in both books and movies James Bond has given ideas and material for generations and decades, but he's been updated. I mean the original Bond fought Soviets in the 1950's. When Pierce Brosnan took the role the commercial read
"It's a new world, with new enemeies, but there's still one man you can rely on, 007" Although he is a misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the ocld war, he has skills and and outlook that still have value.
So how would bond be in the SR future? Fighting Runners, Orgnaized crime, corps that don't hold the franchise, or maybe "evil" corps trying to bring down 'good' corps?
in 2 weeks a New Bond appears. In the original book
Cassino Royale, Bond is sent to break a soviet agent who embezzled funds and is trying to gamble to replacement funds before Smersh finds him. Bond is to out gamble him so when the audit goes down the KGB will be very disappopinted with their man and kill him. saving the British the trouble.
Now bond doesn't change but his enemies in films do. My guess is that in the new movie, Bond will be sent after an Islamist bagman to break his bank and block terrorist funds.
Full Version: James Bond in 2060's
I dunno about Casino Royale, but I'm betting that by the 2060s, unless he's had a Leonization treatment (entirely possible), Bond will be retired, if not dead.
That said, I could definately see MI-6 springing for a Leonization treatment for a geriatric 007 when they need a man who can get the job done without cyber, and they have no-where else to turn to.
That said, I could definately see MI-6 springing for a Leonization treatment for a geriatric 007 when they need a man who can get the job done without cyber, and they have no-where else to turn to.
You kidding? Bond is without a doubt the original cyberzombie. Q Branch would never let it be any other way.
~J
~J
| QUOTE (ShadowDragon8685) |
| I dunno about Casino Royale, but I'm betting that by the 2060s, unless he's had a Leonization treatment (entirely possible), Bond will be retired, if not dead. |
Considering he's already like 60 if you assume the movies are set in the date they look like they are, I'd guess he's a spike baby. It would explain the exceptionally high charisma score.
Considering his favorite enemies are almost always Soviets, he'd probably be fighting a gun-running, super organized, super rich, financially well connected version of the Vory.
Have you ever tried to make a "Bond" character using any chargen rules before. The costs are way beyond any kind of starting allowances I've ever seen (or given). 
An Ares subsidiary purchased the rights to the 007 movies in 2027 and now they are using them as a vehicle to promote their products. In a move sure to please fans, they've created an endless series of personafixed Sean Connery clones to play the title role. When one Connery gets too old they just move on to the next.
Wasn't Games of State supposed to be James Bond for Shadowrun?
Oh, wait... No... I'm the one who plays the Bond campaign. You know, since I've only been a war nerd for twenty years and a spy nerd for nearly as long...
Seriously, though, it's just ridonculous in the truth that that waste of paper is little more than James Bond or Spycraft (which Jon Szeto has also written a horribly lame, transparently James Bondesque (movie version, even!), adventure for) for SR, because it sure as shit doesn't actually touch on real espionage.
Anyway, I find the idea of making a Bond character in SR hard just silly. Not that they should have the stats of a starting PC (that's just... stupid), but he is used as an example of Rating 7 Firearms skill proficiency in SR4, so I'm apparently not entirely alone in my thinking.
More importantly, he should have Edge 8 since the best results just happen to fall into his lap every time.
Oh, wait... No... I'm the one who plays the Bond campaign. You know, since I've only been a war nerd for twenty years and a spy nerd for nearly as long...
Seriously, though, it's just ridonculous in the truth that that waste of paper is little more than James Bond or Spycraft (which Jon Szeto has also written a horribly lame, transparently James Bondesque (movie version, even!), adventure for) for SR, because it sure as shit doesn't actually touch on real espionage.
Anyway, I find the idea of making a Bond character in SR hard just silly. Not that they should have the stats of a starting PC (that's just... stupid), but he is used as an example of Rating 7 Firearms skill proficiency in SR4, so I'm apparently not entirely alone in my thinking.
More importantly, he should have Edge 8 since the best results just happen to fall into his lap every time.
Maybe the 'save the world' movies are a little over the top, but not the books and some of the movie themes are serrious shadow run stuff. Examples:
From Russian With Love-(book and movie) hired to extract high level tech, not knowing mr Johnson plans to use you to break the heavy sec then steal it from you.
A View to a Kill (book) covers the extraction of a defector. specfically to hit the team following the defector.
For Your Eyes Only (book) wet work.
For Your Eyes Only (movie) high tech corp prototype is out on the market, get to it before other teams.
The Property of a Lady (book) a double agent is being paid by inheriting a rare item she will then sell at auction. see who drives up the price at auction, that will be her handler.
Octopussy (movie) someone (johnson or opposition) plans to create a massive industrial/military accident to discredit the opposition.
Moonraker (book) critical high tech development project is possibly in danger, protect it. The problem is that you find the incredibly well connected project leader is the one against it, he's a double agent, prove it.
etc
From Russian With Love-(book and movie) hired to extract high level tech, not knowing mr Johnson plans to use you to break the heavy sec then steal it from you.
A View to a Kill (book) covers the extraction of a defector. specfically to hit the team following the defector.
For Your Eyes Only (book) wet work.
For Your Eyes Only (movie) high tech corp prototype is out on the market, get to it before other teams.
The Property of a Lady (book) a double agent is being paid by inheriting a rare item she will then sell at auction. see who drives up the price at auction, that will be her handler.
Octopussy (movie) someone (johnson or opposition) plans to create a massive industrial/military accident to discredit the opposition.
Moonraker (book) critical high tech development project is possibly in danger, protect it. The problem is that you find the incredibly well connected project leader is the one against it, he's a double agent, prove it.
etc
I vote for Hyzmarca's idea. The Bond franchise would be owned outright by a corp, (but I was thinking SK.) His trideo adventures would always suit that corp. It's cynical and silly enough for SR.
Maybe JB is an IE.
| QUOTE (SL James @ Nov 4 2006, 12:22 AM) |
| Anyway, I find the idea of making a Bond character in SR hard just silly. Not that they should have the stats of a starting PC (that's just... stupid), but he is used as an example of Rating 7 Firearms skill proficiency in SR4, so I'm apparently not entirely alone in my thinking. More importantly, he should have Edge 8 since the best results just happen to fall into his lap every time. |
I think you can make a "young James Bond" using the rules but you have to have some caveats. First off, he has to start out recovering from some serious injury or disease, such as the one that killed his parents, that justifies his stats being at unBondishly low values. My Bond2060 has stats of 3&4, except for a 5 intuition and a 6 Edge.
He has to have more social & stealth skills than combat skills. The Influence group is definitely a way to go. Given the number of times Bond was captured, he was far from a total combat monster so not a whole lot in the combat arena (maybe unarmed 2, specialized in attacks) but the firearms group to reflect his ability to shoot whatever weapon he can lay his hands on.
He needs a diverse knowledge skill base, enough to pass as various personas (accounting, business, police/military procedures, etc). Bond needs to speak several languages and have a basic understanding of each region's political climate. Since Bond's personas rarely survived more than 2 or 3 days, he doesn't need a deep skill rating as long as his intuition and logic are good. (Normal competent person: stat3+skill4=7 dice, Bond stat5+skill2=7 dice, externally impossible tell the difference except when it requires a high skill to know specific details) Bond2060 would also have access to an extensive library of Knowsofts that could bolster his skill. Linguasofts are also handy but I expect people could tell the difference between real skill and Softskill so having a basic knowledge of the language will do, supplemented by lingausofts when the subject gets esoteric.
To improve his ability to move through groups his Edges should reflect his ability to act. I like both Blandness and First Impression. Bond can be completely inconspicuous when he wants to but he can just as easily turn on the charm. Add some pain tolerance to reflect his "won't give up" hero status.
Flaws, IMO, are a mild addiction to alchohol and a sensitive neural structure (really not that keen on gizmos, most of the Bond Girls have been scientists or technical experts, IIRC).
Gear should be diverse but generally concealable with most weapons being pistols or SMGs but an Ares Alpha in the kitbag for those real hard situations. Ammo should be equally wide ranging, with stick'nshock for the lightest pistols, and gel, EX and apds for the heavier weapons. Armor should be selected for different situtations (social, stealth, etc) and equipped with nonconductivity and insulation for those weird weapons the BBEGs tend to have.
My Bond tends to be a bit heavier on the electronic espionage, with a wide variety of RFID sensors to help identify the people who are trying to bug him. I love nanopaste disguises since they are far easier to carry than latex and if you have a facial recognition microsensor hidden in your briefcase you can instantly add new faces to your repetoire.
Mod-laden contacts, earbuds, glasses, and goggles are the order of the day, as are high-class Comms jammed into an off-the-shelf case. Signal scanners, decent encryption, stealth, and some command routines complex enough to handle the weird BBEG gizmos are standard issue.
Add some mission specific gear to compensate for any weak dice pools (climbing harnesses, gecko gloves, knowsofts, training sims, etc) and you've got a decent chance of success.
Is this guy James Bond? No, not yet. But with some judicious throwing of Edge, can pull off some pretty impressive stunts, letting him live long enough to get the karma to become James Bond.
James Bond is a free spirit. He possesses a living person and uses their body, which explains why he keeps changing appearance. M possesses his true name and uses it to force him to do missions for MI. The ritual he uses to gain Karma from Metahumans involves having sex with them: every time he lays a girl it's in order to get more Karma. He's good at it, too. He is careful not to use his spirit powers lest he give the game away.
Felix Lighter is the CIA's pet spirit. It's more obvious with him, though. He less picky about his hosts. (In the movies, Felix is occasionally a black man for no apparent reason.)
Felix Lighter is the CIA's pet spirit. It's more obvious with him, though. He less picky about his hosts. (In the movies, Felix is occasionally a black man for no apparent reason.)
ROFL, nice one, PlatonicPimp. 
| QUOTE (PlatonicPimp) |
| Felix Lighter is the CIA's pet spirit. It's more obvious with him, though. He less picky about his hosts. (In the movies, Felix is occasionally a black man for no apparent reason.) |
Well, I can imagine a reason why in Never Say Never Again. I believe it involves the words "fuck", "you" and "MGM."
In the movie, Licenced to Kill and book Live and Let Die, in which he had encounter with a shark tank. "He had a disagrement with something and it ate him."
Yeah, Lighter gets killed a few times. Though, no one said it want a 'title' name. Like 'M' or 'Q'.
New movie btw, is pretty good. And no, its not an islamic terrorist. New actor, new flavor of Bond. Dalton changed it, as did Brosmen.
New movie btw, is pretty good. And no, its not an islamic terrorist. New actor, new flavor of Bond. Dalton changed it, as did Brosmen.
Felix didn't actually die in License to Kill, did he?
No. In both the book and movie he loses some limbs and gets chewed up but remains alive, unless I'm very much mistaken.
~J
~J
That's what I thought. Sharky, OTOH...
I could definately see Bond being updated to an elf.
Although I'm unsure if we're talking about what Bond movies/trids would be like in 2060, or what making James Bond as a PC would be like.
I'm addressing the first.
Bond always just fights the popular bugaboo of the times. In 2060, I'd say that his villians would most likely be dragons most of the time, except that I'm not sure the GDs would let those get out. Assuming they did, though, it would always be a supremely confident and egotistical dragon (not a GD, just a normal dragon) trying to screw over (meta)humanity in new and creative ways.
I suspect he'd also find some amazingly attractive orkish women in a couple of them.
I also suspect that the movies would be more like Casino Royale than anything, because until recently, Bond has always been about the tech. But we're rapidly running out of tech that he hasn't used yet, and most of the stuff that's left is a reality in 2060.
Although I'm unsure if we're talking about what Bond movies/trids would be like in 2060, or what making James Bond as a PC would be like.
I'm addressing the first.
Bond always just fights the popular bugaboo of the times. In 2060, I'd say that his villians would most likely be dragons most of the time, except that I'm not sure the GDs would let those get out. Assuming they did, though, it would always be a supremely confident and egotistical dragon (not a GD, just a normal dragon) trying to screw over (meta)humanity in new and creative ways.
I suspect he'd also find some amazingly attractive orkish women in a couple of them.
I also suspect that the movies would be more like Casino Royale than anything, because until recently, Bond has always been about the tech. But we're rapidly running out of tech that he hasn't used yet, and most of the stuff that's left is a reality in 2060.
| QUOTE (SL James @ Nov 4 2006, 05:22 AM) |
| because it sure as shit doesn't actually touch on real espionage. |
You know that "real espionage" would be awfully boring to do in an RPG?
99% of the campaign would be desk research and intel gathering, with an occasional op here and there.
This thread isn't about real espionage. It's about Bond-style stuff.
That said, If I want to do cinematic over-the-top spy-movie games, I'll use Spycraft. That's what the system is there for, after all. I prefer a grittier street game when playing Shadowrun.
-karma
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno @ Nov 27 2006, 11:23 AM) | ||
You know that "real espionage" would be awfully boring to do in an RPG? |
No, actually it isn't. But then again, I've actually run such a campaign.
I also don't enjoy games where most of it involves shooting people because an alarm went off. I'm just stupid like that.
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno) |
| That said, If I want to do cinematic over-the-top spy-movie games, I'll use Spycraft. That's what the system is there for, after all. I prefer a grittier street game when playing Shadowrun. |
hahaha
Yeah, because Shadowrun doesn't ooze its way into that territory.
I'm more referring to the idea that most espionage jobs aren't actually very glamorous or exciting.
Like being a intelligence analyst. Sit at desk all day. Look at gathered intel, try to figure out a pattern from the noise. Report findings to other people. Repeat.
The actual field-work info gatherers? The kind that infiltrate enemy organizations? They gather info, try not to get caught. No analysis or detective work, no special ops - that's someone else's job. Just keep your head down and hope you can siphon out something useful before your cover is blown.
The black ops squad? They sit around waiting until they have an order to go grab/shoot/whatever their target. Then they go back to sitting around waiting again.
The mythical super-spy that gets the intel, deduces it's import and figures out the enemy plans, and then goes in to stop the Bad Thing from happening? Doesn't exist. Real espionage does not revolve around one person or even a small group of people. It involves multiple departments across many locations. Not exactly RPG-fodder.
Like being a intelligence analyst. Sit at desk all day. Look at gathered intel, try to figure out a pattern from the noise. Report findings to other people. Repeat.
The actual field-work info gatherers? The kind that infiltrate enemy organizations? They gather info, try not to get caught. No analysis or detective work, no special ops - that's someone else's job. Just keep your head down and hope you can siphon out something useful before your cover is blown.
The black ops squad? They sit around waiting until they have an order to go grab/shoot/whatever their target. Then they go back to sitting around waiting again.
The mythical super-spy that gets the intel, deduces it's import and figures out the enemy plans, and then goes in to stop the Bad Thing from happening? Doesn't exist. Real espionage does not revolve around one person or even a small group of people. It involves multiple departments across many locations. Not exactly RPG-fodder.
| QUOTE |
| Yeah, because Shadowrun doesn't ooze its way into that territory. |
I didn't say SR can't be played that way, that's just not what I prefer SR for. I enjoy Spycraft for that kinda thing, it's freeform cinematic style is a better fit.
-karma
| QUOTE (KarmaInferno) | ||
You know that "real espionage" would be awfully boring to do in an RPG? 99% of the campaign would be desk research and intel gathering, with an occasional op here and there. This thread isn't about real espionage. It's about Bond-style stuff. |
exactly, and SR is 'real life???"
Though the books are probalby much more realistic espeicially if you know what Flemming did in RL before he wrote novels.
In WW2 Flemming was in naval intelligence. He was seconded to the British Secret Service that was made up of a lot of old school types. Survival was taughht by the king's chief huntsman from Sandringham. Codes were taught by a Cambridghe Don, Philbe of abhominable memory. Flemming as military man was an organizer who cut through the BS to make sure the game stayed on target.
He was so good at this that when the US entered the was he was in a delegation snet ot the US to set up their spy service. He wrote what would today be called their "mission statement" After the war that preamble was taken nearly verbatim into the new organization's operating plan. So ineffect the mission statement of the real life CIA was written by Ian Flemming.
I guess I'm not getting my point across.
The term "real espionage" was bandied about.
In the real world, most aspects of modern espionage work are actually rather boring and dry. Those aspects that are not "boring" tend to be done by folks that ONLY do that specific job. Like the black ops unit that basically isn't involved until the kill order is issued.
The "romantic" notion of spies - the single agent or small group of agents that do all the work - from intel gathering, to analysis of data, to the final black ops missions - that dosen't exist. Not anymore, at least. Modern espionage takes hundreds of people working around the world, not some tiny group of super-agents extraordinaire.
My point, I suppose, is that the 'romantic' or 'cinematic' version of spy work is perhaps better suited to roleplaying game settings than the 'realistic'.
-karma
The term "real espionage" was bandied about.
In the real world, most aspects of modern espionage work are actually rather boring and dry. Those aspects that are not "boring" tend to be done by folks that ONLY do that specific job. Like the black ops unit that basically isn't involved until the kill order is issued.
The "romantic" notion of spies - the single agent or small group of agents that do all the work - from intel gathering, to analysis of data, to the final black ops missions - that dosen't exist. Not anymore, at least. Modern espionage takes hundreds of people working around the world, not some tiny group of super-agents extraordinaire.
My point, I suppose, is that the 'romantic' or 'cinematic' version of spy work is perhaps better suited to roleplaying game settings than the 'realistic'.
-karma
Since we're already off topic, a little bragging as an aside: Bond is said to be largely based on Sir William Stephenson, aka "Intrepid" I was fortunate enough to receive a telegram of congratulations from Sir William when I was a kid. Dumpshock is one degree of separation from the "real" James Bond, I guess.
For that matter I went to school with a James Bond. He was of islander/ polynesian extraction. That would make Dumpshock 2 degrees.
Read the UK papers. SMERSH is at it again! It's time for Bond to bring her Majesty's justice to the killers in Always Die Yesterday!
I can just hear Judi Dench now: "We are not going to tollerate them killing people in our country as if it was some open market."
As for a degree of seperation, I can do you one better. The REAL James Bond is burried in a church yard maybe 2 miles from my house. I kid you not. He was a Pennsylvania ornithologist who met Flemming in the Bahamas. Flemming asked if he could use the man's name for his fictional character.
There is a reference to this in Die Another Day when Pierce Brosnan explains himself to Halle Berry by saying something like "I'm just here to watch the birds"
As for a degree of seperation, I can do you one better. The REAL James Bond is burried in a church yard maybe 2 miles from my house. I kid you not. He was a Pennsylvania ornithologist who met Flemming in the Bahamas. Flemming asked if he could use the man's name for his fictional character.
There is a reference to this in Die Another Day when Pierce Brosnan explains himself to Halle Berry by saying something like "I'm just here to watch the birds"
man he'd get the hottests elf babes out there, but have to be extra careful that alluring lady isn't a host for a mantis spirit, cybered up six ways from sunday, or an adept, adepted at kicking ass. Bet he keeps Dr. GoodHead on call 24/7 just in case he needs immediate medical attention.
She was a Dr of astronomy, not medicine.
Close enough.
~J
~J
Indeed, it's ALL good
you just want her to look at your...spheres?
Talking of spies and Shadowrun I ran accross this article from the LA Times on another forum I frequent, I think the Shadowrun angle speaks for itself.
| QUOTE |
| Taken from the LA Times, September 17, 2006 Spy Agencies Outsourcing to Fill Key Jobs Contractors, many of them former employees, are doing sensitive work, such as handling agents. A review of the practice has been ordered. By Greg Miller WASHINGTON - At the National Counterterrorism Center - the agency created two years ago to prevent another attack like Sept. 11 - more than half of the employees are not U.S. government analysts or terrorism experts. Instead, they are outside contractors. At CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., senior officials say it is routine for career officers to look around the table during meetings on secret operations and be surrounded by so-called green-badgers - nonagency employees who carry special-colored IDs. Some of the work being outsourced is extremely sensitive. Abraxas Corp., a private company in McLean, Va., founded by a group of CIA veterans, devises "covers," or false identities, for an elite group of overseas case officers, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the arrangement. Contractors also are turning up in increasing numbers in clandestine facilities around the world. At the CIA station in Islamabad, Pakistan, as many as three-quarters of those on hand since the Sept. 11 attacks have been contractors. In Baghdad, site of the agency's largest overseas presence, contractors have at times outnumbered full-time CIA employees, according to officials who have held senior positions in the station. The post-9/11 period has brought sweeping changes to the U.S. intelligence community. Spy budgets have swelled by more than $10 billion a year, and agencies have seen their roles and authorities altered by legislation. Largely because of the demands of the war on terrorism and the drawn-out conflict in Iraq, U.S. spy agencies have turned to unprecedented numbers of outside contractors to perform jobs once the domain of government-employed analysts and secret agents. The proliferation of contractors has outstripped the intelligence community's ability to keep track of them. Former intelligence officials said most U.S. spy agencies did not have even approximate counts of the numbers of contractors they were employing - although several officials said the number at the CIA had nearly doubled in the last five years and now surpassed the full-time workforce of about 17,500. Often, the contract employees had previous ties to the agencies. Concerned by the lack of data and direction, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte this year ordered a comprehensive study of the use of contractors. Ronald Sanders, a senior intelligence official in charge of the examination, said that all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies had been instructed to turn over records on contractors, and that one focus of the study would be whether outsourcing highly sensitive jobs was appropriate. "We have to come to some conclusion about what our core intelligence mission is and how many [full-time employees] it's going to take to accomplish that mission," Sanders said, adding that the growth in contracting over the last five years had been driven by necessity and was extremely haphazard. "I wish I could tell you it's by design," he said. "But I think it's been by default." Senior U.S. intelligence officials said that the reliance on contractors was so deep that agencies couldn't function without them. "If you took away the contractor support, they'd have to put yellow tape around the building and close it down," said a former senior CIA official who was responsible for overseeing contracts before leaving the agency earlier this year. This former official and more than a dozen other current and former U.S. intelligence officials interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of intelligence contracting work. The use of outside firms has enabled spy agencies to tap a deep reservoir of talent during a period of unprecedented demand. Many of those hired have been retired case officers and analysts who were eager to contribute to the response to the Sept. 11 attacks and who have more expertise and operational experience than agency insiders. In fact, the CIA has created its own roster of retired case officers - known as the "cadre" - who are eligible to be hired as independent contractors for temporary assignments. Even so, the trend has alarmed some intelligence professionals, who are concerned that using contractors to do spying work carries security risks and higher costs. They point to soaring profits being made by contracting firms, and a parade of veteran officers who have left intelligence agencies only to return with green badges and higher salaries. Even those quick to praise the contributions of contractors express discomfort with the mercenary aspect of modern intelligence work. "There's a commercial side to it that I frankly don't like," said James L. Pavitt, who retired in 2004 as head of the CIA's clandestine service. "I would much prefer to see staff case officers who are in the chain of command and making a day-in and day-out conscious decision as civil servants in the intelligence business." The CIA declined to comment on specific contracts but defended the use of contractors for intelligence work. "Contractors give the agency enormous flexibility and are an important part of our workforce," said Paul Gimigliano, a spokesman for the CIA. "As partners, they help us build or enhance specific capabilities we need for a finite period." U.S. intelligence agencies have used contractors for decades. Corporate giants such as Lockheed Martin Corp. have long competed for classified contracts to build spy planes and satellites. Spy services routinely use private companies to handle support functions, such as providing security or building classified computer networks. In fact, two-thirds of the contractors at the counter-terrorism center are information technology workers who manage computer systems. And independent contractors have at times played significant roles in overseas operations, including pilots who flew clandestine supply runs for the CIA in Vietnam. But current and former officials said spy agencies now depended on contractors to a greater extent than ever envisioned to carry out their basic spying missions. The trend is particularly pronounced at the CIA. Whereas other intelligence agencies can take advantage of employees detailed to them from branches of the military, the CIA is more dependent on a civilian workforce. The CIA has been hiring at a record pace in recent years. But it takes years to train new case officers, let alone to develop seasoned operatives capable of delicate missions in global hot spots. The agency has also turned to contractors to plug deep holes left by staff cuts and hiring freezes in the 1990s. Meanwhile, new intelligence entities created to fix Sept. 11-related failures - including the intelligence director's office and centers tracking terrorism and weapons proliferation - have created thousands of new positions and cannibalized the ranks of the CIA and other agencies. One former senior CIA official said the agency had outsourced an array of core jobs in its own counter-terrorism center, including the task of posting names of new terrorism suspects to immigration and law enforcement watch lists. And despite restrictions that bar contractors from holding positions of authority over agency personnel, current and former U.S. intelligence officials said that contractors functioned as de facto team leaders in numerous stations around the world, and routinely handled clandestine meetings with CIA sources. In Baghdad, contractors "do everything, especially 'ops' work," a former CIA officer who has served extensively in Iraq said of the operations functions. "They're recruiting [informants], managing the major relationships we have with the military, handling agents in support of frontline combat units. The guys doing that work are contractors. They're not staff officers." Contractors have played similarly significant roles in Afghanistan. Gary C. Schroen, who was among the first CIA employees to enter the country after the Sept. 11 attacks, continued to travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan after retiring and going to work as a CIA contractor. Among his assignments was to monitor relationships with regional warlords as well as the head of the Afghan government's intelligence service. There are other restrictions on contract employees. At the CIA, contractors cannot disburse money or handle personnel matters such as filling out employee evaluation forms. For high-ranking officials who leave, there are other restrictions, including a required "cool down" period of one year during which they are barred from returning to the agency to solicit business. But former CIA leaders are in high demand and frequently serve as officers in companies that have contracts with their former agencies. John Brennan, for example, retired last year as head of the National Counterterrorism Center and is now chief executive of the Analysis Corp., which supplies contract analysts to the center. In an interview, Brennan said that any contracts with the counter-terrorism center predated his arrival at the Analysis Corp. Contractors are subject to the same background checks and security clearance requirements as full-time employees, officials said. But some of that clearance work itself has been outsourced, officials said, and even the screening done by the CIA hasn't been infallible. In one well-known case, David A. Passaro was hired as a contractor with the CIA's paramilitary service even though he had a record of abusive behavior and had been fired by a Connecticut police department. Passaro was convicted of felony assault earlier this year in federal court in North Carolina for his role in the beating of a detainee who died in Afghanistan in 2003. U.S. intelligence officials said that Passaro's case was an aberration and that security problems had not been more frequent among contractors than among career officers. In another high-profile case, the CIA inspector general is investigating whether the agency's former No. 3 official, Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo, improperly accepted expensive vacations and other rewards for awarding CIA contracts to a lifelong friend who is linked to the bribery scandal surrounding ex-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Some officials fear that the growth in contracting is fueling a so-called spy drain, in which talented officers are being lured to the private sector by firms offering pay increases of 50% or more. At the CIA, poaching became such a problem that former Director Porter J. Goss had to warn several firms to stop recruiting employees in the agency cafeteria, according to former officials familiar with the matter. One recently retired case officer said he had been approached twice while in line for coffee. "It's like sharks in the water," said the officer, an overseas veteran who has handled assignments in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. "As soon as the word went around that I was leaving, my e-mail in-box was pinging. People were calling me at home." Sanders, the official in Negroponte's office, said it was unclear whether the spy drain problem was real. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some officers are leaving early, he said, but attrition rates have not risen in recent years. Another worry is that the reliance on contractors is eroding agency budgets. Sanders said a recent personnel study by the Senate Intelligence Committee found that contractors were typically paid 50% to 100% more than staff officers to perform comparable work - a disparity that can create internal tensions. "It's a serious morale problem when you've got a guy in the field making $80,000 and a contractor making $150,000," said the former case officer who served in Iraq. "And the [staff employee] is supposed to supervise the guy making twice the money." The spike in the use of contractors is likely to diminish as the bumper crop of recruits at the CIA and other agencies rises through the ranks. However, officials said that was a process that would take years. |
Yeah. That was a pretty big part of the PDF I wrote for SL (*cough* a year ago *cough*) to provide actual information for SR since Games of State forgot to mention what part, you know, shadowrunners could play in espionage. It didn't take a rocket scientist to write what I did about the US shredding the personnel rosters in the late 20s and 30s, especially after the CAS seceded, only to have them scooped up by Knight Errant, who then turned around and sent those exact same people to do their old jobs.
| QUOTE |
| Even so, the trend has alarmed some intelligence professionals, who are concerned that using contractors to do spying work carries security risks and higher costs. |
Security risks, my ass. If it weren't for contractors, we wouldn't be able to legally wage the war in Colombia and Peru that has been going on for decades. Plausible deniability is a great tool, such as being able to blame contractors for feeding incorrect data to the Peruvian fighters that shot down that missionary plane.
Shit, what do they want? Most CIA employees, both in DO and DI, have less than 5 years experience. More than half of the counterterrorism analysts working in the NCTC have fewer than three years experience. Given the intelligence agencies' unwillingness to hire the children of legal immigrants, the bulk of the people who have the skills necessary to function in, say, Pakistan are all working for contractors who will hire them. Plus, let's not kid ourselves, these contractors pay a Hell of a lot more.
| QUOTE (Snow_Fox) |
| you just want her to look at your...spheres? |
who better than a woman whose very namesake implies GoodHead....on her shoulders
besides she'll need the most powerful scope capable of seeing the most microscopic of spheres if she is gonna see mine 
For you savages who don't read the New York Times, the cover article for the Sunday Magazine is Open-Source Spying, about the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into the intelligence community. I would suggest before you cum all over yourselves about how cool and SR-ish it is, however, to read the entire article. There are significant drawbacks which the article only begins to touch on. Moreover, it's even more disappointing in light of last week's front page (above the fold, no less) article on the movement toward Web 3.0.
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