This is Jeremy Wise. He was my best friend. A former SEAL, he transitioned to support CIA operations in Afghanistan. His role was to provide security for a case officer who, despite her position, was not competent to manage the desk she was assigned to. The agency’s administrative leadership, eager to groom her for an assistant director position because she was a woman, overlooked her shortcomings. While there are competent women in these roles, she was not one of them.
In her pursuit of a career-defining success, she "fell in love" with a source and disregarded essential security protocols, convinced she could reel in a big fish. The source, who had been flipped in Pakistan, exploited her negligence. Unbeknownst to Jeremy and the rest of the security team, she allowed him to bypass established safeguards. The source detonated a suicide vest as Jeremy and the team rushed to intercept him, killing seven CIA personnel.
Jeremy’s unbounded potential was lost in that moment, stolen by incompetence and vanity. I am dedicating a significant part of my career to undoing the influence of DEI initiatives that prioritize identity over capability in the corporate space. The rest of my life is devoted to cultivating and realizing the potential in others—a commitment to ensuring that, in some way, the extraordinary potential we lost in Jeremy will find life again in others.