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Its portrayal in the show may differ significantly from its real-world counterpart. |
| Name | Intelligence Support Activity |
| First Appearance | “No Good Deed” |
| Latest Appearance | “YHWH” |
| Leader | Control (Missing) |
| Purpose | Maintain National Security |
| Connection | The Machine |
| Status | Unknown |
The U.S. Army Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) is a special operations unit that collects "actionable" intelligence in preparation for activities by other special operations units, particularly those related to counter-terrorism missions. Elements of the unit were involved in intelligence gathering and analysis prior to the killing of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, the capture of Saddam Hussein and the mission which resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden. ISA missions are generally identified by two-word code names. Famously, the mission that included Hussein's capture was known as Grey Fox.
The ISA on Person of Interest[]
The ISA's main task is to eliminate threats to national security. According to Reese, it is "an obscure unit that does black-ops so dark, technically they don't exist". (“No Good Deed”)
Budget[]
The ISA has a budget that stretches back over several years. Large amounts of it were coded to "Northern Lights". A project that included the Machine's development and the construction, led by Daniel Aquino, of a facility to house it. This, along with the ISA's operations comprise the "Program". (“Relevance”) It is later used to pay Decima for access to Samaritan.
Research[]
"Research" is the program's codename for the Machine. It sends the ISA the Social Security numbers of persons of threats relevant to national security. ISA Operatives aren't told of the true nature of "Research" and speculate the numbers originate in Guantanamo or other places after torture. As far as they are concerned, "Research" is a secret group working out of an unknown location.
Research 2.0[]
After the government is forced to officially sever ties with the Machine, Samaritan replaces it, creating Research 2.0 in collaboration with Decima. (“Proteus”)(“Honor Among Thieves”) The information Samaritan gives is far more comprehensive and operatives can access it from a mainframe inside the Pentagon. Therefore, operatives are simply given action orders, green-lit by Control, and investigation on their behalf isn't needed. Samaritan has on several occasions influenced the ISA to further its goals: on one occasion, it changes to objectives of ISA operatives to secure a lethal virus (“Honor Among Thieves”) and on another, it manipulated information to frame innocent men it wanted dead, as terrorists. (“Control-Alt-Delete”)
Worldmapper Travel[]
ISA operatives are assigned travel itineraries by a travel agency named Worldmapper Travel. A storefront is kept for the travel agency named and run by a man named Foster. Because he assigns itineraries, Foster knows the location of all ISA teams. (“4C”)
History[]
The Intelligence Support Activity , or "The Activity", is a special military unit in the US Army. They are tasked to collect actionable intelligence in advance of missions by other US special operations forces, especially Delta Force and SEAL Team Six.
2010[]
- The ISA sent their new operative Sameen Shaw to kill Rick Dillinger and intercept the Ordos Laptop. (“RAM”)
2011[]
- The ISA sent Indigo 5 operatives Sameen Shaw and Michael Cole to San Jose and ordered them to assassinate Daniel Aquino. (“Relevance”)
2012[]
- The ISA sent a team led by Fox to kill Henry Peck and destroy any evidence of the Machine he discovered. The team was stopped by Reese.(“No Good Deed”)
- Hersh is sent to the 8th Precinct to foil the investigation into Alicia Corwin's death. (“The Contingency”)
- They sent ISA operatives to dispose of Denton Weeks's body after Root murdered him. (“Bad Code”)
2013[]
- The ISA sent Sameen Shaw (and possibly Cole as well) to stop a terrorist near a school in Georgetown, Washington, DC. (“A House Divided”)
- The ISA sent Indigo 5 operatives to take care of a group of terrorists in Germany. (“Relevance”)
- The ISA sent a team to kill Shaw and Cole after the latter became suspicious of numbers they had received from "Research", had started making inquiries and had discovered Aquino had been framed. The team attacked the two after they had been set up by Wilson. Cole was killed and Shaw was shot but aided by Reese, survived. (“Relevance”)
- The ISA sent operative Indigo 6A to kill Owen Matthews while he was traveling in a commercial jet. The operative was stopped by Reese. (“4C”)
2014[]
- The ISA conducted direct operations against Vigilance and Decima Technologies.(“Deus Ex Machina”)
- The program was temporarily suspended by Control upon the disclosure of Northern Lights to the general public.
- The ISA sent Crimson 6 operatives Grice and Brooks to eliminate targets based on actionable intelligence from Samaritan. After Samaritan wouldn't let her access a target's laptop, Control senses she isn't being shown the bigger picture, and, after dropping of the grid, amends Grice and Brook's orders via satellite phone and tasks them with retrieving the laptop. After Grice obtains the laptop, Samaritan has it self-destruct, melting it and rendering its contents irretrievable. (“Control-Alt-Delete”)
2015[]
- Control comes to believe she's being kept in the dark about Samaritan's operations and, after questioning Tyler, one of her former most loyal agents, kidnaps and interrogates Shelly, his handler, and discovers Samaritan has planned a mass-casualty event called "The Correction". She doesn't, however, know what it will be. (“Asylum”)
- Unable to convince Ross Garrison that Samaritan poses a threat, that Greer is about to make a power-play and that they should go back to using the Machine, Control clones Garrison's phone. (“YHWH”)
- After obtaining the information from Shelly which points to an imminent attack, Control tries to obtain threat assessments regarding Washington, D.C. and Samaritan briefly refuses to provide the information, leading Shiffmann to believe that it was a glitch. Control takes her aside and asks if there has been any suspicious activity, and she then shows her a memo, which was spoofed to appear as though it was written by Control, which informs them of a quarantined address in Colombia Heights.
- As Control attempts to learn more bout the Correction, she requests threat assessments for Washington - although Samaritan briefly refuses, leading Shiffmann to believe that it was a glitch. Control takes her aside and asks if there has been any suspicious activity. She shows Control a memo spoofed to appear as though it was written by Control. It informs operatives of a quarantined address in Colombia Heights. (“Asylum”)
- She takes Grice, a loyal agent, with her to investigate. They find evidence there could be a dozen ammonium nitrate based bombs on the loose. Control spoofs a message from Senator Garrison, luring Greer into a trap. He tells Control the true nature of "The Correction", reveals Grice and Schiffmann are dead and promptly has her abducted. (“Asylum”) (“YHWH”)
2016[]
- After Reese and Shaw, and not the ISA, receive the number of the President of the United States, they deduce Samaritan considers him irrelevant. (“Synecdoche”)
Known members[]
| Image | Name | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Unknown "Control" |
Unknown |
Leader |
|
|
Unknown |
Deceased |
Second-in-command |
|
|
Deceased |
Constructed the | |
|
|
Deceased |
Higher-ranking member | |
|
|
Unknown |
Deceased |
Second-in-command |
|
|
Deceased |
Operative | |
|
|
Indigo 5A |
Defected |
Former operative |
|
|
Indigo 5B |
Deceased |
Operative; Shaw's partner |
|
|
Alive |
Agent at Worldmapper Travel | |
|
|
Unknown Indigo 6A |
Unknown |
Operative; Shaw's successor |
|
|
Deceased |
Operative | |
|
|
Alive |
Operative; Grice's partner | |
| N/A | Unknown
Vermillion 7A |
Unknown | Operative |
| N/A | Unknown
Vermillion 7C |
Unknown | Operative |
| N/A | Unknown
Viridian 9 |
Uknown | Trainee under Crimson 6 |
Real-life Counterpart[]
The real-life counterpart of the ISA, sometimes known as the "Activity", changes its name periodically because of the secretive nature of its work. Unlike the NSA, DIA (its defense counterparts) or CIA (it civilian counterpart), the ISA is a Special Operations Unit that specializes in gathering actionable intelligence, both from human sources (HUMINT) and from signals such as electronic communication (SIGINT) to aid its Tier-1 partners, such as U.S. Army Delta Force, Regimental Reconnaissance Company, 24th Special Tactics Squadron or U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six, in their Special Operations.
Less well-known United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA) , also known at various times as Joint Reconnaissance Evaluation Group (JREG), the U.S. Army’s ultra-secret, Field Operations Group (FOG), ultra-elite, 1st Capabilities Integration Group (Airborne) or 1st CIG and its staff have rarely been portrayed in works of American popular culture than Directorate of Operations (CIA), Defense Clandestine Service (DIA) and Special Collection Service (NSA).
The ISA also has a direct action arm comprised of men and women recruited from the US Army Delta Force, Army Special Forces, 75th Ranger Regiment, Army Intelligence, and Army Civil Affairs. The unit's Female operators mainly come from Military Intelligence and Civil Affairs backgrounds. As the unit's "shooters" these operators conduct covert special operations all around the world and often deploying alongside their brother Tier-1 units. Operations which the ISA conducts are often so secretive and in the black that neither the CIA nor the NSA can or will do them.
Like other JSOC units, the ISA is free to recruit members of different military branches to help augment their operational capabilities. Hence why individuals such as Sameen Shaw being recruited from the Marine Corps into an Army unit is not unheard of.
Unit Profile[]
motto: Send Me. Veritas Omnia Vincula Vincit (Truth Overcomes All Bonds).
Intelligence Support Activity provides US special forces with intelligence gatherers, man hunters, assassins and deep penetration agents. The unit was raised in 1979 as the Foreign Operating Group (FOG), who was created to overthrow the Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza. It is known that the unit has changed its codename over the years. It was completely hidden from view, covering its existence with a series of regularly changing code names like Centra Spike, Royal Cape, and Grey Fox. During the 1990's the unit was known as Capacity Gear.
The unit has been under command of the US Army but some time after September 11th 2001 command was placed under direct control of the Joint Special Operations Command or JSOC at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, United States. Since that time the unit reports to Special Operations Command or SOCOM in Tampa Florida, United States.
The force is supposedly around 250-275 operators. The unit is provided with the best equipment money can buy and it is known it maintained a fleet of aircraft at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
The unit's missions range from Latin America, fighting communist guerrillas and drugs barons, to Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, tracking down terrorists. Each chapter of the book brings a new chapter of the Activity's operations like Lebanon, where its efforts to rescue US hostages was stymied by its own government or Bosnia where it hunted down war criminals. During the war on terror it was responsible for hunting hunting high value persons.
Mission[]
- Direct action;
- Strategic reconnaissance;
- Unconventional warfare;
- Counterterrorism;
- Activities specified by Government.
Raised and Disbanded[]
- raised: 1981.
Units[]
- Signals intelligence (SIGINT);
- Human intelligence (HUMINT);
- Assault unit;
- Administration unit;
- Training unit.
Headquarters[]
- Fort Belvoir, North Virginia, United States.
Operations[]
- Operation Winter Harvest;
- Operation Desert Storm;
- Operation Gothic Serpent;
- Operation Enduring Freedom;
- Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Intelligence Support Activity - Operations[]
The Activity have been known to use light aircraft, such as the Beechcraft King Air, as airborne SIGINT listening posts. Flown by CIA Special Activities Division Air Branch pilots, these planes are modified to accommodate various antennas that feed signals into state-of-the-art processing units fitted in the cabins. Activity SIGINT operatives monitor and track the signals on board and also relay them on to a local HQ. A 'knob turner' fluent in the native language is usually on the aircraft in order to translate and react immediately to any intel collected.
The ISA has been at the forefront (although very much in the background) of most of America's special operations since the early 80s.
ISA Operations - list[]
- 1981 - Italy - Operation Winter Harvest When an American General, James Dozier, was kidnapped by the Red Brigade terrorist organization, the Activity provided SIGINT and other support to Italian police. The location where Dozier was held was eventually pinpointed, which resulted in him being freed by an Italian commando raid.
- 1981 - Iraq - Operation Great Falcon The Activity were part of a failed attempt to buy a T-72 tank, a much sought after intelligence prize from Saddam Hussein
- 1983 - Beirut Following the bombing of the US Marines barracks in Lebanon, the Activity deploy to Beirut to gather intelligence on on terrorist organizations in the city and to prepare the ground for possible operations by Special Ops forces.
- 1984 - The Seychelles The Activity sent a team to the island of Mahe to prepare for a possible evacuation of American citizens.
- 1985 - 1986 Beirut ISA operatives set up FELIX, a network of spies throughout various militia groups throughout Beirut with the aim of finding several western hostages in the hands of Hezbollah. ISA pathfinders scouted out possible hostage locations and prepared infil/exfil routes for rescue teams but no mission was launched.
- 1985 - Honduras - Operation Grazing Lawn ISA SIGINT experts used an aircraft operated by Sea Spray (CIA) and a mountain listening post to spy on Sandinista rebels in neighboring Nicaragua.
- 1987 - Beirut When TWA 847 is hijacked and flown to Beirut, the ISA deployed in order to prepare the way for a rescue mission Delta and Seal commandos. Logistical delays in getting the rescue force into position gave the hostage takers time to disperse the 153 hostages throughout beirut. With chances of success now slim, the rescue mission was called off. The Hostages were eventually released in exchange for the release of 700 Shiite prisoners held by the Israelis.
- 1987 - Persian Gulf - Op Prime Chance A small Activity team scouted out several targets for possible retaliation for Iranian attacks on Gulf shipping. These targets included Silkworm missile sites, ammo dumps and other military targets.
- 1989 - Panama - Operation Just Cause During the US invasion of Panama, ISA SIGINT and surveillance operatives worked closely with SEAL commandos, including the assault on Paitilla airfield, during which 4 SEALs lost their lives.
- 1991 - Iraq - Operation Desert Storm ISA operatives assisted British Special Boat Service (SBS) commandos in disabling a network of Iraqi fiber-optic communication cables. ISA also infiltrated into occupied-Kuwait and set up a network of Kuwaiti spies.
- 1993 - Somalia - Operation Gothic Serpent ISA SIGINT operatives deployed alongside Delta Force and the Rangers in Mogadishu, the Somali capital where their eavesdropping capabilities assisted Task Force Ranger's mission to hunt down local Warlords.
- 1996-1998s - the Balkans - Operation Amber Star The Activity provided intel support to a NATO task force hunting Serbian war criminals. 'Torn Victor', as it was now known, helped find targets for snatch squads from DevGru, British SAS and Dutch Special Forces.
- 2001-present - Afghanistan - Operation Enduring Freedom SIGINT specialists and agent runners from the Activity, now code named 'Gray Fox', joined the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Gray Fox operatives joined Task Force Sword, a joint unit of Delta, Devgru, British SAS and Task Force Orange (as Gray Fox was referred to in Afghanistan). TF Sword's role was to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban leadership targets. TF Orange SIGINT teams tracked their quarry through cell and radio transmissions while HUMINT agent runners used their networks of informers. Gray Fox also supplied men to Task Force Bowie and Advance Force Operations (AFO) teams made up of Delta, SEALs, USAF CCTs and Gray Fox SIGINT operatives. In February 2002, AFO recon teams infiltrated into the Shah-i-Khot region in preparation for Operation Anaconda, a large scale assault on the region, where many al-Qaeda and Taliban diehards were holding out.
- 2002 - Yemen The Activity deployed SIGINT specialists as part of a Special Operations task force sent into Yemen to train Yemeni forces to fight al-Qaeda forces believed to be active in the country. When the training mission ended, Activity operatives stayed on and helped disrupt several al-Qaeda operations. In November 2002, Activity SIGINT identified and tracked Abu Ali al-Harithi, al-Qaeda's top man in Yemen, and the man thought to be the mastermind for the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.. When al-Harithi's cell phone was tracked to his Toyota Land Cruiser moving along a remote desert road, a MQ-1 Predator UAV, operated by the CIA, was vectored in from nearby Djibouti, where a significant US counter-terrorist presence had been established. This Predator was a little different from the unarmed variant operated by the Air Force. This one carried 2 AGM-114 laser-guided anti-tank missiles under its wings. Activity SIGINT operatives had hacked into al-Harithi's phone and were able to surreptitiously turn it on, creating a signal for the Predator to home in on. Once the target was found, the CIA operator, working remotely from a control room in Langley, Virginia, sent the commands to launch a missile, which duly streaked down and destroyed the Land Cruiser and its six occupants.
- 2003-present - Iraq - Operation Iraqi Freedom In the opening stages of Gulf War II, the ISA assisted a Delta Force mission to attack Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. ISA SIGINT experts accompanied US and British Special Forces in various operations in the Western Iraqi desert. It is believed that the Gray Fox is part of a multi-national task force (known as TF-88, previously called TF-145). The Activity element of TF-88 is known as 'Task Force Orange'. TF Orange provide SIGINT and other intel for TF-88 operations. Other members of TF-88 include Delta Force, the British SAS, SBS and elements of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and 18(UKSF) Signals, the British equivalents of the Activity.
In popular culture[]
ISA remains a very poorly known force to the public. Some rare mentions of the ISA exist, including:
Book[]
- Emerson, Steven (1988). Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-399-13360-2.
- Bowden, Mark (2001). Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 978-0-87113-783-8. ISA operators ("Centra Spike") play a significant role in the hunt for fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar of the Medellín Cartel leading to his death in December 1993 at the hands of Search Bloc, a Special Operations unit of the National Police of Colombia.
- Smith, Michael (2006). Killer Elite: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Operations Team. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-00647-9. (Several editions from 2006 to 2011 with additional material).
- Scott Barnes with Melva Libb Hardback (1987). A True Account of One Man’s Battle to Expose the Most Heinous Cover-Up of the Vietnam Saga (U.S. P.O.W.s in SE Asia)! Publisher BOHICA. ISBN: 9780938936619, 0938936611.
- Monika Jensen-Stevenson, William Stevenson (2014). Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POWs in Vietnam. Publisher: Skyhorse. First published in 1990, Kiss the Boys Goodbye has become a classic on the subject. This new edition features an afterword, which fills in the news on the latest verifiable scandal produced by the Senate Select Committee on POWs. ISBN 978-1629144498 (ISBN10: 1629144495).
- In Dale Brown's Patrick McLanahan novels, the ISA operates on the high seas in support of McLanahan's operations. One such was the recovery of Col. David Luger, who was listed as KIA after the events of Flight of the Old Dog but was actually captured and interrogated by Russian forces.
- In Daniel Suarez's 2012 novel Kill Decision, a team of ISA operators is trying to unravel a conspiracy involving autonomous aerial drones.
- Robert Littell's 1991 novel An Agent in Place. Published Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143035640 (ISBN10: 0143035649).
- W. E. B. Griffin's The Presidential Agent series, especially its first book, By Order of the President, features "Gray Fox" in a major role. However, they are portrayed as a top secret unit within Delta Force.
Video game[]
- There are multiple references to "the Activity" in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. The CIA officer who is covered as "Karen Bowman" mentions them many times, so that it is clear the ISA is providing extensive support to Operation Kingslayer.
- A single reference, "ISA cell phone snipers", is present in the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This strongly suggests that the ISA provided the technical intelligence on the location of the daughter of the President of the Russian Federation—as well as the means to communicate with her—when she unsuccessfully tried to escape pursuers in Germany. Members of the ISA only acted in support: they did not actually participate in either of the two rescue attempts.
- ISA are a playable faction in Call of Duty: Black Ops II's multiplayer mode.
Television[]
- In the television series Person of Interest, the ISA is mentioned as "an obscure U.S. Army unit that does black ops so dark, technically they don't exist" by former Special Forces soldier, CIA officer, and protagonist John Reese (Jim Caviezel). Three operators from the unit serve as antagonists in an episode in which they attempt to assassinate a National Security Agency employee under John's protection. ISA operators are later revealed to be Indigo assets, hunting relevant threats the Machine has identified. Fellow protagonist Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi) is a former ISA operative whom the government attempts to assassinate after she and her partner Cole inadvertently learn about the Machine. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is Shaw's partner at the ISA; Boris McGiver as Shaw's handler at the ISA; Camryn Manheim as the director of the ISA; Nick Tarabay is a ISA agent who was trained by Shaw and Theodora Miranne as a ISA agent.
Comic book[]
- Nathan Edmondson's, Mitch Gerads and Marc Laming' comics The Activity.
Bibliography[]
General citations
- Richelson, Jeffrey T. (1999). "Truth Conquers All Chains: The U.S. Army Intelligence Support Activity, 1981–1989". International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence. 12 (2): 168–200. doi:10.1080/088506099305133. ISSN 0885-0607 – via InformaWorld.
- Jeffrey T. Richelson, 23 May 2001, "The Pentagon's Spies: Documents Detail Histories of Once Secret Spy Units", electronic book by on the National Security Archive website (Archived). The article collects copies of declassified documents about covert US military intelligence units, including the ISA:
- Memorandum for Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, by Lt. Gen. Philip C. Gast, USAF, 10 December 1980
- Memorandum to the Deputy Under Secretary for Policy, by Frank Carlucci, 26 May 1982
- Charter of U.S. Army Intelligence Support Activity, circa mid-1983
- After Action Report for Operation CANVAS SHIELD, by 902nd Military Intelligence Group, 30 July 1985
- Brief History of Unit (ISA), circa mid-1986 (presumed)
- United States Army Intelligence Support Activity 1986 Historical Report
- United States Army Intelligence Support Activity 1987 Historical Report
- Termination of USAISA and "GRANTOR SHADOW", by Commander, USAISA, 31 March 1989
- Update - now 1st Capabilities Integration Group
See also[]
- Defense Clandestine Service
- Special Activities Center
- Special Collection Service
- 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, a similar unit of French army special forces
- 14 Intelligence Company, a similar unit in the United Kingdom Special Forces, superseded by the Special Reconnaissance Regiment
- GRU SPETSNAZ, the Russian version
- Naval Special Warfare Development Group (SEAL Team 6)
- 24th Special Tactics Squadron
- United States Joint Special Operations Command
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