Homeland Security Outlook

By Alan Green, HSO Contributor

In Detroit last week, the CIA screened a pair of 30-second TV spots designed to help recruit Arab- and Iranian-Americans to the agency's not-quite-as-diverse-as-they'd-like ranks. The commercials, which are slated to begin airing over the next few months on TV stations and websites, are part of the spy agency's five-year plan to ramp up its fluency in Arabic and other languages.

In addition to mainstream stations (even those of Middle Eastern descent are presumably fans of such classic Americana as Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and Are You Smarter than a 5^th Grader?), the ads will naturally run on websites and TV stations that are programmed specifically for these audiences. It's not certain, exactly, which outlets the agency's media buyers are eyeballing, but I've got a few suggestions, starting with the Homeland Security Television Network. For $2,000, the agency can buy a month's worth of prime homepage real estate on a site that streams educational programming to HS professionals. If someone's forgoing The Simpsons on Hulu for such videos as Understanding Islamic Extremism or Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism, which focuses on disrupting suicide attacks, you've got to figure they may be receptive to the recruitment pitch. And I'd also buy time on Spike TV's enthralling Surviving Disaster, which teaches viewers how to live through the likes of chemical attacks and -- my favorite episode -- heavily armed terrorists wreaking havoc in a shopping mall. Seems like the perfect demographic.

But if the CIA wants to actually employ those would-be recruits, the agency may want to figure out how to up the salaries a bit. After all, if the threats against the homeland are so grave, you'd think a fresh-faced Counterterrorism Analyst, charged with the critical task of figuring out what the bad guys are planning and plotting, would at least start out making as much as an auto-damage insurance appraiser or a streetcar operator. Maybe the starting salary for a Paramilitary Operations Officer ought to top that of an elevator repairman, since the job carries a bit more risk and, in the grand scheme of things, is probably a tad more crucial. And if the FBI fears that terrorists are planning to attack computer systems that control critical US infrastructure, maybe whoever is in charge of setting intelligence-agency pay grade should see to it that the starting salary for a skilled cybersecurity officer tops that of the average chef in a suburban restaurant. It's not that I don't value the ability to serve up a killer panang red curry or seitan wellington, it's just that I think the guy who can figure out how to keep the hackers out of the power and gas companies deserves a little more take-home pay at week's end.

Alan Green was formerly editor of investigative projects at the Center for Public Integrity, in Washington, D.C. His books include Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species, which chronicles such issues as the threats to human health posed by the trade in pet primates.

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Neil, While I don't necessarily disagree with the idea o

December 09, 2009     

While I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of higher pay, the decision should not be a matter of some bureacrat deciding which jobs in the market are worth more then others. Its a supply and demand question. How much is required to make it worth their while reletive to other possible uses of their labor. Its hard to know what that amount is because the agency has done a poor job of recruiting in that area. Moreover, the agency creates additional scarcity vis a vis their security requirements. So its probably true that pay should be higher, but its irellevant what an elevator repairman makes. Unfortunately, the govt does not do well in market pricing. But what they do offer is solid job security and that is enough for many folks. If you want to recruit a competant workforce, but are constrained by govt payscales, its time to try a contract. The contractors will solicit the market and the govt gets to evaluate their offerings for value (price vs competance). But in truth, the demographic they are seeking is a tough one. A lot of those folks are not interested and given the liguistic requirements, you are looking at mostly immigrants. Again, security investigations are the issue. Even if folks came out of the woodwork, getting through the security hoops will take quite a while.

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