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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Spying 101: US Wants Colleges to Train 007s

Spying 101 plan aims to mold future intelligence officers

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(Newser) – It's like a cloak-and-dagger version of ROTC. The government wants universities to help train the next generation of spies, the Washington Post reports. The proposed program would recruit first- and second-generation students from diverse ethnic backgrounds, the Mideast and Asia in particular, and run them through a specialized set of courses to prepare them for their covert careers.

Under the plan, potential intelligence officers would be recruited from juniors and sophomores and required to pass a background check. Colleges would get grants to boost foreign language and analytic courses useful to spies-in-training, and the recruits would get financial aid in return for a commitment to serve a set period of time. The names of students taking part in the program would, of course, be kept top secret.

The government plans to offer grants to universities offering language, scientific, and technical courses key to its spy training program.
The government plans to offer grants to universities offering language, scientific, and technical courses key to its spy training program.   (Flickr)
Unlike the military's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, intelligence agencies plan to recruit sophomores and juniors instead of freshmen.
Unlike the military's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, intelligence agencies plan to recruit sophomores and juniors instead of freshmen.   (Shutter Stock)
Spying 101, coming to a campus near you.
Spying 101, coming to a campus near you.   (Shutter Stock)
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11 comments
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Fondue
Jun 20, 09 9:40 AM CDT
Awesome Reply
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+1
Alexandria
Jun 20, 09 9:56 AM CDT
That sounds awesome, to be honest. I'd love to do that. Reply
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+1
manbearwire
Jun 20, 09 10:48 AM CDT
I don't think you want your future CIA ops knowing they're future CIA ops while they're bonging beers in the frat house. College students just aren't mature enough yet in American society to have the capacity for the mission. I'm a college student, and I certainly wouldn't think of myself as mature enough. Reply
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Deebles
Jun 20, 09 2:26 PM CDT
You sound mature enough to me. Besides, how mature do you have to be to ignore the cell phone calls to Osama's wives ordering them home on 9/8/01? I think that the CIA is realizing that you can teach an American Farsi, but he or she still sticks out like a sore thumb. It's like the Mossad, which trains the greatest agents, but has the toughest accountants. Their agents complain that they're always spotted because they're the only ones requesting a receipt for a cup of coffee.
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paul123
Jun 20, 09 11:00 AM CDT
can we have a bond girl school too? Reply
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