intelligence
» Information Assurance
  › Installation Security
  › Investigations

Operatives

NSA has a reputation for hiring bookish types such as coders, lawyers, translators, and electrical engineers. Alongside a Top Secret clearance, technical certifications, and a successful polygraph, applicants must have at least four years of experience in a relevant field, such as network engineering, cryptography, network security, or information assurance. NSA often demands further qualifications, especially for computer scientists and electronics specialists, including up to three years of experience with the Pentagon’s information assurance certification process.

NSA employees are usually law-abiding, though there are a few notable exceptions. The NSA employs white-hat hackers who are usually identified by recruiters after run-ins with law enforcement. The NSA does not blackmail a hacker into joining; such recruits are likely to do damage or leak secrets. Instead, NSA works with the hacker to clear their criminal record, pays them well, and gives them the chance to explore their craft against the enemies of the United States.

Authority and Mandate

By presidential directive, NSA is the lead agency to monitor and protect the federal government’s computer networks. NSA’s eavesdropping mission includes radio broadcasting, personal communication over the Internet, website activity and browsing history, telephone calls, and other intercepted forms of communication. Its secure communications mission includes military, diplomatic, and other sensitive, confidential, or secret government communications. NSA is also charged with protecting government communications and information systems against penetration and network warfare. NSA assists with and coordinates government SIGINT collection.

The NSA is authorized to plant bugs and intercept wireless communication in and outside the U.S., particularly against foreign nationals. The NSA, like other domestic intelligence agencies, is limited by the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in how it targets American citizens. However, the Patriot Act and more recent legislation gave the NSA broad discretion in collecting intelligence on Americans while pursuing terrorism and national security leads. The NSA generally tries to avoid collecting Americans’ data, particularly domestically. Nevertheless, bulk data gathering means the NSA collects much more intelligence on Americans, including domestically, than it is allowed by law to use.

Unlike the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, NSA does not unilaterally conduct human-source intelligence gathering. In fact, NSA is prevented by law from engaging in the recruitment of traditional human assets without the approval of the Secretary of Defense. The NSA can recruit assets only under very specific circumstances, usually connected to gaining long-term access to telecommunication nodes.

NSA works closely with USCYBERCOM, the Department of Defense’s cyber domain combatant command. The Director of the NSA is also commander of CYBERCOM.

Field Operations

NSA’s work usually is focused on computers, not fieldwork. However, because of NSA’s worldwide mission and the need to gather intelligence in the most remote places, travel to domestic and overseas listening stations and NSA facilities is more common than with other SIGINT-focused agencies. Periodic checks on domestic and international field offices, on site verification of intercepted data, localized hacking, and area familiarization are all likely reasons for an NSA analyst or employee to travel. NSA relies on delicate equipment which must be maintained and repaired. Engineers, mechanics, and software coders are sent around the world when NSA equipment “goes black.”

Because of the ultra-secret and sensitive nature of NSA’s work, its operatives typically use a cover. In many cases, they are provided basic credentials (often created by the CIA) to pass for a bureaucrat from a different, and innocuous, government agency.

Areas of Friction

The NSA’s biggest critics are in Congress, and the public and media that congressmen and women rely upon to get reelected. The Wikileaks and Snowden scandals placed NSA under a microscope by legislators, many of whom view the NSA’s mandate as a violation of U.S. law or constitutional rights. Thus, NSA is under as much scrutiny and criticism as the executive office will allow (which isn’t that much). NSA employees are instructed that it is illegal to look at a U.S. citizen’s data without a court order—but gathering that information is legal. Occasionally, NSA run into complication with other intelligence or defense agencies, particularly the FBI, CIA, or ONI, but this is generally rare.

Playing the NSA

You are changing the way governments approach intelligence gathering. CIA officers get to play spy, but they are relics. Congress talks up the importance of HUMINT, but the old way of cultivating and using assets is highly inefficient compared to what you do. Bulk data collection and filing—everything from cell phone conversations to texts to email—is where the real work of fighting terrorism and national security threats is performed. These days, everything important happens over electronic media. Intelligence is about math and circuits. It’s just taking the CIA longer than most to figure this out.

For a government job, the paycheck starts out quite good and only gets better. It is nothing like what you could command on the civilian market, but the NSA offers perks and a mission that you cannot find in the private sector.

You work with some of the best in very deep fields: mathematics, electrical engineering, coding, and even physics. NSA values intelligence and problem solving. This makes your work environment a bit like a competitive grad school. Morale is usually good, but personal rivalries and one-upsmanship sometimes leads to bad blood. It’s best to just keep your head down and do a good job.

Your whole life is a secret. You are not allowed to talk about your job outside of work. It is not necessarily a secret that you work at NSA, but you are instructed not to discuss anything but the most basic information about your role in the agency with friends and family. People may know you do “computers” with NSA, but have no idea you are a cryptographer working on “smart” code-breaking systems. You should keep it that way. Everything you do or touch is classified to hell and back, so it’s easier to talk sports or video games. If you work in a branch office under cover—likely some innocuous law or accounting firm—no one really wants to talk about your work anyway, so it is easy to keep cover. The need for secrecy and deception makes it easiest to simply date within the organization. If you are married, your spouse probably works for NSA.

As an NSA employee, you self-selected into your position. You wouldn’t have applied for the job if you weren’t reasonably sure you would pass the clearance process. Even if legal trouble is what brought you to the agency’s attention, your talent, drive, and motivations were enough to pass muster. You probably have a sense of morality that lines up with the core values espoused by the United States: global security, democracy, free access to markets, and human rights. Even if the NSA’s ubiquitous intrusion gives you pause, its mission of protecting the country is something you can honor.

You spend all day in a SCIF. Security teams regularly go through contents of your desk and wave equipment along the walls and ceiling looking for electronic bugs. You don’t get to goof off on the Internet, because you use NSANet almost all the time, and it isn’t connected to the World Wide Web except on restricted and heavily monitored terminals. That’s OK, since you have a driven and work-focused personality. NSA employees don’t last too long if they can’t handle being part of Big Brother.

You are trained to stay away from data collected about Americans unless it is “hot.” Deciding what is hot is more art than science, and getting that call wrong has embarrassed the NSA in the past. When a conversation or electronic message is flagged and returned in a database, you review it and decide if there is anything to it. In the vast majority of cases, there is nothing nefarious and you move on. In those rare cases where things in the readout look “off,” you take it to your supervisor and a deeper dive is authorized.

Suggested Professions

Cryptoanalysis Unit, Operations Directorate
This unit creates algorithms to defeat foreign encryption.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
» Accounting 50%
» Bureaucracy 40%
» Computer Science 60%
» Craft (Microelectronics) 60%
» Criminology 50%
» Foreign Language (choose one) 40%
» Science (Engineering or Physics) 60%
» Science (Mathematics or Predictive Analytics) 60%
» SIGINT 60%
 BONDS: 3
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Computer Science, Craft
(Microelectronics), Science (Mathematics), SIGINT.
 EQUIPMENT: A large library of technical manuals and professional journals on math and computer science (and, perhaps, quantum mechanics).

Tailored Access Operations Unit (TAO), Foreign Intelligence Directorate
TAO operatives hack into foreign computers to conduct cyber-espionage
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
» Accounting 50%
» Bureaucracy 50%
» Computer Science 60%
» Craft (Electrician) 30%
» Craft (Mechanic) 30%
» Craft (Microelectronics) 50%
» Criminology 60%
» Foreign Language (choose one) 60%
» HUMINT 50%
» Science (Mathematics) 40%
» SIGINT 60%
 BONDS: 2
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Computer
Science, Foreign Language, SIGINT.
 EQUIPMENT: A large library of reports and classified analysis of hacking techniques as well as more established literature on advanced language studies.

Remote Device Activities Unit, Operations Directorate
This unit designs and installs clandestine surveillance equipment and physically recovers intelligence that is gathered remotely.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
» Alertness 50%
» Craft (Electrician) 40%
» Craft (Locksmithing) 60%
» Criminology 50%
» Disguise 50%
» Dodge 40%
» Drive 50%
» Firearms 40%
» Law 40%
» Melee Weapons 40%
» Persuade 50%
» Search 60%
» Stealth 60%
» Unarmed Combat 50%
 BONDS: 2
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Craft (mechanic), Craft
(microelectronics), Science (physics), Search.
 EQUIPMENT: Lockpicks, operations and technical manuals of equipment that houses surveillance devices, disguises, specialized equipment to recover data stores (such as acoustical lasers or tailored RFID readers)

Counterintelligence Investigator, Q Directorate
An NSA counterintelligence investigator investigates security risks and suspicious activities, audits security practices, conducts background investigations on NSA employees and contractors, and gives weekly security briefings for NSA employees, contractors, and military affiliates. The investigator works often with subject-matter experts from other agencies and backgrounds to prepare briefings on specific threats. A threat briefing could be a private meeting with a senior official or a walk-in staffer who has a concern, a presentation to an entire branch, or a speech to hundreds of NSA industrial partner employees.
 PROFESSION: Federal Agent.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Computer Science, Foreign Language, SIGINT, Stealth.
 EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
on page 85 of the Agent’s Handbook.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

The DIA is the Pentagon’s primary all-source intelligence agency, and the chief rival to the CIA for conducting intelligence analysis and covert operations. The DIA reports to the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence (USDI) and to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). As the principal military intelligence agency, DIA focuses most of its analytical and clandestine activities on support to the warfighter. DIA’s activities cover everything from foreign leader intent to medical intelligence, scientific advances, and foreign economic infrastructure. DIA officers do not typically conduct operations within the United States, but may operate in support of other intelligence and law enforcement agencies on a case-by-case basis.

BUDGET: Classified, but estimated over $2 billion in 2015..

The Agency Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? Frequently when operating overseas, rarely when within the U.S.

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Can be supplied with a significant credit line, up to a Major expense without eliciting official review.

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? With Bureaucracy, an Agent can access a wide range of equipment including military-grade weapons and communications gear as a Standard expense. Access to an armored SUV or unarmed military transport vehicle counts as a Major expense. An Agent can request experimental technology as an Extreme expense, but this automatically initiates official review. With Bureaucracy or SIGINT, an Agent can access classified security-related reports from the military branches, CIA, NSA, NRO, or NGA. Such a request is equivalent to a Major expense. A failed roll immediately triggers official review. A second failed roll triggers criminal investigation into the character’s actions for suspicion of mishandling classified material or even espionage.

The Organization

DIA provides intelligence to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to the Joint Intelligence Centers within the Combatant Commands around the world. DIA headquarters is located at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., though it also has a large presence at the Pentagon. DIA has public and clandestine facilities scattered around the U.S. Nearly 17,000 people work for DIA around the world.

DIA is organized into operational, functional and support directorates, each with a specific mission. The Directorate for Analysis (DI) reports on key foreign military forces and leaders based on intelligence gathered by the other directorates and the Service Intelligence Centers in each branch of the military. The Directorate of Operations (DO) carries out covert intelligence collection operations in conflict zones and against hostile foreign governments. The Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) deploys expert teams of case officers, cultural and linguistic specialists, and interrogators to gather human intelligence. DCS also supports special operations forces (particularly SOCOM). The Defense Cover Office (DCO) creates false identities for intelligence operatives and facilitates their access to denied locations and installations.

The Directorate for Science and Technology (DT) serves as a hub for DIA’s highly specialized technical assets and personnel. Composed mostly of scientists, engineers and technicians, DT brings to bear unique capabilities such as Measurement and Signals Intelligence (MASINT) techniques, which can identify the distinctive signatures of mechanical or electronic targets using terrestrial and orbital radars, acoustic sensors, chemical and biological detection arrays, and other collection platforms.

The Defense Attaché Service (DAS) is composed exclusively of active-duty military officers operating out of Defense Attaché Offices (DAO) within U.S. embassies. These attachés liaise with foreign militaries and collect intelligence on foreign military systems and capabilities.

Key DIA Directorates
» Directorate for Analysis (DI)
» Directorate of Operations (DO)
  › The Defense Cover Office (DCO)
» Directorate for Science and Technology (DT)
» Directorate for Mission Services (DA)
  › Defense Attaché Service (DAS)

Operatives

DIA supports two missions, intelligence collection and analysis. Within the collections sphere, DO case officers and DCS operatives recruit human assets to provide insights into some aspect of a foreign military. DIA case officers operate much like their CIA counterparts but with a focus on military assets. Case officers and DCS operatives work SIGINT clandestine missions, placing bugs or wiretaps.

The Directorate for Analysis refines raw intelligence into succinct reports for policy makers. Writing is its analysts’ key ability, and those who can distill important information into succinct summaries are likely to go far. DI has a large list of priorities and specialized offices: analyzing and evaluating foreign military capabilities, anticipating economic shifts that may impact a country’s stability or the budget of its military, assessing political leadership’s relationship within their country’s military.

Defense attachés are part diplomat, part intelligence collector, with a wide mandate. Their status as a DIA employee is not secret, though it is rarely highlighted. A defense attaché heads a Defense Attaché Office and oversees a number of other DIA staff. The defense attaché is the primary military advisor to the ambassador and embassy team.

Authority and Mandate

The worldwide mandate of the Department of Defense extends to the DIA, demanding that it track myriad threats to the U.S. and its military. Whatever the DoD or the service branches are interested in, DIA is expected to either be the expert or become the expert.

In the intelligence community, DIA is the authority on most military matters. Given the size of the U.S. military, and the influence of military issues, this gives DIA significant credibility and authority

Field Operations

DIA expects its employees to travel. Even office-bound analysts often travel on familiarization trips. As DIA employees become more senior, travel increases. DIA terms employees as an “expeditionary workforce” and budgets accordingly. DIA deploys its workforce to conflict zones, areas of emerging threats, combatant commands, U.S. embassies, and allied military bases. Securing approval to travel as a DIA agent is relatively easy. Travel budgets are reasonably robust. The organizational culture of promoting travel as an essential part of the job means oversight is professional but not overly diligent.

Areas of Friction

Competition between DIA and CIA often runs deep, with case officers often working at cross purposes while trying to recruit the best assets. Each see itself as the premier member of the intelligence community.

DIA also runs into conflict with service branches’ intelligence bodies, such as the Office of Naval Intelligence. The two organizations often report on the same issues and sometimes cooperate, but conflict and resentment are more common. DIA pulls rank as the senior intelligence body with more resources, and ONI insists that it can better serve its Navy customers

Playing DIA

DIA may look like a civilian organization from the outside, and many of its positions are filled by civilian employees or contractors, but it is very much part of the U.S. military. If you are a civilian, you must conform to military standards. You don’t salute, but you need to understand rank and military jargon. Even moreso than civilian employees within the service branches, you need to have at least a passing familiarity with all the services: service-specific phrases, the equivalent ranks and terms for officer positions, what each letter and number combination indicates for an occupational specialty, and so on. No one expects you to be an expert on the differences between the services, but you are expected to get the basics right and know a little bit about each service’s culture.

If you are a HUMINT collector or case officer, you provide critical intelligence to decision makers and warfighters working on the front lines. You serve among best-in-class professionals on the front lines of the nation’s defense. You are expected to immerse yourself in foreign cultures, and to take initiative and make decisions on your own. You interact with people around the world, speak multiple languages, analyze global events, and make an invaluable difference to national security.

You have wide latitude to get the job done. DIA is an empowering work environment, your position commands a certain amount of respect and deference from non-operative colleagues. It is also a unforgiving environment. Results are expected, and your insights need to be accurate and timely. After too many failures you will be benched: transferred to an analyst billet or assigned to a portfolio or issue that no one prioritizes. Until then, you are an alpha. The prospect of not being at the center of this exciting career or focused on an issue that matters is disturbing.

If you are in the military, your work will be valued when you return to your home unit. DIA is respected throughout the services. This is a good spot to do a joint tour and check that box for promotion without setting your career back.

Suggested Professions

Defense Clandestine Service (DCS)
The DCS’ well trained and versatile agents work overseas, gathering intelligence on foreign militaries. DCS operatives train alongside CIA spies and paramilitaries at “the Farm,” and are expected to work closely with SOCOM and other special operations forces when kinetic operations are ordered.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Case Officer.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Foreign Language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish are most likely), HUMINT, Military Science (choose one).
 EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: SPECIAL OPERATOR on page 85 of the Agent's Handbook, though this equipment is hidden and secured to maintain cover.

Directorate for Analysis (DI), Americas Division
DI Americas Division provides research and analysis on the militaries of Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. Because of regional proximity, the Americas Division pays the closest attention to the United States. Many Americas Division analysts come from humanities backgrounds.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: History, Foreign Language, HUMINT, Military Science (choose one).
 EQUIPMENT: Access to classified reporting from throughout the military, and a large library of military history, geography, and biographies.

Defense Attaché (DATT)
A DATT leads a Defense Attaché Office, which does a bit of everything. A DATT gathers and reports intelligence, recruits assets, and represents the U.S. military to a foreign government.
 PROFESSION: Soldier or Sailor
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Foreign
Language (choose one), HUMINT, Law.
 EQUIPMENT: Access to an embassy building, armored SUV (with a driver), and diplomatic credentials.

The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency under the Department of Defense and an intelligence agency. It collects, analyzes, and distributes geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national security. As a combat support agency, NGA provides maps and targeting documents for strikes against enemy locations and military units. As an intelligence agency, NGA uses imagery intelligence (IMINT) to create strategic briefing documents, atlases, and battle damage assessments. NGA is a leader in utilizing data and imagery collected from space and high-altitude drones.

BUDGET: Classified, but estimated over $5 billion in 2015.

The Agency Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? Frequently when operating overseas, rarely when within the U.S.

ACCESS TO FUNDS? Limited credit line, up to a Standard expense without eliciting an official review

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? Using Bureaucracy or an appropriate Craft skill (such as Mechanics or Electronics), an Agent can access experimental military or civilian technologies being evaluated for reconnaissance or field support. This is equivalent to an Extreme expense.

With Bureaucracy or SIGINT, an Agent can access classified reports from the other branches of the military, the NSA, or the NRO. This is equivalent of a Major expense. If a report does not contain technical or geographic data, the request triggers official review.

The Organization

NGA serves as the Pentagon’s primary means of collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), usually from maps and imagery products created by satellite and aircraft reconnaissance missions. NGA is headquartered at Fort Belvoir, outside Washington, D.C. NGA employs approximately 14,500 personnel, including a mix of military and civilian engineers, technicians, imagery analysts, and mapmakers.

The Source Operations and Management Directorate (S Directorate) facilitates the acquisition of imagery intelligence (IMINT) and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT). Its personnel are experts in technologies that peer into hidden corners and denied locations, including underground and undersea. The Analysis Directorate (A Directorate) uses the source material acquired by S to assess facilities and locations that catch NGA’s attention. The Directorate of Military Support (MS Directorate) is the primary liaison to the various branches of the military, NGA’s primary customers.

NGA has a strong interest in the civilian technology sector, with two directorates focused on innovative technologies. NGA Research invests in emerging technologies found in the private sector. It particularly focuses on radars, automation, electromagnetic detection, cyber and anticipatory analytics. Its scientists and engineers closely monitor promising tech startups and academic research programs. The Xperience Directorate (X Directorate) designs user interfaces and graphical presentations so non-specialists can understand NGA’s analysis. Its personnel tend to have strong networks in the tech industry and academia.

Key NGA Directorates
» Source Operations and Management Directorate (S)
  › GEOCELL (joint with NSA)
» Analysis Directorate (A)
» InnoVision Directorate (I)

Operatives

NGA’s personnel are experts in aeronautical analysis, cartography, geospatial analysis, imagery analysis, marine analysis, the physical sciences, architecture, computer and telecommunication engineering, and photography.

At the core of NGA are its geospatial analysts, who are trained to analyze the most minute details of imagery and electronic data. Geospatial analysts produce reports that cover everything from the number of armored vehicles parked at a military depot to the exact location of ventilation shafts or sensor arrays at a supposedly hidden facility. The other disciplines work with NGA’s analysts to draw logical conclusions from the vast amounts of data

Authority and Mandate

NGA covers a wide range of intelligence, from tactical details to estimating crop yields in foreign countries. NGA intelligence officers typically work in conjunction with other military personnel or intelligence agencies, providing key expertise and skills when needed. Perhaps more than any other intelligence agency, NGA works closely with civilian agencies to assist with disaster recovery by providing up-to-date maps of affected areas and security planning for important national events.

Field Operations

Despite the worldwide nature of NGA’s work, travel is relatively rare. Analysts focus on digital and electronic data. Occasionally, senior members of a team or project travel to a partner agency like the Air Force or to a civilian partner for consultations. NGA’s travel budgets are low, and use of those limited funds comes with considerable scrutiny.

Areas of Friction

NGA has a good reputation for cooperation with other agencies. It has relatively strong relationships with the Air Force, NRO, NSA, NASA, and SOCOM, all of whom provide images to be analyzed.

Playing the NGA

NGA provides a work environment that is interesting, fast-paced, and demanding. It is home to unusual skill sets such as cartography. It is staffed mostly by intellectuals with advanced degrees in esoteric technical disciplines. Morale is generally high, as most people feel fortunate to have found a well-paying job that allows them to indulge their passions.

Your daily routine brings you in contact with fascinating data. If there is a major event, NGA is watching and analyzing, even things that don’t make the news. You get to see the events of the world, up close, in the comfort of your cubicle. Your analysis sets the tone for further research by organizations like NSA, NCTC, and CIA. In a very real way, your assessment of a situation sets the standard by which the other intelligence agencies react to a situation. Your analysis is reused and recycled by the intelligence community. Your colleagues across the U.S. government are hungry for your insights.

NGA analysts are the first line for discovering the weird and the surprising. If a satellite or reconnaissance drone picks up something out of the ordinary, NGA puts resources into figuring it out. NGA operatives are particularly well placed to identify unnatural incursions before anyone else, and if need be, to cover them up.

Working relationships are collegial, and you have little problem asking colleagues with different backgrounds for input on a particularly interesting or puzzling piece of data. Other intelligence agencies see a lot of unhealthy competition and professional intrigue, but that’s not the case at NGA.

There is one downside of work in NGA for a civilian. Many of the employees and managers are ex-military, with no experience in private industry, academia, or not-for-profit work. The culture is heavily influenced by military training styles. It is common for a manager or team analyst to yell at the top of their lungs to “inspire” you to work longer, faster, and harder. You either adapt to this thinly-veiled military structure or you simply keep your head down, do the job, and build up resentment against those in uniform.

Suggested Professions

InnoVision Directorate (I)
InnoVision researchers explore new ways to gather and use intelligence, particularly in creating expert or predictive systems.
 PROFESSION: Scientist or Computer Scientist.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Bureaucracy, Craft (Engineering or Microengineering), SIGINT, Science (Chemistry, Geology, or Physics).
 EQUIPMENT: Access to a program budget (see page
90 of the Agent’s Handbook).

Analysis Directorate (A)
Analysis creates detailed reports about imagery and intelligence and uses that data for predictive modeling.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Accounting, Bureaucracy, SIGINT, Science (Cartography or Mathematics).
 EQUIPMENT: A large library on mathematics, quantum mechanics, statistics-based modeling techniques, and game theory.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:13, Sun 21 Apr 2019.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

NRO builds the secret satellites used by the Pentagon and the intelligence community to monitor the world by collecting imagery intelligence (IMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT). Unlike many combat-support and intelligence agencies, NRO’s contributions to national security occur long before a conflict or crisis breaks out. The United States relies on NRO’s satellites to monitor looming threats and to provide early warning of potential attacks. With a workforce of only about 3,000 military and civilian staff, NRO relies heavily on civilian contractors with specialized skills and experience to integrate technically sophisticated and ultra-fragile components in billion-dollar satellites.

BUDGET: Classified, but estimated more than $10 billion in 2015.

The Agency Operative at a Glance

POWERS OF ARREST? No

EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? No

ACCESS TO FUNDS? A credit line worth up to a Major expense without eliciting official review

OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? Using Bureaucracy, an Agent can access some advanced civilian or military technology, such as an experimental sensor or communications device, for a “field test.” This is equivalent to at least a Major expense, although really experimental equipment would likely be an Extreme expense. As a Standard expense, an Agent can access detailed maps from around the world. As a Major expense, an Agent can request that a map be made of a specific area using satellites. This request automatically triggers official review and takes at least a week to complete.

The Organization

NRO was secretly created on 6 SEP 1961 with the purpose of overseeing “all satellite and overflight reconnaissance projects whether overt or covert.” The existence of the organization was declassified in 1992. The NRO continues to coordinate the use of government-controlled satellites and the data they capture.

The Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate (AS&T) coordinates NRO’s research and development of new sensing and communications technologies. The Imagery Intelligence Systems Directorate (IMINT) seeks to constantly improve the resolution and clarity of images from cameras placed on reconnaissance satellites. The Signals Intelligence Systems Directorate (SIGINT) refines the technologies needed to intercept electronic signals worldwide, including the ability to eavesdrop on protected signal channels. The Communications Acquisition and Operations Directorate (COMM) ensures that NRO’s own communications remain secure and reliable, using advanced communications technologies such as lasers. Missions Operations Directorate (MOD) operates and reports on NRO’s satellites and ground support systems. Systems Operations (SO), the Office of Space Launch (OSL), and the Ground Enterprise Directorate (GED) all support the launch and maintenance of NRO’s satellites and space-borne data arrays. Other offices and directorates provide support for the operational directorates.

Key NRO Directorates
» Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate
(AS&T)
» Imagery Intelligence Systems Directorate
(IMINT)
» Signals Intelligence Systems Directorate
(SIGINT)
» Missions Operations Directorate (MOD)

Operatives

The NRO is jointly staffed by members of the armed services (primarily the Air Force and Navy), the CIA, NGA, NSA, including civilian personnel. These detailees usually spend at least two years with NRO. They serve with one of the directorates, represent their home organizations, and, when necessary, advocate for their organizations’ access to satellites. More than half of NRO’s employees are contractors with many key analyst and technical positions filled by companies like SAIC and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Authority and Mandate

The NRO designs, builds, launches, and maintains America’s intelligence satellites. Together with other Defense Department satellites, NRO systems play a crucial role in global communications, precision navigation, early warning of missile launches and potential military aggression, signals intelligence, and near-realtime imagery to support counterterrorism. Satellite use is in high demand across the government, and NRO prioritizes requests for the use of satellites with its partner organizations.

NRO systems are often the only collectors able to access critical areas of interest. Data from overhead sensors provide unique information and perspectives not available from other sources. NRO monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, develops accurate military targeting data and damage assessments, supports international peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations, and tracks international terrorists, drug traffickers, and criminal organizations.

Field Operations

There are few reasons for an NRO employee to travel on duty. The controlled and classified nature of the work means that travel draws considerable scrutiny. When travel does occur, it is often to brief partner organizations or to recruit at a contractor headquarters or other agency.

Technicians and engineers have an easier time traveling to support systems. If a remote ground tracking facility goes dark, NRO specialists travel quickly to the site and make the necessary repairs.

Areas of Friction

NRO’s technical and specialized role in the intelligence community and its willingness to share its products with other agencies mean it is generally well-regarded throughout the U.S. government.

Playing the NRO

When you arrive at work, you say goodbye to the sun. Your office is in a building that is basically one enormous SCIF. Information security and Internet protocols are top priorities. You are constantly reminded that you have no right to privacy while at work, and you know security people review everything you do on your work computer. The government takes its satellite program seriously. You must be vigilant about what you are doing in case something looks askance.

You work on incredibly cool projects, with some of the best professionals in the business. Partner agencies and organizations that send detailees to NRO often send their best. NRO is seen by the Air Force and the intelligence community as a desirable place to do interagency work. If you are a detailee, your home agency remains supportive and management keeps you as much in the loop as you want. If you are a full-time NRO employee, you likely thank your lucky stars that the partner agencies and contractors send qualified people to help. From engineers to imagery analysts, NRO has some of the best in the business, and morale is routinely high. Even human resources and IT have a reputation for strong and supportive work. You like this job. You want to keep it.

Priority usually goes to the military during an operation. NRO’s electronic assets mean that, when fully dedicated, real-time satellite coverage is possible. Advanced filters and optics can allow better resolution to defeat countermeasures such as smoke or physical housing.

The competing demands for NRO’s data collection capabilities means that priorities must be assigned and time over a target must be regulated. NRO analysts work with detailees to create useful products. Those can include everything from a series of still pictures identifying armored vehicles to incredibly detailed hydrographic maps identifying structural damage after a flood.

NRO’s leadership is demanding and thorough but is open to creativity. Offices and cells constantly work to upgrade the quality and readability of their data and analytical products, exploring non-standard ways of presenting their findings. For decades, NRO has maintained a small wargaming office to explore the ways that its imagery and electronic data can best be used. NRO works in non-standard visual projects, such as “Patterns of Life” projects which process massive data sets to identify patterns in targets’ daily lives and identify abnormal behaviors.

Suggested Professions

Imagery Intelligence Systems Directorate (IMINT)
IMINIT is the heart and soul of NRO, bringing together capable visual analysts and dedicated engineers to improve the intelligence produced by satellites and drones. Most IMINT detailees are from the Air Force and NASA.
 PROFESSION: Intelligence Analyst.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Art (Drafting or Mapmaking), Computer Science, Science (Engineering or Geography), SIGINT
 EQUIPMENT: Access to a dizzying array of maps and photographic records from decades back, much of it is classified.

Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate (AS&T)
AS&T develops groundbreaking and extremely classified technologies and applies them to gathering remote intelligence. Members of AS&T are expected to think creatively and use non-standard processes. AS&T works closely with academia and the corporate world, not discriminating against revolutionary technologies no matter where they come from
 PROFESSION: Scientist.
 SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Art (Graphic Design), Bureaucracy, Computer Science, Science (choose one, but Chemistry, Physics, and Geology are most likely).
 EQUIPMENT: AS&T employees are on permanent visitor lists to many prestigious universities, think tanks, and corporate labs.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:19, Thu 26 Oct 2023.