A national publication detailed an unclassified email recently sent by the CIA’s counterintelligence chief to agency annuitants.
The crux of the note was that the “formers,” as many of us CIA retirees are affectionately called, must take greater care in speaking out in public — particularly via modern mediums such as podcasts and other social media. The note also observed that some formers are taking consulting jobs overseas, warning that the CIA’s tradecraft, or spying techniques, could end up in the hands of foreign adversaries. While likely well-meaning, the email caused some consternation with many formers. It seemed to have an accusatory tone, impugn First Amendment rights, and hamper employment prospects in a global market.
This column is not designed to address these issues. We should chalk the email up to unfortunate execution, absent any real spite, of what is essentially a legitimate message. Still, the email led me and several other formers to think carefully about how the CIA treats us, particularly in comparison to other national security institutions like the FBI, which retain strong and active alumni networks all around the country. Top line: the CIA currently does alumni outreach in a haphazard fashion.
For an organization that spends an extraordinary amount of money to train and deploy its personnel to some of the toughest places on earth, many of my colleagues note that there was a palpable feeling of being forgotten at the end of their careers. If you choose a career as a commentator in the media, the situation becomes even more problematic. A fierce internal backlash, to include former colleagues who refuse to speak with you, seems to be the norm. What can be done to rectify this unfortunate situation, where an oath of silence is demanded even where formers adhere to the requisite secrecy regulations?
There must be a better and happier balance between life in the shadows and a post-CIA career.
A post-CIA career, that is, in which some will, under proper guidelines, speak in public about the intelligence profession, and others will choose to work overseas as well. It’s true. We lived in a secret culture with a fundamental discomfort with publicity. But it is 2021, and the CIA simply must adapt to an age of explosive open-source information growth. The agency’s leadership must also recognize that there are fundamental questions being asked by the public about the necessity of such a secretive organization. To me, it is quite clear what to do. We simply need a shift of mindset on Langley’s 7th floor, from an anachronistic 1950s CIA that bathed itself in secrecy (often hiding some tragic flaws) to a CIA that operates in the digital age. In 2021, the CIA competes with open-source investigative outlets such as Bellingcat. The CIA must change or risk irrelevancy. How the agency treats its formers offers a good place to start.
In turn, if confirmed by the Senate, CIA Director-designate William Burns should immediately assign a senior intelligence service officer with some clout and reputation to oversee alumni relations. I’m not just talking about the quarterly retirement newsletter. Instead, the agency can treat the formers like graduates from a prestigious university, whose talents are still required and can be called on to make the institution better. This college comparison bears close attention. After all, I receive more active correspondence from Cornell University each month, where I graduated in 1991, than I have from the CIA in the nearly two years since I retired!
CIA formers of all stripes should be embraced, both retirees and those who chose to leave Langley in the middle of their career. Invite us into the building, engage with us! Do so not for our egos, but for the simple reason that we can still help an organization we truly revere. I receive tens of messages per week from prospective CIA employment candidates, mostly college students, who read what I write and hear what I say in public and want to work in the intelligence community. I make sure to speak or meet each and every one of them. I always look to mentor and encourage these fine people to follow their passions and consider applying for a job that I truly loved. At the same time, not a day goes by without a prestigious media institution reaching out to me for my comments on international affairs.
Why doesn’t the CIA bring us in rather than push us away?
We remember our oaths of secrecy, but we can also do much to help people better understand the organization and the world as we see it and also help with recruitment. Departure from the CIA need not mean divorce from the CIA.
Marc Polymeropoulos is a former CIA senior operations officer. He retired in 2019 after a 26-year career serving in the Near East and South Asia. His book Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA will be published in June 2021 by Harper Collins.
