In espionage, a field agent is an agent who works in the field as opposed to one who works at the office or headquarters. A field agent can work alone or in a group but usually has a case officer who is in charge.
Field agents can be undercover, and travel using fake passports that may be under the name of a front organization or shell corporation. Field agents can be armed, but the weapon is always concealed in order to blend in with the masses and not stick out.
Famous quotes containing the words field and/or agent:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“The average American is a good sport, plays by the rules. But this war is no game. And no secret agent is a hero or a good sport—that is, no living agent.”
—John Monks, Jr., U.S. screenwriter, Sy Bartlett, and Henry Hathaway. Robert Sharkey (James Cagney)