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Old 08-23-2022, 05:08 AM   #1
Wazowski
 
Join Date: Aug 2022
Default CIA Ranks

I've been trying to figure out the CIA hierarchy to build a Rank Table, but I cannot find enough useful information.

Have you got one?
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Old 08-23-2022, 06:17 AM   #2
johndallman
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wazowski View Post
I've been trying to figure out the CIA hierarchy to build a Rank Table, but I cannot find enough useful information.
I have some pieces. CIA officers are paid on the GS pay scale, and they usually enter at GS-10 or GS-11. That's approximately equivalent to military rank O-2 (First Lieutenant), while GS-12 to GS-15 equate to O-3 (Captain) to O-6 (Colonel).

Qualifications for entry as an officer are a good bachelor's degree in a relevant subject, and there's a two-year training course before they actually start working at O-2 equivalent.

The point cost of CIA rank is probably less than military rank, because they don't have lots of people to order around. Social Engineering has rules for evaluating this.
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Old 08-23-2022, 01:40 PM   #3
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

For agencies like the CIA, there's two cases to consider: HQ and field agent.

For the HQ outside DC, I use Administrative Rank as-is, going by the number of subordinates.

For field agents, I use Social Engineering: Pulling Rank based not on subordinates but on the support they can get from the agency during the operations.
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Old 08-23-2022, 02:27 PM   #4
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

I put this in the article for Pyramid Schemes 1 on the Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War:

Level Intelligence Rank, CIA
5 CIA Chief of Station
4 Project Manager, Senior Officer
3 Case Officer
2 Paramilitary Officer
1 Secretary
0 Security Officer, Admin Clerk

My reasoning was that is how the agency handled the postings at the district and province levels for the Phoenix Program.

I also created these packages of skills for 1960s-era CIA officers assigned to Phoenix.

Career Training Program (+6 points): The CIA’s 12-week basic training program for case officers at Camp Peary, Virginia. Administration (IQ/A) [1]; Expert Skill (Communism) (IQ/H) [1]; Intelligence Analysis (IQ/H) [2]; Research (IQ/A) [1]; Writing (IQ/A) [1].

Clandestine Services Training (+16 points): The CIA’s 18-week course in “advanced operational training” for case officers at Camp Peary. Acting (IQ/A) [1]; Detect Lies (Per/H) [1]; Diplomacy (IQ/H) [1]; Electronics Operation (Surveillance) (IQ/A) [1]; Fast-Talk (IQ/A) [1]; Filch (DX/A) [1]; Holdout (IQ/A) [1]; Guns (Pistol) (DX/E) [1]; Interrogation (IQ/A) [1]; Judo (DX/H) [1] or Karate (DX/H) [1]; Observation (Per/A) [2]; Photography (IQ/A) [1]; Shadowing (IQ/A) [1]; Stealth (DX/A) [1]; Urban Survival (Per/A) [1].
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Old 08-23-2022, 03:19 PM   #5
Wazowski
 
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

Quote:
Originally Posted by safisher View Post
I put this in the article for Pyramid Schemes 1 on the Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War:

Level Intelligence Rank, CIA
5 CIA Chief of Station
4 Project Manager, Senior Officer
3 Case Officer
2 Paramilitary Officer
1 Secretary
0 Security Officer, Admin Clerk

My reasoning was that is how the agency handled the postings at the district and province levels for the Phoenix Program.

I also created these packages of skills for 1960s-era CIA officers assigned to Phoenix.

Career Training Program (+6 points): The CIA’s 12-week basic training program for case officers at Camp Peary, Virginia. Administration (IQ/A) [1]; Expert Skill (Communism) (IQ/H) [1]; Intelligence Analysis (IQ/H) [2]; Research (IQ/A) [1]; Writing (IQ/A) [1].

Clandestine Services Training (+16 points): The CIA’s 18-week course in “advanced operational training” for case officers at Camp Peary. Acting (IQ/A) [1]; Detect Lies (Per/H) [1]; Diplomacy (IQ/H) [1]; Electronics Operation (Surveillance) (IQ/A) [1]; Fast-Talk (IQ/A) [1]; Filch (DX/A) [1]; Holdout (IQ/A) [1]; Guns (Pistol) (DX/E) [1]; Interrogation (IQ/A) [1]; Judo (DX/H) [1] or Karate (DX/H) [1]; Observation (Per/A) [2]; Photography (IQ/A) [1]; Shadowing (IQ/A) [1]; Stealth (DX/A) [1]; Urban Survival (Per/A) [1].
It looks amazing! Can I get a copy? I have been searching the store and I cannot find it. Have you got some for the FBI?
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Old 08-23-2022, 05:10 PM   #6
Wazowski
 
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

Quote:
Originally Posted by safisher View Post
I put this in the article for Pyramid Schemes 1 on the Phoenix Program during the Vietnam War:

Level Intelligence Rank, CIA
5 CIA Chief of Station
4 Project Manager, Senior Officer
3 Case Officer
2 Paramilitary Officer
1 Secretary
0 Security Officer, Admin Clerk
Do these Ranks follow "The Arithmetic of Rank" p.14, social engineering, or may you provide a brief description of their chain of command, if there is any?
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Old 08-23-2022, 05:20 PM   #7
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

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Originally Posted by Wazowski View Post
It looks amazing! Can I get a copy? I have been searching the store and I cannot find it. Have you got some for the FBI?
No. Pyramid Scheme is only in Kickstarter right now as far as I understand it.
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Old 08-23-2022, 06:29 PM   #8
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

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Originally Posted by Wazowski View Post
may you provide a brief description of their chain of command, if there is any?
The upper echelons would be something like:

7: President
6a: Director of National Intelligence
6b: CIA Director
5: Deputy Director (one for each directorate)

If you want spies, that's the Directorate of Operations. There's probably at least one more level between the DDO and a Chief of Station for SA Fisher's list (regions like "Asia" or "South America", I'd guess, but I don't actually know).

Wiki puts the number of (public) employees at 21,575, so Rank 7 for the Director by the "Arithmetic of..." chart in Social Engineering. That system isn't really compatible with the Ranks used elsewhere, though, where heads of state are typically 7, with 8 being god-emperor or more SFnal empires. But you're free to scale the ranks however you find suited for the game and setting -- and you can even use different scales for different sorts of rank, so "CIA Rank" might have more levels than just plain "Rank" -- which might call for a lower cost per level, since it should cost less to be the head of the CIA than the head of the USA -- and the CIA Rank 7 Director is still subordinate to the Rank 6 DNI. That gets a bit confusing, though. Probably better to expand them all to the biggest scale necessary than to use different scales.

My preference would just be to collapse rank levels (like I did with the 6a and 6b above), rather than try to give every level of an org chart its own number. Rank in most orgs often doesn't really rate a lot of CP, especially if there are a lot of levels, because even the big boss can't really just order anything done that they want just on a whim (see Social Engineering: Pulling Rank). If the costs for Rank get large, most players will just skip taking Rank in favor of more cost-effective traits. So, decide how important that Rank really is in your intended game. James Bond cares a lot less than Jack Ryan about their Rank, and Bond's Rank matters less to solving the problems his adventures present.
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Old 08-24-2022, 02:25 AM   #9
Wazowski
 
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
The upper echelons would be something like:

7: President
6a: Director of National Intelligence
6b: CIA Director
5: Deputy Director (one for each directorate)

If you want spies, that's the Directorate of Operations. There's probably at least one more level between the DDO and a Chief of Station for SA Fisher's list (regions like "Asia" or "South America", I'd guess, but I don't actually know).

Wiki puts the number of (public) employees at 21,575, so Rank 7 for the Director by the "Arithmetic of..." chart in Social Engineering. That system isn't really compatible with the Ranks used elsewhere, though, where heads of state are typically 7, with 8 being god-emperor or more SFnal empires. But you're free to scale the ranks however you find suited for the game and setting -- and you can even use different scales for different sorts of rank, so "CIA Rank" might have more levels than just plain "Rank" -- which might call for a lower cost per level, since it should cost less to be the head of the CIA than the head of the USA -- and the CIA Rank 7 Director is still subordinate to the Rank 6 DNI. That gets a bit confusing, though. Probably better to expand them all to the biggest scale necessary than to use different scales.

My preference would just be to collapse rank levels (like I did with the 6a and 6b above), rather than try to give every level of an org chart its own number. Rank in most orgs often doesn't really rate a lot of CP, especially if there are a lot of levels, because even the big boss can't really just order anything done that they want just on a whim (see Social Engineering: Pulling Rank). If the costs for Rank get large, most players will just skip taking Rank in favor of more cost-effective traits. So, decide how important that Rank really is in your intended game. James Bond cares a lot less than Jack Ryan about their Rank, and Bond's Rank matters less to solving the problems his adventures present.
I did read somewhere that Stations have around 5 officers (the COS, the Deputy COS, and three operatives), but then, for example, the Benghazi Base (Stations rule over Bases) had over 20 employees. I also did read that case officers are the same as operations officers, and that operations officers and paramilitary operations officers are about the same as a police officer (they have no authority in the chain of command). I cannot come up with a proper structure, because it seems like different Stations have different sizes.
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Old 08-24-2022, 12:06 PM   #10
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Default Re: CIA Ranks

How is a secretary a rank? Perhaps I misunderstood you.
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