TOPIC: 2025 R1: Eyes Only

The Department of Defense (DoD) Service Branches
The U.S. armed forces are the world’s largest military in personnel, equipment, and budget. It employs paid volunteers, American and foreign. Many Americans serve or have served in the military, and many more have family members or friends that serve. The military offers education, training, and opportunities that would not be otherwise available to many Americans.
The DoD is composed of three main branches: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. (The Marine Corps falls under the Department of the Navy. The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, though it falls under Navy control in time of war.) Each of these branches has a specific mission. The Army focuses on land operations, the Navy on maritime operations, the Air Force on the skies.
The President of the United States is the commander-in-chief and the Congress has oversight and funding responsibilities, as well as the constitutional power to declare war. Each service branch is headed by a civilian secretary. The President and Secretary of Defense (the head of the combined services) are ad-vised by the seven-member Joint Chiefs of Staff, which include the head of each of the service branches and the chief of the National Guard Bureau. The Commandant of the Coast Guard is not a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Army, Navy, and Air Force operate hundreds of bases around the world. These bases serve the equipment and personnel of the services, but also serve as crucial forward locations to allow the Unit-ed States military a timely global reach. Each base is maintained and staffed by its service branch, but falls under the joint authority of the regional Combatant Command where it is located. In war or crisis, the regional Combatant Command is responsible for the strategic movement of units in area.
BUDGET: Over $600 billion in 2015. That includes the service branches, intelligence, and other components, as well as special combat-support supplementals passed by Congress and classified line-items.
POWERS OF ARREST? Not usually. Certain specializations such as military criminal investigators and military police have arrest powers, usually limited to jurisdiction over military personnel or actions on bases.
EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? In combat or on guard duty.
ACCESS TO FUNDS? Limited (no more than Incidental Expenses in most cases).
OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? Varies widely. Using the Bureaucracy skill or Military Science, a military Agent can fly aboard cargo and personnel trans-ports using the “Space-A” process—flying only when extra space opens up (which can be a long wait, some-times days or weeks). In an emergency, an Agent on combat duty or directly supporting combat operations may request significant support from military assets, such as aircraft/surveillance support (including targeted satellite imagery), or access to restricted intelligence. Requests for missile strikes, artillery, or remote combat support are only available to high-ranking personnel (equivalent to colonel or above) on official combat missions.
The military loves red tape, so any request for equipment comes with the requirement to secure a supervisor’s approval and multiple forms to sign. An officer at colonel rank (or equivalent) or higher does not require a supervisor’s approval for mundane or non-lethal equipment requests, like access to a sedan or unarmored SUV. Rank has its privileges.
The Organizations
The U.S. service branches are massive and complex bureaucracies. Elements have interlocking responsibili-ties and complex reporting requirements.
The service branches work together under the Unified and Geographic Combatant Commands (COCOMs). Some Combatant Commands are region-ally-focused, such as EUCOM covering Europe and PACOM covering the Pacific. Others are functional: STRATCOM coordinates the use of and defense against strategic weapons; TRANSCOM coordinates joint service logistics and transport. The Unified Combatant Commands are second only to the individual services themselves in budget and authority. They also host interagency and international personnel, such as from NATO-allied counties.
Component commands encompass specific ser-vices in their regions. Under the EUCOM (Europe) Combatant Command, for example, are component commands and major commands for the Army (US-AREUR), Navy (NAVEUR), Air Force (USAFE), and Marines (MARFOREUR). The chain of command goes from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Combatant Commanders and then on to the Component Commanders and specific units.
DoD Unified Component Commands
• Africa Command (AFRICOM)
• Central Command (CENTCOM)
• European Command (EUCOM)
• Northern Command (NORTHCOM)
• Pacific Command (PACOM)
• Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)
• Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
• Strategic Command (STRATCOM)
• Transport Command (TRANSCOM)
Operatives
U.S. military personnel respect hierarchy and authority. Many young service members use the military as a bridge between high school and their adult careers. Generous training and educational benefits encourage recruitment. Most service members enter the military with a sense of the importance of discipline and patriotism.
All service branches delineate between enlisted personnel and commissioned officers. Officers hold command and oversight positions, while enlisted personnel perform specialized jobs. The Army and Navy also employ warrant officers for jobs that require highly specialized or technical training, such as counterintelligence agents and helicopter pilots. Warrant officers are ranked above enlisted personnel but below commissioned officers.
Interoperability is a high priority. It is common for a Marine to serve with the Army, or a sailor to work within the Air Force. These assignments once were career dead-ends but now are important learning processes.
Authority and Mandate
The DoD’s mission is to fight wars and support civilians in times of emergency. The military’s mandate
is the protection of the United States and its allies worldwide. The military maintains a strong domestic logistical network.
In practical terms, the U.S. military usually focuses on areas outside of the United States. Feder-al law restricts military deployments inside the U.S., including the use of military personnel to support law enforcement. The military often deploys in national emergencies and natural disasters, but only with the permission of a state governor. Most Americans would be alarmed to find military personnel with weapons operating within their communities except in dire emergencies. Domestic deployments are typically managed through USNORTHCOM (U.S. Northern Command), the Coast Guard, and the National Guard.
Field Operations
Generally, there are three types of official travel away from a home, a duty location or base. The first type of travel is a regular deployment, and usually involves traveling as a unit for six months (or more) at a time. These deployments are normally for training, routine repositioning, or patrols. Combat deployment differs from regular deployment in that the tempo is much higher, the unit is sent to an active combat zone, and communications with friends and family becomes much less reliable. Combat deployment also sees a sizable increase in the service member’s take home pay.
There is also a Temporary Duty assignment (TDY or TDA). TDYs are for much shorter durations, usually less than two months. TDYs are often done individually or in small groups, rather than as a full unit. Travel for consultations, conferences, or support of another unit or base (not in combat) is done through the TDY process.
The approach to deployments and temporary duty assignments varies greatly from service to service. Bureaucracy, oversight rules, and budget problems often make official travel, even TDYs, onerous and frequently delayed.
Generally, military budgets for specific personnel or units are not very robust, meaning that temporary duty assignments are very cost conscious. Uniformed and combat personnel are only deployed into the field in national emergencies or natural disasters.
Otherwise, deployments are usually tied to specific bases and are done in units of personnel, sometimes very large. In non-combat situations, the military sends the minimum number of people considered “mission critical.”
The military tends to tightly restrict travel funding. Officers have more control of their unit’s funding and purchases than enlisted personnel, and the choice of when and where to travel. Incessant bureaucratic checks leave an extensive paper trail for travel and purchases. The exception to this is clandestine or counterterrorism operations, where bureaucratic red tape shortens and personnel have more autonomy.
Military personnel in domestic TDY assignments occasionally support U.S. law enforcement or intelligence organizations when national security is involved. This support is usually behind the scenes, such as providing logistical support in the form of space on an aircraft or access to bases or DoD facilities. Intelligence can be provided to law enforcement agencies. The DoD can also provide personnel to non-combat situations, such as sending a judge advocate general (JAG) to advise on a criminal case or an interrogator trained in a rare language.
Crimes on military bases usually mean a joint investigation: the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) or the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) working with local law enforcement or the FBI.
Areas of Friction
The military often does not work well with other parts of the government. In every service there are qualified individuals available to handle nearly any type of event. A service is reluctant to seek support from outside its ranks as culture clashes are frequent. Many members of the military adopt an antagonistic “prove it” attitude towards members of other services and other government agencies. Many U.S. government professionals, particularly those with no service background themselves or in their family, see service members as standoffish or aggressive. The State Department, in particular, has a reputation for dealing poorly at the personal level with the military.
Promotion into senior military ranks requires working outside of the member’s service, which pro-motes cooperation.
Military criminal investigative services are generally much smaller than their federal law enforcement counterparts. Lack of funding means they often must rely on help from agencies like the FBI. Sometimes this builds confidence between the FBI and the armed ser-vices, but just as often it engenders resentment. Some FBI agents view the military investigators as out of their depth, and some military investigators view the FBI as unhelpful.
Playing the Services
A service member in a non-combat position—human resources officer, construction worker, dentist, police officer, bureaucrat, what have you—probably works in whatever passes as a normal environment for that job in the civilian world. You write reports on a computer, look forward to vacation days, and worry about your parking spot. Where working for the military differs is in pay, benefits, hierarchy, and jargon.
The military places a much stronger emphasis on chain of command than the civilian world. A per-son’s rank is of utmost importance in military culture. Patches and insignia on uniforms advertise where that person falls in the overall hierarchy and give a general idea of what that person does. You are expected to refer to someone senior in the ranks as either “sir” or “ma’am.” Even civilians working for the military are expected to know the ranks of the uniformed personnel and act appropriately, though they are not expect-ed to salute. The military, like most of the government, loves specialized jargon and acronyms.
All branches of the military promote the importance of working in a team. Every service member is part of a unit and is responsible to that unit. If you don’t buy into that ethos, life in the military is miserable.
With hierarchy comes bureaucracy, and no one does bureaucracy like the U.S. military. The paper-work can be labyrinthine. There is a form for every-thing you do, and the staff that is supposed to provide you with that form isn’t likely to be helpful unless you are a colonel or above. Outside of specialized organs like the NSA, military computer systems are often decades out of date.
If you are in a combat position, then you are a breed apart. You may have seen multiple combat tours and lived for many months under extreme pressure. There is no civilian counterpart to what you do. The closest are in law enforcement, which is why many combat personnel wind up in police work. You identify with other combat veterans and tend to value their opinions over others.
In a combat position, you spend your days training and preparing. When you aren’t training, you are sleeping, eating, or deployed. Units train together and are deployed together. Constant and realistic training makes the American military formidable.
You are expected to understand your equipment intimately. You have disassembled and reassembled your weapon so many times you dream about it.
Training builds mental strength and “muscle memory.” It makes even the most complex tasks routine, even under the extreme pressure of combat. It builds instincts and mental toughness that help you survive combat.
U.S. Air Force (USAF)
The United States Air Force (USAF) secures air superiority and provides air support to ground forces. It operates the world’s most advanced aircraft, missiles, and communication equipment. It also is responsible for nuclear deterrence, special operations, cyberspace, wireless communications, data management, and missions in space and low-Earth orbit.
BUDGET: Approximately $170 billion in 2015.
The Organization
The Air Force has over 300,000 uniformed personnel, 185,000 civilians, and almost 200,000 reserves and National Guardsmen. It is made up of an active com-ponent, the Air National Guard, and a Reserve. The active Air Force includes a complex network of commands. The Air Combat Command controls the air-superiority forces. The Global Strike Command controls bombers and strike wings. Other commands include the Reserve Command, the Space Command, Special Operations Command, Air Mobility Command, the United States Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa, the Pacific Air Forces, and others.
Operatives
A member of the Air Force (of either gender) is called an “airman.”
The many Air Force officer specialties include combat systems officer, intelligence officer, maintenance officer, judge advocate general (JAG), and medicine. Officer and enlisted occupational fields include computer specialties, mechanic specialties, cyberspace operations, avionics technicians, medical specialties, civil engineering, public affairs, law, drug counseling, and search-and-rescue specialties. Other careers include civil engineers, vehicle operators, and Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).
Beyond combat flight crew personnel, USAF specialists include pararescue, security forces, com-bat control, meteorologists, and special operations units who disarm bombs, rescue downed or isolated personnel, call in airstrikes, and set up landing zones in forward locations.
Pilots are the princes of the Air Force, and the Air Force does little to dissuade their brash personalities. There is nothing more miserable than a former pilot now “flying a desk.”
Airmen are often drawn to the high technology of the Air Force. The Air Force tends to attract aspiring engineers and airmen pursuing specialized technical careers.
Airmen have a reputation with the other services for being part of the “chAir Force,” being a “country club,” and overvaluing creature comforts. Members of the Air Force see themselves as the most progressive and technologically advanced service branch.
Suggested Professions
• 41st Rescue Squadron: The 41st specializes in combat rescue of downed air-crew behind enemy lines using advanced (and aggressive) flying techniques. The Squadron also provides pre-launch surveillance and after-mission astronaut recovery for NASA.
• 614th Air and Space Operations Center: The 614th is part of Air Force Space Command (AF-SPC). The 614th provides command and control as well as space asset (satellite) coordination for the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC). Members of the 614th work closely with NASA and other branches of the military in Cheyenne Mountain.
• 432d Operations Group: The 432d operates remotely piloted aircraft (drones). While the drones operate around the clock and across the globe, the pilots work from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.
• 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing: The 70th supports the Air Force and the wider intelligence community with cryptologic and signals intelligence. It is stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland.
• 354th Fighter Squadron: Specializes in close air support (CAS) using the tough A-10. The 354th is based in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
• 318th Cyberspace Operations Group: An operational group of U.S. Cyber Command (US-CYBERCOM), the 318th develops new technologies and tactics in information and cyber warfare.

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 counterterrorism, 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.
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-con-trolled 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 re-ports 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 sub directorates that cover collecting intelligence through contacts and “recruited” assets, covert 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 psycho-logical 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 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-defence 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 extend-ed 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 wilderness 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-man-aged. This results in fairly wide latitude and reason-ably 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 per-mission, 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 re-strictive. 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.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the leading American public health institute and is at the forefront of preparing for disease outbreaks
or health-related disasters. Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, it coordinates with other health organizations, public and private. Its reputation makes it a world leader during health crises.
The CDC focuses on chronic and emerging diseases, disabilities, birth defects, workplace hazards, environmental health threats, and terrorism/contingency preparedness. It supports local and state health and law enforcement organizations to save lives and control emergencies. The CDC excels at providing scientific, medical and logistic expertise.
BUDGET: Approximately $7 billion in 2015.
POWERS OF ARREST? No, but can quarantine suspected health risks.
EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? No
ACCESS TO FUNDS? Limited (no more than Incidental Expenses in most cases).
OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? Using the Bureaucracy skill, the Agent can access specialized or rare technical and scientific and detection equipment, as well as high-grade chemical/biological protective suits. This is equivalent to a Standard expense.
The Organization
The CDC is headquartered outside Atlanta, Georgia. CDC offices and affiliated institutes specialize in different aspects of public health. One of the most high-profile is the Office of Infections Disease, which houses the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
Key Directorates
• Infectious Diseases:National Center of Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
• Public Health Service and Implementation Science: › Emergency Operations Center, › Center for Global Health, Global Rapid Response Team (RRT), Center for Preparedness and Response
• Public Health Science and Surveillance: Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services
Operatives
The CDC employs about 15,000 people: scientists, medical engineers, entomologists, epidemiologists, bi-ologists, physicians, veterinarians, behavioral scientists, nurses, toxicologists, chemists, computer scientists, and statisticians. CDC employees analyze and contain infectious diseases, food-borne pathogens, chemical contaminations, and other wide-scale health risks.
Authority and Mandate
The CDC’s authority extends to nearly all health and safety issues within the United States. It leads the development of disease control standards for the United States (and the world) in regards to health, safety, and disease management. The CDC combats emerging diseases and other health risks and plans and reacts to bioterrorism. From toxic spills to Ebola outbreaks, CDC personnel take the lead.
The CDC may detain and medically examine anyone suspected of having certain contagious dis-eases. This authority applies to individuals arriving from foreign countries. It also applies to individuals traveling from one state to another or in the event of “inadequate local control.”
If a situation is dangerous enough, senior CDC employees work with local authorities to quarantine an area. This is rare and incurs considerable high-level scrutiny. Most quarantine measures are imposed on a small scale, typically involving small numbers of airline or cruise ship passengers who have infectious diseases such as tuberculosis or cholera.
The Select Agents and Toxins Program (within the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response) gives the CDC the mandate to travel across the United States and abroad to investigate, evaluate, and report on the storage of rare or dangerous viruses, bacteria, and chemicals. CDC personnel from this program have the ability to suspend certain funding streams if necessary to secure cooperation. Most foreign health organizations value their association with the CDC and are eager to comply with the Select Program.
Field Operations
CDC personnel are expected to be flexible and creative. In the case of a dangerous event like a chemical spill or virulent outbreak, CDC personnel travel with personal protection equipment. Portable laboratories and specialized research gear are also common in field deployments.
Equipment and support staff are mostly located in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., so wait times for equipment can be days. It is common for CDC personnel sent into the field to work with a local health agency or hospital while waiting for more specialized equipment.
CDC personnel are rarely first responders, except in the case of the Rapid Response Team. Local health officials usually make first contact with a threat and report it. Even if the CDC learns of a potential threat, its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) must typical-ly wait for a request by a local organization or another federal agency before deploying personnel.
The RRT is staffed by experts in a number of scientific specialties and are paired with communications, management, disaster and health professionals to quickly deploy to major health outbreaks or disasters. The Team is designed to deploy in less than 48 hours to a ‘hot spot’ to contain outbreaks. They then stay on site to support the longer-term efforts to control and eradicate the health threat.
Deployments may be on an individual basis when a specific skill set is needed, or as part of a large team for a large-scale response.
Areas of Friction
CDC personnel are hired because of their technical expertise or specialized skills. The CDC has a reputation as a repository for technically brilliant but socially difficult personnel. Additionally, the CDC’s cooperation with other agencies and organizations is usually on a case-by-case basis, so other federal agencies do not develop a significant history of working with CDC personnel. Many joint deployments require a time-consuming period of familiarization and confidence-building. This is especially acute with state and local organizations who may have never encountered the CDC. Local police are the least likely to easily accept the CDC’s authority if the threat is less than a full-blown catastrophe.
QUARANTINES
Quarantined individuals undergo observation for signs of the illness and receive specialized treatment. Quarantine is much more likely to involve limited numbers of exposed persons in small areas than large numbers of persons in neighborhoods or cities. Any declaration of quarantine outside of a hospital or airport is likely to get at least local media attention. The reasoning, evidence, and methodology for deciding a quarantine needs to be able to hold up to public scrutiny.
In most cases, isolation is voluntary However, federal, state, and local governments have the authority to require isolation to protect public. The CDC is notified of, and makes its specialists available.
Playing the CDC
You are a researcher at heart, even if you come from a medical background. You are curious and enjoy the practical side of science. You joined the CDC because it gives you the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of research. The CDC budget for research equipment and tech is substantial. Because of the CDC’s national security role, you can get approval for just about anything that pertains to your field. If you work in the pathogens, you have the opportunity to handle the rare and dangerous stuff. You know that anthrax outbreaks are a lot more common than most people think; you have been on site and seen the effects. You travel all over the world, tracking and combating outbreaks.
In an emergency, your job is to get into the thick of the emergency and advise authorities. Even when you have no technical background, people look to you for what to do next. You need to be resourceful and commanding when issues come your way.
Suggested Professions
• Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response: The CDC’s lead office in disaster preparedness. It provides funding and technical assistance to states and local governments to build and strengthen public health capabilities.
• Emergency Operations Center: The crisis-response section of the Center for Preparedness and Response. Its experts can respond to an emergency in hours while formulating a broad strategy.
• Global Rapid Response Team: The Global RRT is staffed by dedicated full-time experts from across the world. The team is composed of 400 surge staff, with more than 50 ready to deploy in less than 48 hours. Some Global RRT staff remain in the field during an emergency response for up to six months.
• Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC): A U.S. uniformed service that employs commissioned officers who hold ranks and wear uniforms similar to the Navy’s. Its experts provide public health services to the Coast Guard and to many poor and tribal areas. Hundreds are assigned to the CDC, including many in rapid deployment forces that can respond to a crisis in as little as 12 hours.

Air Force Personnel Paul E. Stein
DEA Agent Hank Schrader

Good stuff, thanks

For the CIA, name is Agent Solomon Maddox