Post by The Director of Mutant Affairs on Oct 18, 2008 20:32:49 GMT -6
DEPARTMENT OF MUTANT AFFAIRS:
An Overview:
The DMA was found in 2008 with the goal of further scientific exploration – the study, classification and prevention of mutative genes in the body’s DNA that cause physical and mental illnesses. This is indeed a goal that the U.S citizins understand and approve of – BUT that’s not the entire story.
In all actuality, the DMA does do these things – however as the incidence of certain classified prarnormal and extranorma events, the Department finds itself on the front line on the battle for humanity’s very future.
As one if the few groups capable of recongbizing and dealing paranaormal and extranormal threats, the Department takes an active role in protecting the interests of the human race.
The Department takes great precaustions to keeps its more unusual activities from coming into the public eye. To the general public, the DMA is a group of scientists and doctors that anylise disorders of the human DNA – but mental and physical also engage in research on psychic phenomena and other fringe topics.
Though the Department doesn’t appear to make a profit, many wonder how the organization gets funding to conduct such practices, In fact, due to the continuing practice of the occasional cross-purpose occurrence cooperation curtain organizations within the U.S. Government approrate funds to help DMA funding. This combined with private donations and also other low budgeted U.S Government funding.
HIERARCHY:
While the Department is hardly an example of fossilized bureaucracy, it does have an internal organization that most of its members rely on to route sensitive documents, pass decisions up the chain of command, set policy, and issue orders.
A division supervisor leads each of the five divisions, and these individuals report only to Director Nakamura. Department chiefs and field directors (or facility chiefs, in the case of the Administrative Division) make up the bulk of the "upper management" of the DMA.
Typically, the Department draws these individuals from ranks of agents, fellows, and researchers; however because turnover at high level is relatively slow, such promotions are few and far between, these individuals have greatly increased responsibility, but also enjoy access to the resources, materials, reports, and information that field agents simply don't ever see.
The agents, researchers, and fellows that comprise the bulk of the Department serve as the heart and soul of the organization. These brave men and women are sworn to secrecy and work in the most dangerous areas of espionage, and paranormal/extranormal research.
Recruits are exactly that: new recruits in the Department. Most recruits are supervised by a Facility chief in the Personnel department (see below), who review their work and distrubet the necessary information for fulfilling missions (which are typically straightforward information gathering operations). No one remains a recruit for more that a year; at that point, the Department either promotes the recruit to agent, research assistant, or secretarial member status. (depending on the division) or releases the recruit for employment.
SECRECY AND CLEARANCES:
Because if the dangers involved at all levels, the department takes its security and secrecy very seriously. In fact, anyone of recruit rank or higher must swear an oath of secrecy concerning the Department’s operation as a condition of their employment. (Those of auxiliary rank generally do not have any important secrets beyond their own task; however, nondisclosure agreements are common.) Employees who disobey Department policy find their security clearance revoked, their pay docked, or their duties suddenly involving routine assignments in out-of-the-way stations for a few months. In the worst case, agents who betray the Department by failing to live up to its exact standards may be assigned something called “permanent debriefing.” The stories told around the bunkers, labs, and office towers of agents who betrayed the Department’s trust are surely exaggerations [the story of the agent driven to madness by a concerted regime of psionic torture is a particular favorite], but no one doubts that the consequences for betrayal of Department secrets are dire indeed.
The Department classifies all information into one of five categories and expects its members to treat the information accordingly. In most cases, a large label or stamp shows the clearance of the document in questions.
• PUBLIC: Public information from the Department is published in various scholarly journals and disseminated by the Department’s press liaison. [TBA] The sum total of such information is very small and portrays the Department as a private research foundation pursuing both government and corporate grants and projects.
• CONFIDENTIAL: Confidential information is restricted to Department members and their trusted associates. It is not be shared with strangers but ca be freely discussed among members. Recruits have access to confidential information only when given it by their supervisors.
• CLASSIFIED: Classified information may only be discussed behind closed doors at the Department or in a secured location. All field directors have at least this level of clearance and many agents doo as well.
• SECRET: Secret information is discussed only within Department facilities. All department chiefs have at lease this level of clearance, though many field directors and agents in charge also have access to these materials
• TOP SECRET: Top Secret documents require retinal scans and pass codes to access from the Case Report Server (The Department computer archive; see below). Such documents are printed on distinctive yellow paper. All division supervisors and a few department chiefs have this level of clearance.
• EYES-ONLY: This designation is sometimes added to classified, Secret, or Top Secret documents when the originals are not to circulate, even from one Department office to another. Most Eyes-Only documents are stored on the case Report Server in a read-only format that makes printing and copying impossible; access requires a pass code, a retinal scan, and an authorization from a second Department member of as rank equal to or higher than that of the person requesting the information.
The Department keeps few Eyes-Only documents under slightly less rigid security; these can be printed on a special red paper designed to discourage photocopying. The printed documents are meant to be shown as part of a briefing, read, and then returned to their point of origin. NO Eyes-Only document may be kept for further study, copied, or even used for purpose of making notes.
INSTITUTE TRAINING:
Most agents can except to receive necessary training from the Department. For instance - the Department prefers that all agents working in the field have the following three broad skills: Unarmed Attack, Modern Ranged Weapons, and Investigate.
The Department provides qualified trainers for employees who desire to improve their skills. Agents training is free of charge and should be limited to skills appropriate for the employee' line of work (though training requests are rarely denied.)
DIVSIONS AND RESOURCES:
The Department has five primary divisions, each responsible for a different aspect of the Department’s overall goal: the Administrative Division, the Analytical Division, the Archives, the Intelligence Division, and the Special Division. Each division is centered in a different city or compound.
Director Nakamura leads the Administrative Council, a group of executives responsible for keeping the Department on track and out of the public eye. Certain branch directors are responsible for particular sensitive offices and affairs within the Department as well.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION:
The "suits" make policy, assign agents to specific cases, and authorized the use of force in difficult cases. More often, however they simply try to keep the rest of the Department on track and under Budget; most executives are equal parts bean counter and inspirational speaker.
Members of the Administrative Division often specialize in skills such as Administration, Business, Law, Security, and Teach.
Careers particularly suited to the Administrative Division include corporate security specialists, facilitator, military officer, police officer and soldier.
The same department oversees payroll, disbursement, expense reports, and all the other financial minutiae of modern business. The department is particularly resistant to all forms of bribery, administrative shortcuts, threats, and excuses.
• LEGAL: The Department does not maintain a large internal legal department; instead, it retains the small but aggressive firm of Marshall, Wickman, and Vanderdossen to supply its legal counsel. Based in Baltimore , the firm also has branches in New York , Houston , and Los Angeles .
• PERSONNEL: Responsible for recruiting new staff from all areas of society. Personnel performs background checks, psychological and physical testing, and surveillance to determine why is mentally and physically capable of performing the often unusual work required by the Department.
• SECURITY: The Security department of the DMA is second to none, and its members like to compare themselves to the Special Division (a group that Security department members tend to describe either in awed whispers or with jealous disdain.) They are rarely outsmarted and spend no small sums on security equipment and counterintelligence.
• Unlike the other departments in the Administrative Division, Security uses a title hierarchy identical with that used by the Intelligence and Special Divisions. Any Security department member with "agent" in their title can expect to perform occasional fieldwork as the muscle of a Department research team.
• TRAINING: This department has a two-fold job. First, the department keeps DMA members current on research and technology trends. It’s second (and less publicized, though more popular) responsibility is keeping operatives fresh. Toward the end, it often sends burned-out researchers on Special Division operatives on "training vacations" to warm, tropical locations where they can learn scuba diving and maybe even relax for a little while.
ANALYTICAL DIVISION:
A mix of pure research and applied or engineering oriented analysts makes up the "brains" of the Analytical Division. The division has different strengths in different cities, but the primary labs are based in Colorado Springs, Co. Members of the Analytical Division generally specialize in scientific and technical skills, including Computer Science, Life Science, Physical Science, System Operation, and Technical Science. Careers well suited to this division include doctor, forensics expert, gadgeteer, hacker, scientist, and xenoengineer.
ARCHIVES:
While those in other divisions may derisively refer to the members of this division as "the clerks", the Department archivists control all the data, research reports, patents, and classified information produced by the entire organization. Headquartered in Philadelphia .
The Archives itself is split into two departments: Documentation and Antiquities. The first deals with documents, and the second deals with creatures and objects recovered by Department agents.
Department members assigned to the Archives generally specialize in skills such as Computer Science, Knowledge-language, Investigate-research, and Social Science specialties.
Despite the negative connotations of membership in the Archives, trainees who enjoy traveling to distant locales should consider joining this division.
INTELLIGENCE DIVISION:
The "spooks" of the Intelligence Division operate out of Washington , D.C. , where they have many opportunities to work with or against members of the FBI, NSA, DOD, CIA and other intelligence-gathering groups. They include code breakers and burglars as well as the more traditional cloak-and-camera spies.
Because of the wide variety of activities undertaken by the Intelligence Division, many skills prove valuable to its members, including (but not limited to) Awareness, Computer Science, Deception, Interaction, Investigate, and Stealth. Careers appropriate to the Intelligence division include corporate security specialist, facilitator, filed agent, hacker, military officer, psi agent, and psychic.
Trainees particularly interested in intrigue will find a welcome home in this division, Between Image Acquisition, Observation, and Information Retrieval, Intelligence offers its members a wealth of opportunities to investigate their fellow agents. For that very reason, this division tends to be the most selective (outside of the Special Division) of potential agents. Information Retrieval: This department of the Intelligence Division is small, mobile, and rarely mentioned by Department members (its existence is Classified) The I-Retrieval members are believed to be ex-CIA and ex-DEA interrogators with experience in extracting information from drug lords’ terrorists, and other hardened criminals.
SPECIAL FORCES DIVISION:
The Department makes no effort to publicize the existence of the Special Division. DMA's officers and supervisors do not acknowledge it, and its members never appear on any organizational chart or even on phone lists. Many Special Division members are passed off as members of the Administration Division's security teams or as special researchers or spooks. Questions about their work are usually answered with a curt "I can't talk about that" Regardless, stories of their activities periodically make the rounds among agents., and if even half of the rumors are true, the Department is involved in a lot of very interesting activities, from back ops to wet works to contact with alien beings.
Many skills and careers are appropriate for the Special Division. However, very few starting trainees will find a place here, as the division tends to select experienced individuals over raw recruits.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD:
In addition to its “aboveground” legal options, the Department has a chain of several dozen retired members who provide safe housing and resources to Department staff on the run or otherwise in trouble.
Most of the time, the members of the network provide what help they can, then send the fugitive on their way. Sometimes they take extreme risks to help their successors or even join them temporarily in their work. However, nothing compels a retired Department member to take anyone into his home, especially someone who brings the threat of potential lethal pursuits along. More than anything else, the recruits’ reception depends on the nature of the group that presents itself at the safe house door.
DEPARTMENT ALLIES:
A number of groups are closely allied with the Department, ranging from grass roots UFO watchers to sophisticated corporate sponsors to sympathetic government agents. Some of these ties are closer than others, but all bring something valuable in exchange for the Department’s wealth of information, contacts, and experience.
The Department keeps its corporate friends in the dark about many of the Department’s real goals, allies, and methods. However, in exchange for the patent rights to certain limited technological and manufacturing advances, these corporate groups provide the Department with needed funds.
The United nations and other governmental organizations often request help from the Department when low –profile high-risk operations need to be undertaken but can’t stand the scrutiny of open debate, legislative wrangling over budgets, and an oversight committee. Indeed, many Department operations are UN-funded; the notoriously wasteful UN budget is in fact rather efficient. The supposedly wasted funds are usually transferred through a variety of financial shenanigans into the coffers of the Department, the CDC quarantine teams, NASA, certain paramilitary organizations, and other groups the UN deems useful to its mission.
An Overview:
The DMA was found in 2008 with the goal of further scientific exploration – the study, classification and prevention of mutative genes in the body’s DNA that cause physical and mental illnesses. This is indeed a goal that the U.S citizins understand and approve of – BUT that’s not the entire story.
In all actuality, the DMA does do these things – however as the incidence of certain classified prarnormal and extranorma events, the Department finds itself on the front line on the battle for humanity’s very future.
As one if the few groups capable of recongbizing and dealing paranaormal and extranormal threats, the Department takes an active role in protecting the interests of the human race.
The Department takes great precaustions to keeps its more unusual activities from coming into the public eye. To the general public, the DMA is a group of scientists and doctors that anylise disorders of the human DNA – but mental and physical also engage in research on psychic phenomena and other fringe topics.
Though the Department doesn’t appear to make a profit, many wonder how the organization gets funding to conduct such practices, In fact, due to the continuing practice of the occasional cross-purpose occurrence cooperation curtain organizations within the U.S. Government approrate funds to help DMA funding. This combined with private donations and also other low budgeted U.S Government funding.
HIERARCHY:
While the Department is hardly an example of fossilized bureaucracy, it does have an internal organization that most of its members rely on to route sensitive documents, pass decisions up the chain of command, set policy, and issue orders.
A division supervisor leads each of the five divisions, and these individuals report only to Director Nakamura. Department chiefs and field directors (or facility chiefs, in the case of the Administrative Division) make up the bulk of the "upper management" of the DMA.
Typically, the Department draws these individuals from ranks of agents, fellows, and researchers; however because turnover at high level is relatively slow, such promotions are few and far between, these individuals have greatly increased responsibility, but also enjoy access to the resources, materials, reports, and information that field agents simply don't ever see.
The agents, researchers, and fellows that comprise the bulk of the Department serve as the heart and soul of the organization. These brave men and women are sworn to secrecy and work in the most dangerous areas of espionage, and paranormal/extranormal research.
Recruits are exactly that: new recruits in the Department. Most recruits are supervised by a Facility chief in the Personnel department (see below), who review their work and distrubet the necessary information for fulfilling missions (which are typically straightforward information gathering operations). No one remains a recruit for more that a year; at that point, the Department either promotes the recruit to agent, research assistant, or secretarial member status. (depending on the division) or releases the recruit for employment.
SECRECY AND CLEARANCES:
Because if the dangers involved at all levels, the department takes its security and secrecy very seriously. In fact, anyone of recruit rank or higher must swear an oath of secrecy concerning the Department’s operation as a condition of their employment. (Those of auxiliary rank generally do not have any important secrets beyond their own task; however, nondisclosure agreements are common.) Employees who disobey Department policy find their security clearance revoked, their pay docked, or their duties suddenly involving routine assignments in out-of-the-way stations for a few months. In the worst case, agents who betray the Department by failing to live up to its exact standards may be assigned something called “permanent debriefing.” The stories told around the bunkers, labs, and office towers of agents who betrayed the Department’s trust are surely exaggerations [the story of the agent driven to madness by a concerted regime of psionic torture is a particular favorite], but no one doubts that the consequences for betrayal of Department secrets are dire indeed.
The Department classifies all information into one of five categories and expects its members to treat the information accordingly. In most cases, a large label or stamp shows the clearance of the document in questions.
• PUBLIC: Public information from the Department is published in various scholarly journals and disseminated by the Department’s press liaison. [TBA] The sum total of such information is very small and portrays the Department as a private research foundation pursuing both government and corporate grants and projects.
• CONFIDENTIAL: Confidential information is restricted to Department members and their trusted associates. It is not be shared with strangers but ca be freely discussed among members. Recruits have access to confidential information only when given it by their supervisors.
• CLASSIFIED: Classified information may only be discussed behind closed doors at the Department or in a secured location. All field directors have at least this level of clearance and many agents doo as well.
• SECRET: Secret information is discussed only within Department facilities. All department chiefs have at lease this level of clearance, though many field directors and agents in charge also have access to these materials
• TOP SECRET: Top Secret documents require retinal scans and pass codes to access from the Case Report Server (The Department computer archive; see below). Such documents are printed on distinctive yellow paper. All division supervisors and a few department chiefs have this level of clearance.
• EYES-ONLY: This designation is sometimes added to classified, Secret, or Top Secret documents when the originals are not to circulate, even from one Department office to another. Most Eyes-Only documents are stored on the case Report Server in a read-only format that makes printing and copying impossible; access requires a pass code, a retinal scan, and an authorization from a second Department member of as rank equal to or higher than that of the person requesting the information.
The Department keeps few Eyes-Only documents under slightly less rigid security; these can be printed on a special red paper designed to discourage photocopying. The printed documents are meant to be shown as part of a briefing, read, and then returned to their point of origin. NO Eyes-Only document may be kept for further study, copied, or even used for purpose of making notes.
INSTITUTE TRAINING:
Most agents can except to receive necessary training from the Department. For instance - the Department prefers that all agents working in the field have the following three broad skills: Unarmed Attack, Modern Ranged Weapons, and Investigate.
The Department provides qualified trainers for employees who desire to improve their skills. Agents training is free of charge and should be limited to skills appropriate for the employee' line of work (though training requests are rarely denied.)
DIVSIONS AND RESOURCES:
The Department has five primary divisions, each responsible for a different aspect of the Department’s overall goal: the Administrative Division, the Analytical Division, the Archives, the Intelligence Division, and the Special Division. Each division is centered in a different city or compound.
Director Nakamura leads the Administrative Council, a group of executives responsible for keeping the Department on track and out of the public eye. Certain branch directors are responsible for particular sensitive offices and affairs within the Department as well.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION:
The "suits" make policy, assign agents to specific cases, and authorized the use of force in difficult cases. More often, however they simply try to keep the rest of the Department on track and under Budget; most executives are equal parts bean counter and inspirational speaker.
Members of the Administrative Division often specialize in skills such as Administration, Business, Law, Security, and Teach.
Careers particularly suited to the Administrative Division include corporate security specialists, facilitator, military officer, police officer and soldier.
The same department oversees payroll, disbursement, expense reports, and all the other financial minutiae of modern business. The department is particularly resistant to all forms of bribery, administrative shortcuts, threats, and excuses.
• LEGAL: The Department does not maintain a large internal legal department; instead, it retains the small but aggressive firm of Marshall, Wickman, and Vanderdossen to supply its legal counsel. Based in Baltimore , the firm also has branches in New York , Houston , and Los Angeles .
• PERSONNEL: Responsible for recruiting new staff from all areas of society. Personnel performs background checks, psychological and physical testing, and surveillance to determine why is mentally and physically capable of performing the often unusual work required by the Department.
• SECURITY: The Security department of the DMA is second to none, and its members like to compare themselves to the Special Division (a group that Security department members tend to describe either in awed whispers or with jealous disdain.) They are rarely outsmarted and spend no small sums on security equipment and counterintelligence.
• Unlike the other departments in the Administrative Division, Security uses a title hierarchy identical with that used by the Intelligence and Special Divisions. Any Security department member with "agent" in their title can expect to perform occasional fieldwork as the muscle of a Department research team.
• TRAINING: This department has a two-fold job. First, the department keeps DMA members current on research and technology trends. It’s second (and less publicized, though more popular) responsibility is keeping operatives fresh. Toward the end, it often sends burned-out researchers on Special Division operatives on "training vacations" to warm, tropical locations where they can learn scuba diving and maybe even relax for a little while.
ANALYTICAL DIVISION:
A mix of pure research and applied or engineering oriented analysts makes up the "brains" of the Analytical Division. The division has different strengths in different cities, but the primary labs are based in Colorado Springs, Co. Members of the Analytical Division generally specialize in scientific and technical skills, including Computer Science, Life Science, Physical Science, System Operation, and Technical Science. Careers well suited to this division include doctor, forensics expert, gadgeteer, hacker, scientist, and xenoengineer.
ARCHIVES:
While those in other divisions may derisively refer to the members of this division as "the clerks", the Department archivists control all the data, research reports, patents, and classified information produced by the entire organization. Headquartered in Philadelphia .
The Archives itself is split into two departments: Documentation and Antiquities. The first deals with documents, and the second deals with creatures and objects recovered by Department agents.
Department members assigned to the Archives generally specialize in skills such as Computer Science, Knowledge-language, Investigate-research, and Social Science specialties.
Despite the negative connotations of membership in the Archives, trainees who enjoy traveling to distant locales should consider joining this division.
INTELLIGENCE DIVISION:
The "spooks" of the Intelligence Division operate out of Washington , D.C. , where they have many opportunities to work with or against members of the FBI, NSA, DOD, CIA and other intelligence-gathering groups. They include code breakers and burglars as well as the more traditional cloak-and-camera spies.
Because of the wide variety of activities undertaken by the Intelligence Division, many skills prove valuable to its members, including (but not limited to) Awareness, Computer Science, Deception, Interaction, Investigate, and Stealth. Careers appropriate to the Intelligence division include corporate security specialist, facilitator, filed agent, hacker, military officer, psi agent, and psychic.
Trainees particularly interested in intrigue will find a welcome home in this division, Between Image Acquisition, Observation, and Information Retrieval, Intelligence offers its members a wealth of opportunities to investigate their fellow agents. For that very reason, this division tends to be the most selective (outside of the Special Division) of potential agents. Information Retrieval: This department of the Intelligence Division is small, mobile, and rarely mentioned by Department members (its existence is Classified) The I-Retrieval members are believed to be ex-CIA and ex-DEA interrogators with experience in extracting information from drug lords’ terrorists, and other hardened criminals.
SPECIAL FORCES DIVISION:
The Department makes no effort to publicize the existence of the Special Division. DMA's officers and supervisors do not acknowledge it, and its members never appear on any organizational chart or even on phone lists. Many Special Division members are passed off as members of the Administration Division's security teams or as special researchers or spooks. Questions about their work are usually answered with a curt "I can't talk about that" Regardless, stories of their activities periodically make the rounds among agents., and if even half of the rumors are true, the Department is involved in a lot of very interesting activities, from back ops to wet works to contact with alien beings.
Many skills and careers are appropriate for the Special Division. However, very few starting trainees will find a place here, as the division tends to select experienced individuals over raw recruits.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD:
In addition to its “aboveground” legal options, the Department has a chain of several dozen retired members who provide safe housing and resources to Department staff on the run or otherwise in trouble.
Most of the time, the members of the network provide what help they can, then send the fugitive on their way. Sometimes they take extreme risks to help their successors or even join them temporarily in their work. However, nothing compels a retired Department member to take anyone into his home, especially someone who brings the threat of potential lethal pursuits along. More than anything else, the recruits’ reception depends on the nature of the group that presents itself at the safe house door.
DEPARTMENT ALLIES:
A number of groups are closely allied with the Department, ranging from grass roots UFO watchers to sophisticated corporate sponsors to sympathetic government agents. Some of these ties are closer than others, but all bring something valuable in exchange for the Department’s wealth of information, contacts, and experience.
The Department keeps its corporate friends in the dark about many of the Department’s real goals, allies, and methods. However, in exchange for the patent rights to certain limited technological and manufacturing advances, these corporate groups provide the Department with needed funds.
The United nations and other governmental organizations often request help from the Department when low –profile high-risk operations need to be undertaken but can’t stand the scrutiny of open debate, legislative wrangling over budgets, and an oversight committee. Indeed, many Department operations are UN-funded; the notoriously wasteful UN budget is in fact rather efficient. The supposedly wasted funds are usually transferred through a variety of financial shenanigans into the coffers of the Department, the CDC quarantine teams, NASA, certain paramilitary organizations, and other groups the UN deems useful to its mission.