CIPHER BRIEF EXCLUSIVE: CIA's Fallen Agent Memorial

When CIA case officers graduate from the Field Training Course, they are reminded of the deep moral responsibility they have to the sources they cultivate, especially those who are put in harm’s way by the very fact of their relationship with the officer.  That same ethic motivated the Directorate of Operations (DO) to seek to memorialize those who had lost their lives providing information vital for American security.

According to CIA officer Mark Kelton, the idea for a memorial was first suggested in the late ‘90s by then Deputy Director for Operations, Jack Downing.    Kelton was serving as Downing’s Executive Assistant.

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

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Categorized as:Perspectives & Culture

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