Civilian Intelligence Service - There’s a wall for a reason.

One of the most under appreciated assets in the Defense of the United States is those who work in the Intelligence services, the ‘wheel of seals’. These Agencies include CIA, NSA, FBI, DHS, NRO, OTFI and a series of alphabet soup. There are over 13 formal Department of Defense Intelligence service capacities that allow the American Military to deploy effectively across the globe. The existence of these Agencies is the reason the average American goes through their day sipping coffee, going to work, playing with their kids, chatting on their phone, checking email, ‘enjoying’ social media and the Internet without any issue, deviations or neglect. Unaware that America is routinely under a 24 hour a day barrage of different attempted attacks, both from within and outside the Continental United States. These Agencies work mostly in secret, in spaces Americans don’t know and for the most part wouldn’t comprehend if faced with the shear capacity and intention of an adversary.

The modern military as known to most Americans is 100% reliant on the Intelligence Agencies providing an understanding of the adversary, locations for deployment, assets on the ground/water/sky, allocation of hardware, weapon systems guidance development, communications security to put it simplistically, providing areas of responsibility that cover the globe. But most of this effort goes unknown, because to be effective with intelligence you have to operate in a space that makes your work ambiguous. This ‘behind the scene’ activity is necessary to America’s success in fundamentally having its over 300 million Citizens not fear daily the plausible attacks of other Nations or independent operators, while operating with a vast number of fundamental freedoms. This isn’t fear mongering, it is the reality of what allows Americans and America’s allied Nations to feel secure in this world.Don’t believe it, simply visit a Country that doesn’t have formidable westernized allies. To achieve this level of security most Nations invoke some level of reduced Civil Rights, or to all out Dictatorship. We have a considerable amount to thank Intelligence Agencies for, yet the average American most likely doesn’t spend a single second considering them unless they hear ramblings on Social Media, some conspiracy, a political rant, or see that their social security number was hijacked. This indifference is both a benefit and curse to Intelligence work. On the positive side, this near isolation means that the work necessary isn’t disclosed to an adversary. In a negative light, defining why a budget must be created or the impacts of reductions is nearly impossible to show the average Citizen. Note, have you ever wondered why those mass data jackings from the Sony or Nasdaq's of the world never become anything, they never have a massive consequence of loss or crippling of an infrastructure, there is a reason for that and it isn’t luck or a lack of trying.

A lot of very good people have died in the line of Intelligence work, making America a safer place, making America’s military proficient. The Intelligence community has various ‘walls’ in certain locations dedicated to the memories of those individuals. These aren’t as socialized, glorified or in the ‘commons citizens’ face as most Military walls, these are behind the scenes in places of reverence for those who work in that Community defined by secrecy. Generally honed from a black piece of granite or the like, with small details denoting an individual's ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty to their Country - there is no medal and public display or proclamation, no day of recognition or discount at Home Depot and free breakfast, there is simply service, in its purest form and without prideful boasting. You don’t see jackets, hats or uniforms, you just see Americans. The community is embodied by Citizens that were willing to sacrifice the normalcy and privacy of American life, give full examination of their lives and their family, limit their freedom of speech, agree to a life-long obligation in defense of America’s greatest assets. They do this in defense of something greater and more noble, the idealism of America. America as it is meant to be, a land in which free thought, free ideas, and individual successes are woven in a masterful tapestry of humanity where both good and bad exist in a balance. These individuals that choose to hand their lives over to service to the People of the United States take an oath, not to a President or Congress, not to a Party, but to the United States of America's Constitution. Unlike the Military oath which requires allegiance to a President, the Intelligence services take an allegiance to the People of the United States. They are in its rawest form, civil servants. They will never be famous, they will never receive public accolade or monetary glory, if possible they will do their duty and one day walk away into a ‘catacomb-like’ harmony, with others who chose a similar path of unglorified service. They will never be allowed to tell their tale, what they saw, what they knew or what they did. They will have existed in silence, diligently working for the security of the American Dream.