Something to Think about...
For years the FBI and lots of other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies have a reputation for being over run with Returned Missionary Mormons.
One of the main reasons I am told is they know how to be "Obedient to Authority"
Is that really someone who will make a good FBI/Federal Agent.
I know part of the course for Special Agent Trainees (FBI) is they have every class take a trip to the holocaust Museum in DC to show the Dangers off Blindly following orders/national leaders.
I also know that in the millitary you are trained to follow "law full orders" along with other Federal Agencies but in the Morg it is more or less un questioning obedience.
I am curious are all Federal Agencies still over run with Returned Missionary Mormons?

It's probably to do with the fact that rms can pass the background check and most people can't, they probably look at bankruptcies, good credit 950+, felonies, speeding tickets, drug dealing, prostitution, service animal handicap designation, emotional unstableness,

seriously America is in an opioid epademic, skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety, mismanagement of credit cards, and crazy people everywhere that aren't passing through the background checks, this is the conclusion I've arrived at.

They do look at indebtedness. BTW, I believe max credit score is 850, so 950+ isn't possible.

I interviewed with those agencies back in the 1970s. They hired a lot of RMs then, in fact I suspect more then than now.

I can think of several reasons why they like RMs. RMs are trained to follow orders to a fault. They dress like FBI agents, especially agents back then. They are unlikely to be drug users, though that is not as big an impediment as you might think. Minor use of marijuana in college will generally not disqualify a person. Getting arrested for dealing will not go over well.

I used to do security clearances in the Army. Surprisingly few people failed, though I was mostly dealing with lower middle class 20 year olds, more or less. It was a cushy job, compared to the alternatives, and I'm not sure if I got it because I was Mormon or almost a college graduate right at the very beginning of the all-volunteer Army. I'm pretty sure it was both that landed me the security job.

ETA: I did not take the NSA or CIA jobs. I said to people at the time, only half tongue in cheek, that I wasn't crazy enough to qualify. There were interviews with shrinks. I apparently was crazy enough, but passed on the opportunity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2022 05:16PM by Brother Of Jerry.

The CIA hires a lot of RMs.

The two groups that are vastly over-represented are Catholics, since so many of them are second generation people who grew up with the cultures and languages of places particularly in southern and eastern Europe (including the western half of Ukraine, which was long under the control of Austria-Hungary and Poland); and Mormons, who have solid linguistic skills and a modicum of sophistication regarding the cultures of important places like China.

There are other factors, of course, but language and culture are very important in the non-technological parts of the intelligence bureaucracies.

I can speak reliably on this. It's because active Mormons have a better go at passing the background check, *especially* with regard to drug use.

My first security clearance interview as a 19 year old fresh out if high school. No mission.

Agent: You're from Utah. Are you an active Mormon?

Me: yes

Agent: so no drugs, smoking, drinking, pre marital sex or trouble with the law?

Me: correct

Agent: anything the enemy can use to blackmail you with?

Me: nope

Agent: ok. That's all. You can go.

I knew special agent Peter Gunn (NO KIDDING!) in Seattle

*zap



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2022 05:40PM by Lot's Wife.

One reason is the FBI and the CIA have a lot of generational recruits. It's quite common to have 3+ generations work for them. That goes back a long way. It's the family business.

I was Mormon during about half of my 30 years with Social Security. Because of my ex's many job transfers, I worked in about 8 different SSA offices around the country. Many of the offices were happy to have a bilingual onboard.

In one of my offices, I was the ONLY person who could read/write/speak any other language besides English. I was technically certified only in Spanish, but in one office in particular, there simply weren't many bilinguals in the area. So I translated birth certificates (which are usually very easy) in any Latin-based language. Just about anything but Cyrillic.

There was a video about an intelligence gathering group based in Utah which employed many Mormons.

Basically they needed people with good knowledge of languages including slang.

Returned missionaries were ideal.

James Clayton:
Would I have to kill anyone?

Walter Burke:
Would you like to?

One of my Ricks dorm mates was a RM, a US Marine and an FBI Special Agent.