Intelligence Support Activity - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

ISA remains a very poorly known force to the public. Some rare mentions of the ISA exist, including :

  • the Robert Littell's novel An Agent in Place.
  • The Presidential Agent Series, especially its first book By Order of the President, features Gray Fox in a large role. In the book, however; they are portrayed as a top secret unit within Delta Force.
  • in Dale Brown's "Patrick MacLanahan" novels, the ISA operates on the high seas in support of MacLanahan's operations; one such was the recovery of Col. David Luger, listed as KIA after the events of "Flight of the Old Dog" but actually captured and interrogated by Russian forces.
  • A single reference, referring only to "ISA cell phone snipers," is present in the computer 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, in that they did not actually participate in either of the two rescue attempts.
  • In Mark Bowden's book, "Killing Pablo", ISA under the codename "Centra Spike" operators play a significant role in the hunt for fugitive drug lord Pablo Escobar (of the Medellin cocaine cartel), leading to his death in December 1993.
  • In Daniel Suarez's 2012 novel Kill Decision, an Intelligence Support Activity team of operators is trying to unravel a conspiracy involving autonomous (unmanned) aerial drones.
  • 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 U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier and CIA officer John Reese (Jim Caviezel). Three operators from the unit serve as antagonists in an episode in which they attempt to assassinate an National Security Agency employee under John's protection.
  • ISA are a playable faction in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer.
  • Nathan Edmonson's and Mitch Gerads' comic The Activity.

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