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Thread: Top 5 Intelligence Agencies You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

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  1. #1

    Top 5 Intelligence Agencies You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

    Top 5 Intelligence Agencies You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

    No Such Agency isn’t just a running joke for those working for the NSA – some agencies are so secretive that many have never heard of them, others have even been considered classified for years after their creation.
    Intelligence

    nro.gov

    David Brown / Jan 27, 2013

    The NSA was once jokingly referred to as No Such Agency because of its penchant for secrecy. The National Reconnaissance Office, founded in 1961, was only declassified in 1992—before that, it didn’t officially exist. To show how much things have changed, today both of those agencies have children’s websites. (As does the FBI, CIA, and DIA.) Not every part of the intelligence community, however, has reached such lofty heights as offering lesson plans for schoolteachers. Here are a few lesser-known arms of United States intelligence:

    National Underwater Reconnaissance Office
    It took thirteen years for the public to learn about the existence of the National Reconnaissance Office, by way of a short piece in the Washington Post. The National Underwater Reconnaissance Office, on the other hand, remained a secret for twenty-nine years. Where the NRO began as a joint CIA-U.S. Air Force agency, the NURO is the intersection of the CIA and U.S. Navy.
    The agency was pivotal during the Cold War, enabling the United States to spy on the Soviet Union using submarines and by tapping undersea communication lines. Its most famous operation (so far) is Project Azorian, in which a ship called the Glomar Explorer was constructed to retrieve a sunken Soviet submarine.
    Special Collection Service
    Sometimes the Utah Data Center isn’t enough and the NSA needs to get hands-on in foreign countries. To do this, it calls upon the men and women of the Special Collection Service, a joint CIA-NSA signals intelligence agency. The SCS is charged with placing high-tech bugs in impossible locations. To do this, the service can send in Special Collection Elements that are equipped with gear that would make Q jealous—umbrellas that unfold to parabolic antennas, satellite transmitters disguised as simple laptops, and lasers that can read conversations by recording the vibrations of windows.
    And they’re not just bugging hotel rooms in Prague. They’re also on the ground in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, tapping communications infrastructure and spying on terrorist training camps. As John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists put it, “When you think of NSA, you think satellites. When you think CIA, you think James Bond and microfilm. But you don’t really think of an agency whose sole purpose is to get up real close and use the best technology there is to listen and transmit. That’s SCS.”
    Global Response Staff
    The Washington Post recently gave attention to a secret arm of the CIA tasked with security operations abroad. The Global Response Staff is made up of hundreds of former members of U.S. special operations forces who often work as contractors. Their mission is to guard spies, but let’s face it: A Delta guy isn’t going to sit around for long. GRS operations have expanded in recent years to include critical security at drone bases, defending Special Collection Elements in the field, and transporting intelligence assets in combat zones. In Benghazi, members of GRS mounted a rescue operation of U.S. diplomats, and later helped evacuate survivors. This is not a job that you take to pad a retirement check. As the Post notes, five of the fourteen CIA employees killed in recent years were from GRS.
    Mission Support Activity
    In the world of secret operations, the blander the name, the more exciting the mission. A unit with a snooze-fest name like Mission Support Activity—previously the equally boring Intelligence Support Activity—is therefore running some pretty dangerous operations. “Task Force Orange” or “the Activity”, as the ISA is sometimes called, is a highly secret special mission unit charged with intelligence collection for the Joint Special Operations Command. It runs its own spy rings, operates its own Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, and generally does whatever is necessary for “operational preparation of the battlefield.”
    Hostage Rescue Team
    The Hostage Rescue Team is what you join when you’re an FBI agent who loves kitting up and kicking down doors. It is a domestic counter-terrorist unit that operates under the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group. Its notable missions include security during the Olympic Games, and rescuing guards from rioting prisons in 1991 and 1999. Immediately after the Talledega rescue in 1991, the New York Times reported that the operation began at 3:43. “On a videotape made by the Cable News Network, three or four men dressed in dark clothing and who appeared to be holding rifles scurried across the roof of the cellblock. Seconds later, another boom was heard. Prison officials said the assault was over by 3:46 A.M., and the hostages, all prison or immigration employees, were freed.”

    The Hostage Rescue Team was conceived as an FBI variant of Delta Force, with the intention of performing such specialized missions as rescuing hostages from hijacked planes. When it was formally proposed in Washington, however, top officials at the Bureau rejected the plan. The idea of an elite unit was an anathema to the FBI’s core identity, that of Special Agents equally capable in any situation. The proposal interested FBI director William Webster, however, and he and John Simeone, his associate, were soon at Ft. Bragg observing Delta training exercises. As Danny Coulson, founder of the Hostage Rescue Team, wrote in a memoir, Webster and Simeone were taking measure of Delta’s gear when the director noticed something was missing. “I don’t see any handcuffs,” he said, to which a Delta operator replied, “We don’t have handcuffs. It’s not my job to arrest people.” This was a major factor in the FBI embracing the need for its own counter-terrorist team—while the skill set was similar to Delta, the mission required a civilian, criminal justice mindset.


  2. #2

    Paramilitary Operations Officer/Specialized Skills Officer

    Overseas Security Contracting: Are You Eligible?

    February 22, 2014 by Iassen Donov Leave a Comment

    So you’re getting out, you don’t feel like going to college, and you’ve got dollar signs in your eyes; you’ve decided to get out there and throw in your different packets for the myriad of overseas security contracting positions that are out there. But how do you fare? Is your military experience strong enough to get looked at?
    I have reached out to multiple close friends who are all contractors with the State Department, OGA, and DOD Counter-Narcotics initiative to provide a realistic insight as to who gets picked up for these roles.
    Here is a breakdown of the more popular shooter/security contracting roles.

    WPS/State Department (DOS) PSD Work

    This is a contract role that does not require a Special Operations background. Candidates with conventional infantry experience or strong combat arms have just the same change of being picked up for this program. There have been many non-veteran SWAT/Law Enforcement types that have been brought on board as well – these make up roughly 15% of the force.
    SOF personnel comprise a small percentage of this contract as many have moved on to more lucrative positions such as OGA contracts or other niche programs (Counter-Narcotics).
    Must be eligible to attain a DOS Secret clearance – your DOD clearance (regardless if it is active) does not count.
    Companies that own the contracts: International Development Solutions/Academi (Blackwater) possesses the contracts for Afghanistan and Israel, but other companies out there own the WPS contracts for other countries.

    Global Response Staff (GRS)/OGA Mobile Security

    This position requires 6 years of military special operations or a strong combat arms background.

    The six-year requirement is not waiverable, but in specific cases the hiring company will bring on board individuals who have 4 years of military experience and another 2+ in overseas security contracting. (Please note that to get the waiver, these four years must be in military special operations)
    A good amount of GRS/Mobile employees come from a civilian law enforcement background and possess no military experience.
    Companies that own the contracts: SOC-USA, LLC

    OGA Static Security

    Getting on board with this contract requires 4 years of military experience in a combat arms MOS (SOF experience but not in a specific combat arms role will work also).
    SOF experience is not required but if you do not possess it, you will consistently lose a position to somebody who does have that SOF background.
    You must also have at least one deployment/high threat environment under your belt with some relevant security experience during your military time. But this can always be worded on your resume to make you eligible.
    Companies that own the contracts: MVM (previously), SOC-USA, LLC., and XPG (Academi)

    OGA Ground Branch (CIA Special Activities Division)

    This is one of the hardest (and also one of the most lucrative) contracts to get on board with. Candidates quite often possess extensive JSOC military experience specifically with Delta Force and DEVGRU. There is also a healthy dose of MARSOC operators as many of the full time employees who have been in since before 9/11 in the Special Activities Division are USMC veterans.
    Take note: Individuals who have extensive knowledge of this program are most likely the only ones qualified.
    Companies that own the contracts: Patriot Group

    NSA Security/”Scorpion Program”

    This is not the largest security contract but it warrants a mention due to the specifics of the job duties.
    This program is predominantly USMC veterans. The program manager and final hiring authority for this small security program (comparable to the rest mentioned) is a Marine himself and holds a biased preference to Marines. Conventional 0311 will get hired before a SEAL, Ranger, or Special Forces soldier.
    Companies that own this contract: Unknown, but it was MVM at one point
    There are obviously many other security contracting positions available out there. But most are very poorly managed and incredibly dangerous (because of the poor management and sub-standard hiring procedures).
    Good luck in your future contracting prospect!



    Paramilitary Operations Officer/Specialized Skills Officer
    Last edited by airdog07; September 28th, 2016 at 07:20 PM.

  3. #3

    CIA’s Global Response Staff emerging from shadows after incidents in Libya and Pakist

    CIA’s Global Response Staff emerging from shadows after incidents in Libya and Pakistan

    Pakistanis shout slogans and hold banners in Karachi during a rally against a U.S. consular employee who was suspected in a shooting. The U.S. says the man, identified by Pakistanis as Raymond Allen Davis, has diplomatic immunity and that Pakistan must free him. (Shakil Adil/AP)
    By Greg Miller and Julie Tate December 26, 2012

    The rapid collapse of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya exposed the vulnerabilities of State Department facilities overseas. But the CIA’s ability to fend off a second attack that same night provided a glimpse of a key element in the agency’s defensive arsenal: a secret security force created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

    Two of the Americans killed in Benghazi were members of the CIA’s Global Response Staff, an innocuously named organization that has recruited hundreds of former U.S. Special Forces operatives to serve as armed guards for the agency’s spies.

    The GRS, as it is known, is designed to stay in the shadows, training teams to work undercover and provide an unobtrusive layer of security for CIA officers in high-risk outposts.

    But a series of deadly scrapes over the past four years has illuminated the GRS’s expanding role, as well as its emerging status as one of the CIA’s most dangerous assignments.

    Of the 14 CIA employees killed since 2009, five worked for the GRS, all as contractors. They include two killed at Benghazi, as well as three others who were within the blast radius on Dec. 31, 2009, when a Jordanian double agent detonated a suicide bomb at a CIA compound in Khost, Afghanistan.
    In this Oct. 4,2011 file photo former CIA contractor Raymond Davis, right, and his attorney William Frankfurt arrive at the Douglas County Courthouse in Castle Rock, Colo., for a court hearing on felony assault charges. (Ed Andrieski/AP)

    GRS contractors have also been involved in shootouts in which only foreign nationals were killed, including one that triggered a diplomatic crisis. While working for the CIA, Raymond Davis was jailed for weeks in Pakistan last year after killing two men in what he said was an armed robbery attempt in Lahore.

    The increasingly conspicuous role of the GRS is part of a broader expansion of the CIA’s paramilitary capabilities over the past 10 years. Beyond hiring former U.S. military commandos, the agency has collaborated with U.S. Special Operations teams on missions including the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and has killed thousands of Islamist militants and civilians with its fleet of armed drones.

    CIA veterans said that GRS teams have become a critical component of conventional espionage, providing protection for case officers whose counterterrorism assignments carry a level of risk that rarely accompanied the cloak-and-dagger encounters of the Cold War.

    Spywork used to require slipping solo through cities in Eastern Europe. Now, “clandestine human intelligence involves showing up in a Land Cruiser with some [former] Deltas or SEALs, picking up an asset and then dumping him back there when you are through,” said a former CIA officer who worked closely with the security group overseas.

    Bodyguard details have become so essential to espionage that the CIA has overhauled its training program at the Farm — its case officer academy in southern Virginia — to teach spies the basics of working with GRS teams.

    The security apparatus relies heavily on contractors who are drawn by relatively high pay and flexible schedules that give them several months off each year. In turn, they agree to high-risk assignments in places such as Benghazi and are largely left on their own to take basic precautions, such as finding health and life insurance.

    Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the GRS has about 125 employees working abroad at any given time, with at least that many rotating through cycles of training and off-time in the United States.

    At least half are contractors, who often earn $140,000 or more a year and typically serve 90- or 120-day assignments abroad. Full-time GRS staff officers — those who are permanent CIA employees — earn slightly less but collect benefits and are typically put in supervisory roles.

    The work is lucrative enough that recruiting is done largely by word of mouth, said one former U.S. intelligence official. Candidates tend to be members of U.S. Special Forces units who have recently retired, or veterans of police department SWAT teams.

    Most GRS recruits arrive with skills in handling the weapons they will carry, including Glock handguns and M4 rifles. But they undergo additional training so they do not call attention to the presence or movements of the CIA officers they are in position to protect.

    Although the agency created the GRS to protect officers in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been expanded to protect secret drone bases as well as CIA facilities and officers in locations including Yemen, Lebanon and Djibouti.

    In some cases, elite GRS units provide security for personnel from other agencies, including National Security Agency teams deploying sensors or eavesdropping equipment in conflict zones, a former special operator said. The most skilled security operators are informally known as “scorpions.”

    “They don’t learn languages, they’re not meeting foreign nationals and they’re not writing up intelligence reports,” a former U.S. intelligence official said. Their main tasks are to map escape routes from meeting places, pat down informants and provide an “envelope” of security, the former official said, all while knowing that “if push comes to shove, you’re going to have to shoot.”

    The consequences in such cases can be severe. Former CIA officials who worked with the GRS still wince at the fallout from Davis’s inability to avoid capture as well as his decision to open fire in the middle of a busy street in Pakistan. The former security contractor, who did not respond to requests for comment, said he was doing basic “area familiarization” work, meaning learning his surroundings and possibly mapping routes of escape, when he was confronted by two Pakistanis traveling by motorcycle.

    Davis became trapped at the scene, and his arrest provoked a diplomatic standoff between two tense allies in the fight against terrorism.

    The CIA took heavy criticism for the clumsiness of the Davis episode, temporarily suspending the drone campaign in Pakistan before U.S. payments to the families of the men Davis had killed helped secure his release.

    By contrast, the CIA and its security units were praised — albeit indirectly — in a report released last week that was otherwise sharply critical of the State Department security failures that contributed to the deaths of four Americans in Libya three months ago.

    In Benghazi, a GRS team rushed to a burning State Department compound in an attempt to rescue U.S. diplomats, then evacuated survivors to a nearby CIA site that also came under attack. Two GRS contractors who had taken positions on the roof of the site were killed by mortar strikes.

    Among those killed was Glen Doherty, a GRS contractor on his second CIA assignment in Libya who had served in about 10 other places, including Mexico City, according to his sister, Kathleen Quigley.

    “Was he aware of the risks? Absolutely,” Quigley said in an interview, although she noted that “he wasn’t there to protect an embassy. He was there to recover RPGs,” meaning he was providing security for CIA teams tracking Libyan stockpiles of rocket-propelled grenades.

    Doherty took the CIA job for the pay and abundant time off, as well as the chance to continue serving the U.S. government abroad, Quigley said.

    When Doherty died, he left debts that included loans on two houses in California, Quigley said. He had no life insurance. CIA officials told Doherty’s family that they had recommended companies willing to underwrite such policies, but that agency coverage was not available for contractors.

    Quigley did not criticize the agency, but added: “It’s so sad for a guy like that to go out and have nothing to show for it, except, frankly, a lot of debt.”

    The CIA declined to comment.

    Quigley said her family has started a foundation in Doherty’s name to help other families of current and former U.S. Special Operations troops who have been killed. A separate organization performs a similar function for families of slain CIA officers.

    The CIA Memorial Foundation pays college costs for children of CIA officers who were killed and recently began providing payments of about $5,000 to families to help pay for funeral-related costs.

    The organization is paying tuition and other costs for 28 dependents of slain agency employees, and an additional 77 will be eligible when they reach college age, said Jerry Komisar, a CIA veteran who is president of the foundation.

    The organization’s obligations have grown in recent months, a stretch that ranks as among the deadliest for the CIA since the attack on Khost. After Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed in Benghazi, three other CIA officers — all staff employees — were killed in Afghanistan.

    The foundation covers contractors who work for the GRS. “I often wonder why people take those kinds of risks,” Komisar said. “It’s got to be an opportunity for them to bring in more cash. But the downside is, you put yourself at great risk. My heart goes out to them.”

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