Introducing the Purple Badge

First blue, then green and how purple.  The Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell has signed the policy guidelines for implementing joint duty for the Intelligence Community or what's known in the military as a "purple suit" or joint service rotation.This new requirement is basically a mandatory year spent in an outside intelligence agency as a prerequisite for career advancement into the senior service. 

Its primary target is most likely the case officers in the National Clandestine Service who are notorious for not doing a rotation outside of NCS, let alone outside of the Agency and, god forbid, in a military intel agency.  (Although I'm sure COs are rushing to line up right now to spend a year learning tradecraft from the "Godfather of HUMINT" James Clapper...)

To show everyone is all one big happy purple-badged family, officials from the major intelligence agencies showed up for the DNI's signing ceremony--well, sort of.  Missing in action were the directors of the intel agencies with large civilian workforces that will be affected, namely the CIA, NSA, DIA, NGA...

(Kremlinologists would find this as quite telling of the relative power of the DNI.)

It's actually a pretty good idea to share experience across agencies, but, unfortunately, McConnell has been marketed it to the Intel Community in most unpalatable terms--or as one senior member put it, "it would be hard to find a more condescending kick in the nuts to civilians."  McConnell has been delivering a message that basically amounts to the military has been using purple suit assignments for years to groom flag officers and now it's going to be imposed on civilian intelligence officers to get them ready for the big time.  Agency types love to learn from the military and now they'll get the chance to learn from military intel. 

Please pass the Purple Pill.

Before the heartburn gets too bad, take a look at the Intelligence Community Policy Guidance 601.01, Sections E. and F which outline exemptions and waivers and then thank your lucky stars that loopholes had to be written into it as not to force NOCs to come in from the cold for a promotion into senior service.   So if you're too late for the Clapper line, think about queuing up for the "highly qualified exceptions" to the policy.  I suspect demand  at the NCS is going to be so high for review that they're going to need additional green badgers to help process them all. 

(Note to Abraxas--business opportunity.)

And perhaps this good idea could even be improved upon and used internally at the Agency, requiring rotations among the internal divisions for promotion into the SIS.  The NCS has long known what happens when analysts are placed in senior NCS positions, so the NCS should be exempted, but it would be interesting to see how analysts like it when an operator is put into a senior position in their side of the house.  Forget passing the purple pill--time to buy stock in the pharmaceutical company that makes them.

 

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Comments

[Erik Rader]

Done properly, this could actually be a good thing. Unfortunately, this will be screwed up, as are so many other great ideas, by complacent and/or unwilling government employees/contractors. It's extremely apparent that the intelligence community as a whole didn't buy into the program, so it will be interesting to see how long this actually lasts.

[R J Hillhouse]

The question is, how many people will this tip in favor of a green badge in the private sector rather than staying in government service? It might not be too bad, given the new 18 month cooling off period, but then that was directed to the newbies who wouldn't be at this career level anyway.

[Retired]

Jesus, does the Commandant of the Marine Corps not even own a Summer Service Alpha uniform anymore (i.e., with the normal green uniform coat upon which one displays the ribbons, wings, badges and shootin' brass that one has earned)? What's with the Texaco service station attendant jacket? You can trust your car to the man who wears the star(s)? Or maybe since he's pissed off at Gates for not "renewing his contract", he's making a visual statement. As Dr. Hillhouse has pointed out, four major IC agency heads certainly made one: by not showing up. In the Soviet-era Kremlin, this type of turnout usually preceded a firing squad. Considered in this light, maybe the DNI is signing a confession of his crimes instead of the NCS's death warrant.

[Uncle $cam]

Another mysterious spy death in London
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=260500
A man who once reportedly spied for Israel has been found dead in mysterious circumstances in London.