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-Land of the Free
Pentagon's secret army: Shadowy 60K-strong undercover force operating across globe, specializes in cutting-edge 'signature reduction' espionage techniques, has $900B budget
2021-05-18
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • The Pentagon has amassed a secret, 60,000-strong undercover army to carry out domestic and foreign assignments, a new investigation has revealed

  • The force is reportedly more than 10 times the size of the CIA's clandestine operation and includes military and civilian agents 'in real life and online'

  • The agents are 'trained to create secret identities for themselves, make disguises, and can assume fake identities online to pursue high value targets'

  • The digital sleuths can even manipulate biometric databases of foreign Governments so agents can pass fingerprint checks under false identities

  • Newsweek says the force is part of a new front in covert warfare using a little-known espionage known as 'signature reduction'

  • Signature reduction gives the US deniability on sensitive missions and allows soldiers, civilians and contractors to work under false identities

  • While signature reduction operatives are rarely outed, intelligence agents point to the 2013 arrest of American 'diplomat' Ryan Fogle in Moscow as one such case
According to a Newsweek investigation, the force includes NSA agents, cyber security experts and special forces operating behind hostile enemy lines in places like North Korea and Iran, and is serviced by around 130 private companies, and supported by dozens of secretive Government agencies.

A cover element 60,000 strong? Sixty strong would present quite a challenge. Lloyd Austin at the helm? Little wonder victory has eluded us in Afghanistan for 20 years. The Signature Reduction people consumed all the talent and resources.

$900B budget was it? And the Klingon's just sat back and let the money go to DoD ?

Is there an Extraterrestrial section? A challenge coin ?

Posted by:Skidmark

#13  it has a 900 billion million dollar budget.
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-05-18 13:13  

#12  Does the author also write those Chinese Wuxia stories? The ones where the main character has to travel 10,000 kilometers to commute to his day job?
Posted by: magpie   2021-05-18 10:03  

#11  So Posse Comitatus has died and gone away?
Posted by: Mercutio   2021-05-18 08:23  

#10  ..got to remember the audience these people write for believe the DoD money is half the national budget. Was in around 1960, its now about 12%.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2021-05-18 08:02  

#9  No way it has a 900 billion dollar budget.
Posted by: Dacama   2021-05-18 07:56  

#8  Bear in mindd that the Newsweek article: Inside the Military's Secret Undercover Army, is written by notorious left winger William M. Arkin, a man who despises the US military.
Posted by: Gerthudion Whomoper3485   2021-05-18 07:55  

#7  For those on the outside, the size of the Regular Army is limited. It's not a question of just money. The size is set by Congress. When you are capped at 480,000 active duty, the number 60,000 would have a serious impact up manning everything else even if it was just a major share of the total. Manning is a big thing and tracked accordingly. Units not in deployment are often under strength. Officer strength by grade is also limited by law.

The overall population is regularly decremented by those in training, those in hospital, and those in transit. There is a lot of training; entry, skill, and multiple mandatory career development. That's why so many reserve and National Guard units now deploy from home stations. The bodies are not there to cover so many commitments.

Every military commander is always screaming to fill their shortages, both by numbers and skills. You better believe they know the personnel inventory that the service has.

Someone is pulling something out of their rectal orifice here.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2021-05-18 07:46  

#6  /\ Links? Additional information? I am skeptical, but as always.... remain open about these matters.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-05-18 07:08  

#5  I've been reading about this organization frequently. Sounds like they will be hunting political opponents soon.
Posted by: Spoter B   2021-05-18 07:05  

#4  Perhaps someone has watched the Bourne Ultimatum a few too many times ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-05-18 07:02  

#3  Yes....And?
Posted by: Sonny Black   2021-05-18 06:49  

#2  This article itself is signature reduction, maintaining the facade of the DoD being only an externally focused quantity.

Sigredux, as many here will know, is not part of the prosecution process, or pursuing targets. It is only concerned with facilitating ease of operability in sensitive environments. Budgets for it are way higher than even operations. As most deniable capacities go, it is too much power and has come to be used often for political interests than defense.

In light of this, and the â­”'s sudden interest in domestic politics, I wonder what that 'shadowy force' and $900B budget will actually be used for.

DOD's definition of extremism on its way

Pentagon warns of threat of white supremacy
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-05-18 04:47  

#1  Run and controlled by whom?
Posted by: 3dc   2021-05-18 03:58  

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