Anonymous asked about the Box and NOC attrition.

Q. Thanks for the extent of your contribution to this country's safety. I noticed in your Glossary of Terms under "B", i found myself looking for the term "Box" to describe a polygraph. I've read in a couple places that fear of the "box" was a legit concern for any NOC working abroad at the Company as a failed score could mean the end of your overseas career.

From what I can tell, (from your writing and others) someone entering the Company from outside the military maybe looking at 3-5yrs of domestic work (1yr training +3yrs domestic assignment) before actually moving into an overseas position. I can imagine for many during that waiting period its a stressful time -- hoping that at some point your number is called and you can begin your overseas cover assignments.

Then, once your overseas it sounds like it's actually challenging to stay overseas. In fact, from some open sources, it sounds like a career with more than 2 successful overseas NOC postings is quite rare. For the majority of entering candidates it sounds like very few actually make it (or have the patience) long enough to get their first legit overseas NOC assignment.

And given your background, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on how come you were so successful? Did you perceive yourself as a rarity in that sense given your multiple overseas postings? What were your impressions of the "box"? Was it generally an effective tool to weed out the dubious or was it just as likely to be used by management as a tool to help keep many case officers back in DC at desk positions? Did you know of many NOC families where they wanted to stay in overseas assignments but ended up "back at the Oakwood" because of failed q+a in front of the box or unsupported allegations about a 'cover being blown'?

I hope the reclusive life is suiting you well! You've earned it. Thank you in advance for your thoughts on the Box and how one successfully manages to stay abroad in NOC positions.

A. Thanks for pointing out my neglect of the Box in the B Index. It now stands corrected. Let me know of other omissions you may see. Everyone entering the Company must face the Box. Also every so often at random, most officers face re-investigation and thus the Box comes at you again. I have a section in the Blog dedicated to the Box. Basically, it does have its uses as an investigative tool but it also has its limits. One of the limits is the polygraph examiner. There are some good ones and there are some not so good. So the Box is only as good as the expertise of the examiner.

A mistake many examiners as well as some Case Officers make is going on a fishing expedition with the agent under examination. If this is the objective, then disaster usually awaits. Before an asset is Boxed, you should have a pretty good indication from past handling of the agent how he will respond to certain questions. In other words, you as the Case Officer should already know the answers to the questions before they are asked of the agent on the Box. The Box is best used to confirm what you already know or have reason to suspect.

I do not believe the Box is necessary or required in some cases but the bureaucracy often dictates it for the agent authentication process. See the section in the blog on Agent Authentication for more details. I also happen to have the opinion that the Box is often not effective in certain cultures where what we call lying or deception is a common social practice. There are also tricks taught by the Soviets to some of their double agents to beat the Box. So the Box should never be deemed conclusive in judging an agent but is only one of many tools available to the Case Officer in working his cases.

Now for your other questions. I was a bit of an unusual case as a NOC. I joined the Company as a Paramilitary Case Officer - now called Special Operations and Programs Officer (SOPO). Sent back to Vietnam I was assigned as a singleton (sole) CIA officer in a provincial area on the Cambodian border. Acting as the only CIA officer in the area, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to prove that I could operate in solitude, a quality NOC officers need to have. I was spotted by a senior Saigon Station officer being transferred to head a division at Hqs. He asked me to return with him to Hqs to plan my own NOC career. This was in the days when many NOCs were recruited into the program from inside the agency. At Hqs I was assigned to a desk as internal administrator of the NOCs at several overseas stations, thus I had an inside view of how the bureaucracy of he program functions at Hqs. I also learned how to manipulate that bureaucracy, so that when I finally got to the field as a NOC, I did not suffer the frustrations that other NOCs frequently encountered that ended many a career.

In my opinion, NOC frustration with the bureaucracy and the pressure of living a double life trying to satisfy two employers - the Company and the Cover Company - are the two main reasons NOCs resign from the program. Most often when they do resign, positions are found for them as inside officers and most often they are again back overseas as official cover case officers at some Station. I know of many cases where this has happened.