Aberration in the Heartland of the Real: The Secret Lives of Timothy McVeigh

by Wendy S. Painting

The 400 new recruits had all taken a number of “intelligence, psychological, adeptness and a whole battery of other tests.” Although not specifying exactly when, he said that, one day, SFAS officers called ten E-5 Sergeants with Secret Clearances, including himself, out of formation, separated them from the others and made them “feel special” by telling them that they had been “handpicked” based on their test results, “intelligence [and] physical makeup.” After receiving a classified “intelligence briefing,” they were asked to “volunteer” for a special covert assignment in which they would act as “military consultants” to domestic and international civilian police and intelligence agencies. Although the exact nature and extent of the assignment remained undisclosed until they accepted the mission, it could involve a number of unsavory tasks including drug smuggling and assassinations.