Gray Fox was a strange animal. Formed in 1981, it specialized in gathering human and signals intelligence for the Pentagon under the most challenging of circumstances, often working with Delta’s aviation squadron to get behind enemy lines. It had about 200-250 operators, divided into squadrons. Many, but by no means all, of the operators were drawn from Special Forces, because of SF soldiers’ reputation for self-sufficiency and independence. During the war in Afghanistan, Gray Fox worked directly for CENTCOM, which attached Gray Fox personnel to AFO from the start of the conflict.
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda
Shaw will scoff at being identified as a CIA operative.
Intelligence Support Activity or the Activity is a Military intelligence organization based in the Pentagon. (Granted in the POIverse they might be more paramilitary).
Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intellgence agency. The CIA is based in Langley, while John Reese and Kara Stanton are in the Special Activities Division (aka covert ops and wetwork).
The ISA are primarily known for intelligence gathering and direct action. Supposedly they go in before Delta or Rangers or any spec ops. They are also known to recruit operatives both men and women with dual passports (operatives who are most likely second generation American).
The ISA’s motto is Veritas Omnia Vincula Vincit (“Truth Overcomes All Chains”) or Send Me.
If anyone needs more information about the Activity I have a resource post for both fictional ISA and real world ISA.
The ISA’s first entry in the POI-verse is in ‘No Good Deed’ with Henry Peck, an NSA Analyst who asked one too many questions and brought him that much closer to the Machine.
In terms of hierarchy in the ISA-- the ISA teams under Special Counsel seem to have only one mandate: keep the Machine a secret. These three man Activity team under Special Counsel doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Northern Lights or with Control’s Catalyst teams (i.e. Shaw, Cole, Grice, Brooks, etc.,).
This also confirms (to me) Control only loaned Hersh’s service to Special Counsel but he answers directly to Control.
The Activity operators under Hersh don’t know the reason behind their missions, unlike the Operators in the Catalyst teams (at least in Research 1.0 -- The Machine era). Since Shaw, Cole, Grice, Brooks, etc., know exactly what their mandate was and why. They have the luxury of getting to investigate their targets before playing judge, jury, and executioner.
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Alicia Corwin used to work for the National Security Counsel and at the last time Alicia met Nathan, seemed troubled about something to do with the Machine, possibly how Control outline suppressing information about the Machine.
Also, showing their work: The CIA are forbidden to work on American soil, which is why Mark Snow had the sloppy CIA-drug king pin killed, because he was caught.
The Activity, on the other hand, are an elite military unit under JSOC and while they’re covert ops (black ops?) technically that means they can also operate domestically.
I wonder what career track Control would have to become the Director of Intelligence Support Activity?
Control’s office is located in the Pentagon, so that must mean in POI’s ISA is also still under JSOC like in Real Life?
Control doesn’t strike me as just a Case Officer, it seemed more like she was also an Operator/Agent (which ever term it is that means she worked the field). I wonder if she has the same career track as Madam Secretary’s Elizabeth McCord?
The Intelligence Support Activity, an obscure unit that does black-ops so dark, technically they don't exist
Control and her Operatives: Shiffman (Research), Stroble (Command), Devon Grice (Crimson Six Alpha), Brooks (Crimson Six Bravo), and Viridian Nine (aka Sarah Shahi's stunt double Nitasha Bhambree).
As I mentioned in my initial reactions Shaw's former agency, The ISA remains one of the most diverse Intel Ops team in the POI verse. And its really fantastic that they're really deliberately casting that way, especially after reading ISA's history where it was one of the first Military Intelligence outfits that goes out of its way to recruit women and people from different ethnicities.
Just like with Sarah who is Persian American, and the show made Sameen Shaw Persian American, I'm going to headcanon Devon Grice just like his actor who is Lebanese American.
Then there's Shiffman, and the man in command ops in the truck. And all the various women in Control's Catalyst team.
I can see why Shaw was very comfortable within the Catalyst Team.
I gather in POI verse the Activity are badasses. They were trained to be self sufficient but, I guess there's a certain hierarchy in the Activity.
There's the ISA Tac Team, which I guess are not so high up the chain, then there's Fox from (No Good Deed) and the other two men with him, which I think are not part of the Catalyst Teams since they didn't know anything about why they were sent out to kill Henry Peck.
The Catalyst Teams (Indigos and the Crimsons) are responsible for working the Numbers provided by the Machine, and recently, Samaritan are more cognizant about their mission, that what they do are counterterrorism. I mean, they know it more, especially during the time with the Machine since the Catalyst Teams were tasked to investigate, gather intel, and provide direct action when it necessitates it.
Also, I'm getting from this is that while Cole was the 'knob turner', Cole was a badass in his own way its just that Shaw was the 'Shooter' in the role and that wasn't what he specialized in.
Motto: Veritas Omnia Vincula Vincit ("Truth Overcomes All Chains") or Send Me
This is purely for fic writing purposes sources: wikipedia and Killer Elite
Intelligence Support Activity, nicknamed the Activity is a US Army Intelligence special operations unit responsible for collecting intel for other US special operations forces. The Activity's conception came about because of the debacle that happened in 1980 when the military failed to save 53 American hostages in Tehran.
The lack of communications between the CIA and the military resulted in a catastrophic military operation costing a lot of lives and causing a major embarrassment for the US. The Activity was set up "as a dedicated special operations intelligence unit combining various disciplines: signals intelligence, imagery intelligence, and human intelligence, specifically matching the product to special operations requirements."
In other words, The Activity was set up to fill in the crucial Intelligence gap that the CIA failed (or refused) to provide the military.
Because of this, The Activity was also established and carefully hidden from the bureaucracy and most of their budget were siphoned off legitimate military operations.
Since The Activity's missions often led them away from American soil they recruited volunteer soldiers from diverse ethnicities from the Middle East, Asians and Hispanic ‘soldiers with dual nationality who would have a genuine non-US dual passport they could use in undercover operations’.
The other novelty of The Activity is that they was no sexual discrimination. 'The unit commanders concluded very early on that some women, with proper training, could get away with a lot more than men.'
"Women went through the same program as men."
The Activity looked for people who were skilled linguists, computer hackers, and communications experts, and men who had proven themselves in low intensity combat operations.
Each person who joined were told they might not get promoted again and would not receive any official recognition, not even for acts of valor.
"Training is among the most intensive in the US Army," the top secret history said. It began with Assessment and Selection, known simply as A&S. This was a ‘rigorous program designed to place the candidate for assignment to US Army Intelligence and Support Activity in a sufficient number of different physically and mentally stressful situations [snip]. Unlike regular units a training schedule was never posted."
First the volunteers were dumped in the middle of the desert with no food, water or means of communication and handed a list of near impossible intelligence requests. They had to gather the ‘intel’ and find a secure way of passing it back to the command post. Having done that, they were forced to go without sleep for several days before being dropped off in a strange city and ordered to carry out a series of complicated operations that would test their fieldcraft and ingenuity, like following a suspect while avoiding other agents who were on the trail.
'Physical condition was secondary to mental ability, especially mental toughness and determination,' one former member said. 'Admittedly, assessment required a certain level of physical conditioning. ISA teams were routinely able to cover up to 50 miles in 24 hours.'
Once they had passed A&S, the volunteers were put through the main course. It included survival skills, parachuting, weapons training and espionage tradecraft such as agent running.
Training continued throughout the operator's time with the unit, which repeatedly carried out rehearsals and exercises to test its various capabilities, with the emphasis on the ability to adapt to any given situations.
(Note: One of the things The Activity operators were taught was parachuting, specifically a specialized kind of parachuting called: High Altitude, High Open. Supposedly-- taken with a large grain of salt-- in a competition between units, The Activity Operators kicked Delta's ass in the parachuting competition and they were never invited again.
According to wiki, High Altitude, High Open parachuting are used for covert insertions.)
The moment a volunteer becomes an Activity operator ‘their names disappeared from the listings of servicemen and -women. From the time they joined the ISA until they left, their names only show up on the Army Special Roster, which lists members of top secret units like Delta and the Activity’.
Once the Activity was up and running the Activity was made to operate as a stand alone special missions unit. The Activity has their own team of special operations commandos (shooters) trained to carry out direct action, and they also have 'knob-turners' electronic surveillance team tasked to monitor radio communications, bug telephones and collect signals intelligence (Sigint).
The Activity Operators also seldom wore uniforms, and only wore them when the occasion called for it.
Other elite units called The Activity as the 'Secret Army of Northern Virginia' because of its closeness of its base to Washington and the Pentagon.
Relevant to Person of Interest
According to John Reese in the POI-verse The Intelligence Support Activity ' is an obscure unit that does black-ops so dark, technically they don't exist.'
It seemed that the decision to cast Sarah Shahi (Sameen Shaw) and Nick Tarabay (Devon Grice) both actors of mixed heritage (Persian American for Shahi and Lebanese American for Tarabay) were deliberate, or at least, a happy accident.
Since most of the Activity operations are done outside of US soil and they require people who are multilingual. They also recruit computer hackers or anyone who is an expert in signals intelligences since according to 'Killer Elite' a large bulk of Activity Operators, are what they call 'knob turners'.
It’s also accurate that the Activity recruit women as opposed to other elite units.
Shaw, Cole, Grice, and Brooks would have undergone A&S where they would be left in the desert with no food or water and gather intel while trying to beat other volunteers who want to join the unit.
Based on the training above Shaw and the others would know a little or maybe even specialized in: High Altitude, High Open parachuting; tradecraft, and weapons training.
The Activity Operators are trained to be a self sufficient unit and to enter a hostile environment before special operations units like Delta and the US Rangers, they gather intel and are supposed to blend in with the people, which is why the Activity's recruit soldiers from a wide set of ethnicities.
