Your opinions please: Is there ever such a thing as

[QuettaKid]

an ex-CIA agent....? It would seem to be the kind of place that once your in, your in for life. Doesn't seem like you could just retire and walk away....

[Deja Q]

1. I think there are, but they all live in the Village...

[soothsayer]

2. YOU are number six.

[QuettaKid]

3. I only ask because

I recently stumbled across a google search which shows a fairly prominent national journalist as being married to an ex-CIA agent.....

[Lerkfish]

5. but that would be un-mutual

:)

[Union Thug]

4. I AM NOT A NUMBER! I AM A FREE MAN!

couldn't resist...

[SpiralHawk]

6. Good luck with your exams.

eom

[madokie]

7. In the early '70s I was a dozier operator and done some work

for a retired cia officer. We hit it right off when he wanted me to cut a road down this real steep hill so he could drive down there and sit in his truck and hunt deer, when asked he said he never has killed one he just liked to feel like he was hunting. Any way when he realized my powder was getting wet he asked if His riding on the dozier with me would help, sure I said and with that came confidence and we built the road. He told me some things that made the hair on my neck stand out, but not any secrets, mostly about how he became disabled and his early years when he was in the field. He was a fine man. My point is you or anyone would never ever have expected this man to be a retired CIA officer.
To add. He taught me how to build a road down a steep hill that is still a good road 30 some years later. Through the years I have been fortunate to pass that little bit of knowledge on to others.

[Cats Against Frist]

9. I used to babysit for a family in Buttfuck, Illinois

where the father, who was ex-military, ran a "farm," (with very few animals and crops), and took off on long excursions for his "other job," which my mom thought was a CIA gig. They were pretty good friends -- bunch of partiers -- and as far as I know, he never had too many root beer schnapps and spilled the beans, but he did once say that he couldn't tell anyone what he did. Seemed like a totally normal guy.

[MadHound]

8. No, once you're CIA, you're always CIA

The agents are required to keep some matters secret for life, and many times their expertise is required, even though the agent is working elsewhere or is retired. And while a few will speak out or write about their experiences, the vast majority will only go so far, and not get into the real meat of their career. If they do, they wind up dead or missing, and they know it.

This in general applies to most of our national security agencies, NSA, ONI, FBI, etc.

I've met a couple of these intelligence folks, and while they are nice enough, even pleasant to be around, they only allow you to get so close, and only tell you so much. You press too much and they shut up like a clam.