Super secrecy

Today's site briefing: CIA.

Tasks: Split TFAS group in half for two buses. Figure out how to line up in alphabetical order at 7am. Turn off all electronics. Marvel at the mist rising from the Potomac River and surrounding forests. Leave everything on the bus but money for the "gift shop" aka table in the bunker they set up for us. Receive overview of what the Agency does and what opportunities in the CIA are possible for us college students. Hear from a panel of officers from each of the Agency's four directorates about what they and their directorates do. Walk from the Circle Room that seems to have been constructed by some lava-lamp-obsessed architect in the 70s to the main building to stare at the 16-foot CIA seal on the marble floor as seen in movies.

Thoughts: It's kind of cool that the CIA created a lot of technologies a long time ago that we now see on the market because they made it first and, once it was no longer vital to keep classified, sold it to the commercial sector. The language bugs me - "We are the nation's first line of defense," threat, enemies. Most disturbingly that the human beings they are asking to commit espionage against their own countries are referred to as "assets." Cool they have tons of different jobs you wouldn't expect - woodworkers, hairdressers, cosmotologists, etc. Strange they view themselves as an independent organization (in that they do not work actively to change policy) and yet take direct orders from the President to execute covert operations. No surprise there are no photos from this site briefing.