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Hello, I know someone who trained for a job in Nashville, TN but the job was actually located in Washington D.C. After congratulating them it was only natural to ask what agency is it with and what will you be doing. The answer I got was, it's classified/confidential and all they can say is they work for the federal government. Several months later it's still, I'll be able to tell you someday and I work for the federal government.
Someone else I know has a wife with a similar degree as the person I'm referring to. His wife has a finance background and was looking into jobs with the CIA where she would have to train in Tennessee and wouldn't be allowed to tell anybody about what she was doing. Does anyone know about these top secret jobs or know any people in the D.C. area who can't say what they do for a living? Is this pretty common? I don't live in the D.C. area currently, looking to relocate at the beginning of next year. I mean someone asked me about this person the other day and when I told them that I couldn't say what he was doing they immediately laughed and said sounds like B.S. but I think he's probably telling the truth.
I know a couple people doing classified jobs who can't tell me what they do. Especially at first, it seems like a lot won't say anything, even if it's unecessary, just to be careful. I know they work for the FBI, but for several they can't tell me where their office is besides "somewhere in Virginia". I also don't know their titles and have to be very careful about asking them about work (I was considering applying to intelligence jobs and was curious about what sort of work is done). In the past, a few have gotten sent away for work and I can't know where they are until they come back.
I'd say it's fairly common, especially if you're involved with intelligence or defense communities. It might be more common in Virginia since that's where most of the bases and offices seem to be located. Sometimes it's B.S. (like a guy who tried to impress my roommate in college, only to have her father look him up with his own CIA contacts and prove him to be a liar), but sometimes it's not. A friend of mine didn't know where her grandfather worked until the agency he directed was declassified and she found it on the internet.
Could be. Keep in mind that one can work for the CIA or another intelligence agency and not have to keep it super secret, but one always has to show discretion if they have a job that requires handling sensitive information.
Many in classified work can identify the agency they work for but say nothing about the job itself. Most of those who can't generally would have a cover story rather than 'I'd have to kill you' or something else you read about in a spy novel.
Many in classified work can identify the agency they work for but say nothing about the job itself. Most of those who can't generally would have a cover story rather than 'I'd have to kill you' or something else you read about in a spy novel.
That's pretty true. In the case of my FBI friends, I really only knew at first because I was there before they went through security training and were told to not tell people where they worked. It was mostly overkill, but the general idea was to not "brag" about it and just be discreet. As for my friend's grandfather, he probably had a cover, but being a little kid she didn't know anything beyond "Grandpa works in DC".
You are supposed to be discreet about it and not even say what you're doing is classified. People with a cover already have a story made up while people with lesser security classifications should already have preconceived general statements in preparation for when they are asked. And it should be general enough where it could be anything.
Like juniperbleu said, the idea is not to brag about it. The instant you say what you're doing is classified you've already drawn attention to yourself.
Hmmm @...."Sometimes it's B.S. (like a guy who tried to impress my roommate in college, only to have her father look him up with his own CIA contacts and prove him to be a liar)"....yes, you never know if someone is telling a tall tale to make themselves look good, but I do believe this guy, especially now after posting this. It seems to be pretty common to the area. Thanks for the replies.
I do research for the federal government, and I say that kind of BS all the time..sometimes I even embellish it and tell them I am working on space/time travel or dealing with extraterrestrial life..I once told a good friend that I was working on the re-animation of frozen people..he ate that hook, line and sinker. Then there is always the "If I tell you I would have to kill you.." reply...
Probably with CIA, FBI, or NSA. I know a few such people. They just say "I work for the federal government". That's code for "Don't ask me anymore about it."
Not everybody with those agencies are classified, but your friend is probably being honest and can't talk about it. It's not that uncommon.
That said, if you were out at a bar and some chachkie was using it as a pick-up line, then it's probably B.S.
It's a probable assumption to assume the guy is bsing.
The 3 level of clearances one can obtain is:
confidential
secret
top secret
The last is the hardest to obtain and you're definitely dealing with stuff that is critical to the safety of a mission.
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