Former CIA Case Officer Reveals What Life Is Really Like Inside the Agency

Fast cars, fancy clothes, beautiful women, secret objectives and secret operations. It was all in a day’s work for the elites and mysterious beings who were summoned to be spies. Or at least that’s what James Bond would have us believe.

But if you’re hoping to join the CIA and live the high life, you’ll probably be sorely disappointed. The reality seems far from what 007 and others portray. In fact, you may find yourself driving a Prius, earning an average salary, deployed to a war zone for months on end, and wondering why your childhood dream of being the next 007 never came true.

A former Central Intelligence Case Officer has given the public a rare and authentic glimpse into his career, inviting people online to ask him anything. Douglas Laux is the author of the memoir Left from Explosion: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated That Taliban And Al–Qaeda, and the question and answer session received more than 3,000 comments.

Bored Panda has put together the best questions and answers to set the record straight about what life at the CIA is really like. Spoiler alert: Hollywood has lied to us.