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A Day in the Life of a Shadow

SUMMARY

A junior manager reports on a day shadowing SID Director Richard Quirk.

DOCUMENT’S DATE

Apr 16, 2004

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Feb 05, 2018

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DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL (U) A Day in the Life of a Shadow FROM: SIGINT Policy System Manager (S02L1) Run Date: 04/16/2004 FROM: SIGINT Policy System Manager (S02L1) (U//FOUO) On February 5, 2004, I had the opportunity to "shadow" MG Quirk. I was a bit apprehensive, but MG Quirk quickly put my mind at ease and made me feel like part of the team. Our day started at 0700 with a meeting with the U.S. Army members of the Junior Officer Cryptologic Career Program. MG Quirk had many meetings throughout the day, and some meetings sparked actions and the scheduling of other meetings that had to be squeezed in throughout the day. The meetings varied from personnel meetings to an IWS (InfoWorkSpace) with the Second Party Partners, with just about every topic related to SID in between. (U//FOUO) As I observed MG Quirk's interactions, I was very proud be part of the SID and serving under MG Quirk as the SIGINT Director. Even though every minute of his day was spoken for, he made time to have personal and professional discussions with me. He shared information on what skills and abilities I would need to succeed as a manager in the SID and NSA. He treated everyone with great respect and consideration which made everyone feel welcome and very comfortable in his office. We ended our day at 1900 -- yes 12 hours! (U//FOUO) I learned a great deal on how to work with people of all levels and skills and this was a great experience for someone with only a year in a management position. However, anyone who wants a deeper insight into the SID or management in general should really take advantage of this great program. MG Quirk's advice to me can be summarized with this statement: "My job is to add value." This was very insightful and thought provoking and I hope that as I hone my skills and abilities and work in management that I do add value to the job, SID, and NSA. To top off the day, MG Quirk presented me with a SID Coin, providing me a lasting token to commemorate my day as a "Shadow". "(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)." DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108