deployed in the field and meeting on a dark moonless night and taking dead drops and this is a woman who has done pretty much everything one can do in the clandestine service in the c.i.a. she has run offensive operations and recruited spies and taken fire. she keeps a bullet in her office. she was deployed as a young operative in africa and with a group of soldier from a hostile foreign country and opened fire on her car as it sped away and blew out a tire. she keeps that bullet as a reminder of the sacrifices and the dangers that these c.i.a. operatives undergo. there is the memorial wall in the c.i.a. covered with stars which anonymously recognize the people that have died in the service of our country in the clandestine service. those are her friends. she knows those people and served with them in the field. she is the single most
languages and cultures, but also a deep understanding of the vital role of american leadership in combating aggression abroad. i joined c.i.a. in 1985 as a case officer in the clandestine service. from my first days in training, i had a knack for the nuts and bolts of my profession. i excelled in finding and acquiring secret information that i obtained in brush passes, dead drops, or in meetings in dusty alleys of third world capitals. i recall very well my first meeting with a foreign agent. it was on a dark moonless night with an agent i had never met before. when i picked him up, he passed me the intelligence and i passed him an extra $500 for the men he led. it was the beginning of an adventure i had only dreamed of. the men who ran c.i.a. in those