position:operations officer

  • Making Black History, Today.
    https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2018-featured-story-archive/making-black-history-today.html

    In honor of Black History Month, CIA.gov asked current African American officers of different ages and backgrounds, with varying years of service and a variety of positions, to discuss why they chose a career at CIA and the legacy they hope to leave behind. These officers’ Agency experiences span the spectrum from analyst to engineer to graphic artist to operations officer with careers running in length from three to 17 years. Their reflections are highlighted and paraphrased below. Some of the names have been changed to protect their identities.

    On Joining CIA:
    I never imagined myself at the Agency, but when the opportunity presented itself, it seemed like the perfect chance to become a part of something bigger than myself. The Agency has a global reach, and the thought of having a chance to contribute to that mission motivated me to join the CIA. – Kayla, Directorate of Analysis

    #lol

  • Paris Bloodshed May Be the Latest of Many ISIS Attacks Around the World - The New York Times
    http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/17/world/middleeast/map-isis-attacks-around-the-world.html?_r=0

    Until now, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has relied mainly on “lone wolf” followers to attack the West, with relatively low-tech assaults — shootings, the taking of hostages, hit-and-runs — that draw wide attention but do not cause mass casualties.

    “This is much different than a normal lone wolf inspired attack,” said Patrick M. Skinner, a former C.I.A. operations officer now with the Soufan Group, a security consultancy. “This was choreographed.”

    “The fact that they could do this, especially in Paris, where the intelligence service is really good, clearly there’s a hole somewhere,” Mr. Skinner said.

    The Islamic State has been expanding beyond its base in Iraq and Syria since it declared a caliphate, or Islamic state, in June 2014. The group is focused on three parallel tracks, according to Harleen Gambhir, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War:

    inciting regional conflict with attacks in Iraq and Syria;
    building relationships with jihadist groups that can carry out military operations across the Middle East and North Africa;
    and inspiring, and sometimes helping, ISIS sympathizers to conduct attacks in the West.

    “The goal,” Ms. Gambhir said, “is that through these regional affiliates and through efforts to create chaos in the wider world, the organization will be able to expand, and perhaps incite a global apocalyptic war.”

    #attentats