Applicants to the Central Intelligence Agency often asked Edward Mickolus what they might expect in a career there. Mickolus, who was a CIA intelligence officer, whose duties also included recruiting and public affairs, never had a simple answer.
If applicants were considering a life in the National Clandestine Service, the answer was easy. Numerous memoirs show the lives of operations officers collecting secret intelligence overseas, conducting counterintelligence investigations, and running covert action programs. But the CIA isn't only about case officers in far-flung areas of the world, recruiting spies to steal secrets. For an applicant considering a career as an analyst, a support officer, a scientist, or even a secretary, few sources provide reliable insight into what a more typical career at the CIA might look like.
This collection of the exploits and insights of twenty-nine everyday agency employees is Mickolus's answer. From individuals who have served at the highest levels of the agency to young officers just beginning their careers, Stories from Langley reveals the breadth of career opportunities available at the CIA and offers advice from agency officers themselves.
By:
Edward Mickolus
Imprint: Potomac (Brasseys US)
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 230mm,
Width: 150mm,
Spine: 36mm
Weight: 748g
ISBN: 9781612346885
ISBN 10: 161234688X
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 01 April 2015
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction Part 1: Speaking Truth to Power: CIA Intelligence Analysts Getting In: Why Join the Directorate of Intelligence? 1. Careers in Intelligence Analysis Volko F. Ruhnke 2. The Best Speech I Ever Gave, the Best Thing I Ever Wrote Martin Petersen Briefing the President 3. Working with Words and Enjoying the View John Hollister Hedley 4. Never Boring, Often Meaningful, and Almost Fun Henry Appelbaum 5. Briefing Presidential Candidates John Helgerson Monitoring Soviet Military Capabilities 6. The Soviets Go on the LAMM Michael D. Flint and Boyd Sutton 7. Making the World Safe through SAFE Michael D. Flint 8. Getting the Facts Right Tony Williams Winning the Cold War 9. An Economist’s Look at the Soviet Union, and Beyond Robert E. Leggett 10. Two of the “Coolest” Things I Did Working for the CIA Robert Blackwell 11. A Cold War CIA Analyst Remembers Anne Campbell Gruner A Wealth of Options 12. Reminiscences of a Checkered Past Nicholas Starr 13. Reflections on an Eclectic CIA Career Alan More 14. A Geographer Looks Back at 50 Years with the CIA Will Rogers 15. An “Out-of-Body Experience”: Seeing the DI with New Eyes Jon Nowick 16. Peasant at the Creation: The Agency’s First Terrorism Analyst and Beyond Edward Mickolus Dealing with The Rest of the World 17. Satellite Imagery and the Afghan Task Force Tom Sheridan 18. Slideshow Jeri DiGiulio 19. Meanwhile, in Asia . . . Merrily Baird Part 2: Heroes Behind the Heroes: CIA Support Officers A Quick Look at Oversight 20. On Planet Congress Martin Petersen 21. In Support, You Never Know Where You Might End Up—and What You Might Learn along the Way Dan King 22. What Is a Promise Worth? Dan King 23. An Adventure in the Far East Robert A. Morgan Jr. 24. First Tour Adventures: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Missionary Hugh S. Pettis 25. Out of the Barn, Into the Beltway Hazel Harrison 26. Ed and a Secretary: How I Ended Up at the CIA Martin Petersen 27. Traveling with the President Frank Ryan 28. KH601 Richard Irwin A Hero’s Story 29. Our Man in Havana’s Jails: Temporary Duty Assignment in Hell Walter E. Szuminski A Word from Our Predecessors 30. Operation Oshima John Behling And from the Next Generation 31. The Other Side of the CIA: My Life as a CIA Analyst Gregor S. Vision, Mission, and Values Statement of the Central Intelligence Agency Suggested Reading Contributors
EDWARD MICKOLUS is the founder and president of Vinyard Software, Inc., and served in analytical, operational, and management positions at the Central Intelligence Agency for thirty-three years. He is the author or coauthor of two dozen books, including The Terrorist List ; The 50 Worst Terrorist Attacks, 1960-2014 ; and The Secret Book of CIA Humor .
Reviews for Stories from Langley: A Glimpse Inside the CIA
One of the most difficult aspects of intelligence is trying to convey to outsiders what that life especially as an analyst is really like. Most fiction is overblown and inevitably focuses on operations and spying. <i>Stories from Langley</i> is a delightful foray into the actual experiences of a broad range of intelligence officers and fills an important gap in our intelligence literature. Anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of an intelligence career will find this a useful and worthwhile read. Mark Lowenthal, former assistant director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production for the CIA and author of <i>Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy </i>--Mark Lowenthal (03/24/2014)
