Defense Intelligence Agency in popular culture
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The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is a military espionage organization of the United States and one of the country's national-level intelligence agencies under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Less known than its non-DoD equivalent or its cryptologic counterpart,[1] the DIA and its personnel have at times been portrayed in works of American popular culture. As with other U.S. foreign intelligence organizations, the agency's role has occasionally been confused with those of law enforcement agencies.
Television[edit]
- Season 2: Jill Hennessy plays the recurring role of Jane Fellows, a DIA handler carrying out recruitment of Russian students.[2]
- Embassy Row – Annie Walker runs into Ryan McQuaid at the Russian Embassy Ball, where he is secretly trying to buy Russian helicopters for DIA, which the agency intends to use in areas where American-made helicopters would attract too much attention.
- "Admiral's Daughter" – Daughter of Admiral Kendall, Amanda, works for DIA's Defense Clandestine Service (DCS) under a cover identity of a "party girl", which unsettles her unsuspecting father.
- "Better Angels" – the episode revolves around an investigation into the death of Michael Dawson, an employee of Defense Clandestine Service (DCS), and whether DCS had anything to do with the incident.
- "Tell-All" – commander Patrick Casey is discovered dead, along with his DIA ID and a codeword written in his own blood. The NCIS investigation is hampered by DIA's secrecy and attempts to conceal national security information.
- "Need To Know" – a DIA operative George Roca comes in conflict with investigators from NCIS, who are not let on a sensitive DIA operation.
- "Ex-File" – a DIA employee working on highly classified project finds her husband killed; the DIA sends a team to accompany the NCIS investigators due to the possibility that they may come in contact with classified information.
- NCIS Los Angeles – Hetty Lange, played by Linda Hunt, the operations manager at the NCIS office in Los Angeles, formerly served with DIA and earned an Award of Merit at the agency
- NCIS: Hawaiʻi - Kate Whistler, portrayed by Tori Anderson, a special agent on detail from DIA to NCIS.
- Season 5 – involves a rogue DIA psychiatrist, Anson Fullerton, (Jere Burns), who turns out to be a murderer and a spy bent on blackmailing Michael Westen into doing his dirty work. Fullerton is responsible for burning Westen and is the founder of the Organization which serves as the main villainous group in the series.
- Burn Notice – during one of the operations, Michael Westen burns and later befriends a counterintelligence officer Jesse Porter, who used to work for the Counterintelligence Field Activity, an entity incorporated into DIA at the time. Porter works with Westen throughout the rest of the series.
- "Patient Zero" – Defense Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Greg Carter inadvertently causes a deadly virus outbreak as a result of DIA's illegal bioweapons research.
- "The Event Horizon" – Alexander Hatcher is a former DIA field operative who, during his service with the agency in 1980s, began research on a secret Iranian sleeper agent project titled "The Flood". He is murdered, placing "The Flood" under spotlight.
- Lost – Kelvin Inman, a member of the Dharma Initiative, is a former DIA officer
- 24 (season 8) – Jason Pillar, a former DIA deputy director, serves as Charles Logan's executive assistant in season 8 of 24.
- E-Ring – DIA was often featured as the provider of intelligence to senior DoD decision-makers who are housed in the E-ring of the Pentagon
- The Brave - A DIA analytical team featured as one of two teams (alongside United States special operations forces) in defending the United States. DIA provides intelligence support to the special forces in covert missions in hostile environments.
Film[edit]
- American Sniper – Eric Close plays the role of a DIA operative.[3]
- The Equalizer and The Equalizer 2 - Denzel Washington portrays Robert McCall and Pedro Pascal portrays Dave York, both DIA operatives
- The Men Who Stare at Goats – features Dean Hopgood (Stephen Lang), a DIA brigadier general who takes interest in the paranormal and recommends the start of military research into psychic phenomena. Based on an actual DIA research into extrasensory perception named Stargate Project.[4]
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith – the Smiths' come into conflict when they are both assigned to kill Benjamin "The Tank" Danz (Adam Brody), a DIA prisoner being transferred by the agency to the FBI.
- Spies Like Us – the agency sends two of its expendable agents – played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd – into Soviet Central Asia to act as decoys for a more potent DIA team.
- Safe House – revolves around a struggle between an ex-DIA agent and his former DIA boss, who is running for president.
- Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever – a son of DIA director is kidnapped by a former DIA agent played by Lucy Liu.
- Jane Doe – Rob Lowe plays a DIA agent.
- Gemini Man (2019 film) – Will Smith plays Henry Brogan, a DIA assassin, who is hunted by his clone acting on orders from a DIA contractor (Clive Owen). Benedict Wong is a retired DIA officer. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays a DIA case officer tasked with monitoring Brogan.
Video games[edit]
- Metal Gear – two characters in the Metal Gear franchise, Nastasha Romanenko and Richard Ames, served as DIA operatives.
- Fallout 4 - an abandoned fictional DIA facility is featured in the game as a former base of the Railroad, one of the factions. Furthermore, a robot, programmed originally by the DIA and taken from the aforementioned facility, is using mathematical calculations to predict the outcome of situations said faction is involved in.
Tabletop roleplaying games[edit]
- Delta Green - the DIA is one of the government agencies player characters can be part of. Characters are intelligence analysts, military attachés or instructors for the defense intelligence college. The 2019 sourcebook The Complex also adds the options of members of the Defense Clandestine Service.
- Twilight 2000 – a World War III role-playing game that features the US government after a nuclear strike. This causes the Continuity of Operations (COOP) to collapse with no clearly legitimate US government in powers. Regions and military units divide between a Civilian-led government (Civgov) of questionable authority and a Military-led government (Milgov) with no civilian control over them. Likewise the CIA pledges allegiance to the Civgov while the DIA becomes the Milgov's equivalent to the CIA.
Fiction[edit]
- Area 7 – A cryptanalyst working for the DIA foils two plans in the novel, involving a vaccine against a highly-lethal biological weapon known as the Sinovirus.
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon – DIA recruits a Chinese official, who is eventually exposed and killed in a staged robbery before the DIA extracts him.
- Brotherhood of War – features Sanford "Sandy" Felter, a military officer who is involved in intelligence work throughout his career. In the epilogue of The Generals it is stated that Felter reaches the rank of lieutenant general, and ends his career as Director of the DIA
- The Pitt – features a DIA officer who investigates the accidental destruction of the city of Pittsburgh.
See also[edit]
- Central Intelligence Agency in fiction
- Federal Bureau of Investigation portrayal in media
- National Security Agency in popular culture
- List of intelligence agencies
- List of intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom
- List of fictional espionage organizations
- List of police television dramas
- LAPD in popular culture
- NYPD list of fictional portrayals
- Seattle PD in popular culture
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police # Popular awareness
References[edit]
- ↑ Editor's Note : History of the Defense Intelligence Agency Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. The Intelligencer. Association of Former Intelligence Officers, 2011.
- ↑ Season 2: Episode 1 - The Show Must Go On, CBS, Retrieved: 3/23/2016
- ↑ Bradley Cooper's Dramatic Transformation to Play a Navy SEAL: He's Gained 40 Pounds!
- ↑ Dargis, Manohla. Mission Mind Control in Defense of America, The New York Times, November 5, 2009
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