Reset the clock again, CIA edition
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Hah, I don't think I count as a glowy if I quit AND acknowledge that I worked there.
Hell, it was largely that experience that made me as anti-government and anti-bureaucracy and anti-elite (CIA is fucking full of the elite) as I am.
Won't get into anything close to accurate details to avoid dox, but it was 10+ years ago, and I was hired in the analytical division (the "DI").
Depends. Once a spook always a spook for some things, like holding office.
I think that's true for most people.
The CIA was all about being part of the CIA as the head of the Intelligence Community. From day one, Entrance on Duty (EOD) training, the teachers went out of their way to tell you how you were special as the top of the IC, how the CIA operated independently of individual politicians, etc. The first 10 days were full of propaganda about CIA successes, how instrumental it was in various geopolitical actions, etc. Total indoctrination.
I honest to god knew within 10 minutes it was not going to work out for me.
So if that induction was applied in say a civilian setting.. it would be classified as a cult. Right?
I don't mean individually you're untrustworthy, but as a class it's impossible to tell the difference between you and somebody just lying about rejecting the Company so they can get elected and take orders from John Brennan.
True enough. I would be very cautious about voting for anyone who worked at CIA (or any government agency) and was proud of it.
Military service a bit different.
Looking at you, Mat Best.
This.
People who work for the government either directly or as a contractor end up with front row seats to just how horrible things are on the inside and become revolted if they weren't already.
Well... I can't say it applies to you, but it's actually a pretty common tactic for "former" agents to be completely honest about their "former" association with their new targets. It builds trust they exploit to give disinformation, and explains away any inconsistencies in their background if by chance they are ever found out. I suppose that tactic wouldn't make sense on an anonymous message board.
As an aside, what do you think of the rumor that they moved most of their real ops to the National Endowment for Democracy? The stuff at Langley is just a cover.
Never heard of that. Literally tens of thousands of people work on Langley. Most of them are juts desk jockeys, support staff, etc. The real secret stuff is what used to be called the DO / Directorate of Operations and is now called NCS / National Clandestine Service. That's like a minority of CIA employees, but there are the real spies. The most undercover people are NOCs ... Non-official cover. CIA employees who never set foot in Langley (McLean), might spend their entire career working for Microsoft, or Bob's Widgets, or whatever, but who are secretly CIA agents working deep under cover.