Tom Drake

And I had the background, I had the qualifications, and they were looking doctors, lawyers, intelligence specialists. So I applied, was accepted. I went through their training program, and then I was assigned to the DIA headquarters unit in the Alert Center in the National Military Joint Intelligence Center at the Pentagon, reporting directly to the J-2. DIA was a day-to-day agency that

And I had the background, I had the qualifications, and they were looking doctors, lawyers, intelligence specialists. So I applied, was accepted. I went through their training program, and then I was assigned to the DIA headquarters unit in the Alert Center in the National Military Joint Intelligence Center at the Pentagon, reporting directly to the J-2. DIA was a day-to-day agency that

And I had the background, I had the qualifications, and they were looking doctors, lawyers, intelligence specialists. So I applied, was accepted. I went through their training program, and then I was assigned to the DIA headquarters unit in the Alert Center in the National Military Joint Intelligence Center at the Pentagon, reporting directly to the J-2. DIA was a day-to-day agency that

people that don't know what is j2 the j2 is the most senior intelligence officer in um in the military in the in the pentagon and they are the they provide the the consolidated intelligence to the joint chiefs of staff right okay so they work within the joint chiefs of staff office you have different j's i was in the j2 part okay But we got, I'm feeding, we're big feeds from all over the world.

people that don't know what is j2 the j2 is the most senior intelligence officer in um in the military in the in the pentagon and they are the they provide the the consolidated intelligence to the joint chiefs of staff right okay so they work within the joint chiefs of staff office you have different j's i was in the j2 part okay But we got, I'm feeding, we're big feeds from all over the world.

people that don't know what is j2 the j2 is the most senior intelligence officer in um in the military in the in the pentagon and they are the they provide the the consolidated intelligence to the joint chiefs of staff right okay so they work within the joint chiefs of staff office you have different j's i was in the j2 part okay But we got, I'm feeding, we're big feeds from all over the world.

Fascinating. I was there for a number of years. I got to the rank of a lieutenant. So I was, you know, the railroad tracks on my naval uniform, my Navy uniform.

Fascinating. I was there for a number of years. I got to the rank of a lieutenant. So I was, you know, the railroad tracks on my naval uniform, my Navy uniform.

Fascinating. I was there for a number of years. I got to the rank of a lieutenant. So I was, you know, the railroad tracks on my naval uniform, my Navy uniform.

Feeds, multiple desks. Civilian and military. So for example, the first desk, I'll just give you an example. We don't have time to go into every, because it's a huge, it's in, but it's kind of like the SIGINT Operations Center, the SOC as they call it at NSA. This is the Pentagon's version of that. But we had multiple agencies there. CIA had its own desk. State Department had its own desk.

Feeds, multiple desks. Civilian and military. So for example, the first desk, I'll just give you an example. We don't have time to go into every, because it's a huge, it's in, but it's kind of like the SIGINT Operations Center, the SOC as they call it at NSA. This is the Pentagon's version of that. But we had multiple agencies there. CIA had its own desk. State Department had its own desk.

Feeds, multiple desks. Civilian and military. So for example, the first desk, I'll just give you an example. We don't have time to go into every, because it's a huge, it's in, but it's kind of like the SIGINT Operations Center, the SOC as they call it at NSA. This is the Pentagon's version of that. But we had multiple agencies there. CIA had its own desk. State Department had its own desk.

The CIA had its own desk. Later, NSA had a desk. I was first assigned, because of my technical background, to the ELINT desk. Fascinating, right? It was another aspect of this.

The CIA had its own desk. Later, NSA had a desk. I was first assigned, because of my technical background, to the ELINT desk. Fascinating, right? It was another aspect of this.

The CIA had its own desk. Later, NSA had a desk. I was first assigned, because of my technical background, to the ELINT desk. Fascinating, right? It was another aspect of this.

Then I was assigned, and this is critical to the rest of the story, which is really at the heart of what we're gonna be talking about, because of what led up to it, what happened on 9-11, and then what happened in the aftermath of 9-11. And then how did I find myself on the front pages of all major newspapers in the country? Some years later. Right. Okay. How did that all happen? Right.

Then I was assigned, and this is critical to the rest of the story, which is really at the heart of what we're gonna be talking about, because of what led up to it, what happened on 9-11, and then what happened in the aftermath of 9-11. And then how did I find myself on the front pages of all major newspapers in the country? Some years later. Right. Okay. How did that all happen? Right.

Then I was assigned, and this is critical to the rest of the story, which is really at the heart of what we're gonna be talking about, because of what led up to it, what happened on 9-11, and then what happened in the aftermath of 9-11. And then how did I find myself on the front pages of all major newspapers in the country? Some years later. Right. Okay. How did that all happen? Right.

And so I was sitting on the terrorism desk, terrorism desk doing incredibly advanced link analysis. Link analysis meaning we're doing advanced social – I'll just – to simplify this, right, without getting into the weeds, social network analysis. Wow. You're going beyond just raw intelligence. What you're doing is because it's terrorism, which is an idea, right, right? But where is it embedded?

And so I was sitting on the terrorism desk, terrorism desk doing incredibly advanced link analysis. Link analysis meaning we're doing advanced social – I'll just – to simplify this, right, without getting into the weeds, social network analysis. Wow. You're going beyond just raw intelligence. What you're doing is because it's terrorism, which is an idea, right, right? But where is it embedded?