User:Freemarket/Counter Terrorist Unit

The Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) is a fictional United States counter-terrorist agency in the television action series 24.

Role
As its name suggests, CTU's primary mission is to disrupt and destroy foreign and domestic terror cells hostile to the United States, as well as protect the U.S. from terror attacks, CTU has an office in almost every major city of the U.S. It also has a role in creating security policy and fighting organized crime groups that fund terrorism. CTU employs agents in many different roles. For example, there are field agents and SWAT Tactical Team agents (generally drawn from the ranks of the military or police) who perform field work, arrests, tactical assaults and body guarding witnesses and suspects that need to be protected. These agents report to the Director of Field Operations for each office. Computer analysts also form another component of CTU and deal mainly with surveillance and encryption.

CTU offices are run by a Director, also called the Special Agent in Charge, whom the Director of Field Operations and the Chief of Staff report to. The CTU offices report to a District Office, overseen by the District Director. District offices cover a larger amount of territory in their jurisdiction. Finally, the District office and all other offices report to a Division Headquarters, overseen by a Regional Director. This title implies that each Division Headquarters has jurisdiction over an entire region of the United States. For example, it is likely that the Division Headquarters run first by Ryan Chappelle and then Bill Buchanan were responsible for the Pacific Coast area, with other Divisions taking responsibility for other parts of the country.

CTU LA (and presumably the other offices as well) maintain a team of forensics specialists and have agents performing undercover assignments. The CTU seems to have basic powers of arrest, but many of its operatives show more leeway in how they arrest and question their subjects than other law enforcement agencies, both in the real world and the world of the show. The liberties taken by CTU agents, particularly Jack Bauer, routinely violate established chains of command and would present incredible legal problems if attempted in the real world. CTU is described as working closely with the National Security Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office. Seasons 4 and 5 of 24 indicated that the Director of CTU reports first to the US Secretary of Defense and ultimately to the President of the United States. During extreme crises the President takes direct control, often with a specific CTU branch (the one handling the crisis), in order to personally monitor an operation's progress, and the Director of the office managing the crisis is allowed to bypass the chain of command entirely and communicate directly with the President. In short, CTU seems to represent some combination of the powers vested in the FBI, CIA, NSA, and DHS.

In November 2005, the White House was reported to be considering whether to provide a lesser known agency called the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) with additional new powers and responsibilities, which would in effect make it a real-life counterpart to the fictional CTU. As with CTU, this agency is part of the US Department of Defense. Its expanded powers would include the authority to investigate crimes such as treason, foreign or terrorist sabotage, and economic espionage. Unlike other intelligence agencies within the Defense Department, it would be permitted to receive intelligence information concerning American citizens from the FBI, CIA, and other civilian intelligence agencies. The proposal has been criticized by at least one member of the US Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence for allowing "the military to spy on Americans."

Published fiction
In the book, 24: The House Special Subcommittee's Findings at CTU, and in 24 DVD media, the agency is repeatedly said to be a branch of the CIA. In fact, the book gives a small description of CTU that reads in full:


 * Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) - Elite branch of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Counter Terrorist Unit operates domestic counterterrorism divisional headquarters in major U.S. metropolitan areas. The purview of the CTU is to investigate the activities of domestic or foreign terrorists inside America's borders and to prevent terrorist attacks. CTU divisions are made up of investigative agents, intelligence agents, undercover operatives, crack tactical squads for major raids, and special agents to oversee unit activities. CTU is specifically set up to coordinate activities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department, and the Secret Service as well as local authorities. As a branch of the CIA, CTU operations are overseen by both Congress and the Executive Branch of the federal government.

Moreover, in various 24: Declassified novels, there is a note preceding the story that reads in full:


 * After the 1993 World Trade Center attack, a division of the Central Intelligence Agency established a domestic unit tasked with protecting America from the threat of terrorism. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Counter-Terrorist Unit established field offices in several American cities. From its inception, CTU faced hostility and skepticism from other federal law enforcement agencies. Despite bureaucratic resistance, within a few years CTU had become a major force. After the war against terror began, a number of early CTU missions were declassified. The following is one of them...

Attacks on CTU Los Angeles
CTU LA has been attacked by terrorists a total of three times in show history. The first attack occurred at roughly 10:58 a.m. on Day 2, where terrorist Joseph Wald infiltrated CTU with a crew of his men and planted three bombs. They exploded simultaneously and the attack left 30 people dead at CTU. It also crippled CTU's ability to perform at top notch for most of Day 2. The second attack occurred during the 24 Game and was carried out by terrorists who detonated an EMP inside CTU. The third attack occurred all through Hour 12 of Day 5, as the terrorist Ostroff infiltrated CTU and planted a casing of nerve gas inside. Ostroff was killed by Jack Bauer after CTU learned about this, yet the casing detonated and released Sentox VX1 Nerve Gas into the ventilation system. Edgar Stiles, Lynn McGill, and 40% of CTU's staff were killed in the attack.

History of CTU: Los Angeles
In Season One, the Los Angeles Domestic Unit was headed by Jack Bauer, but he later left due to bereavement after his wife's death, which was directly related to his work at CTU. It is also known that Jack dismissed some agents for evidence of corruption before Season 1, and later, on Season 5, it is revealed that one of them was Christopher Henderson, who was the director of field operations before Season 1 and the one who recruited him for CTU.

George Mason took over and was the CTU Director until he was forced to leave, as he was fatally ill due to radiation poisoning. CTU was attacked by terrorists that planted C4 explosives throughout the building, and many personnel died.

From the looks of CTU in 24: The Game, CTU was rebuilt six months later with several new characteristics, including larger first (with a nice walkway) and second floors as well a Clinic for its many agents, mainly those who were injured in the field. Since Season 4 and onward, CTU appears to have a fully functional Clinic.

Tony Almeida took charge of CTU for the rest of the second season as the Director and continued to do so for the beginning of Season 3, until he was shot in the neck, placing his wife Michelle Dessler as Acting Director for a few hours until Tony returned. He remained Director for almost the entire remainder of the season, until he was forced to aid the escape of a terrorist, former MI6 agent Stephen Saunders, who was holding Michelle hostage and later breaking Saunders' daughter out.

Jack Bauer then assumed command as acting Director until Brad Hammond took control.

Three months later, a District official named Erin Driscoll became Director of CTU Los Angeles and fired Jack Bauer for a heroin addiction acquired in the line of duty. When Erin's mentally unstable daughter Maya committed suicide in the CTU clinic, she decided to step down.

Sometime between the end of Season 3 and the assumption of command by Driscoll, the CTU facility was completely remodeled. The new building had a contemporary design in which most walls were either concrete or glass. A notable addition to the facility was the Situation Room, modeled after the main conference room shown in season 3.

After Driscoll stepped down, Division sent Michelle Dessler to temporarily take over and then a few hours later sent Bill Buchanan, who later took over permanently.

One and a half years later, Lynn McGill was sent by the White House to supervise Bill Buchanan's command. Lynn erupted with stress and detained Buchanan for going against his command. Senior Special Agent Curtis Manning relieved McGill of his command under the Mental Stability Clause of Section 112. In the same day, CTU Los Angeles suffered another attack to the building. A canister of the Sentox VX nerve agent stolen earlier in the day was released inside CTU by an operative of terrorist Vladimir Bierko. Approximately 40% of the personnel (56) died, including Senior Internet Protocol Manager Edgar Stiles and Lynn McGill. Several of the facility's occupants, including Jack Bauer, Chloe O'Brian, Audrey Raines, and Kim Bauer, survived in the Situation Room, which was equipped with biohazard barriers that blocked the doors from the outside environment.

As of 12:00 AM on Season 5, the Vice President of the United States has ordered that the Department of Homeland Security take control of all functions of CTU; the future of CTU as a functional agency is currently in doubt. Hence, due to the absorption, Karen Hayes (Director of the United States Department of Homeland Security's Los Angeles branch) is in command of the building. It is assumed that this absorbing applies only to the Los Angeles branch of the CTU due to its weakened state of operations after the nerve gas attack, and not to CTU as a whole operational entity nationwide.

Sometime between the end of Season 5 and the start of Season 6, the Los Angeles branch of CTU resumed its former duties, currently commanded by Bill Buchanan. CTU-LA has returned to being an entity of CIA and is no longer part of DHS.

CTU-LA has stopped a number of prominent terrorist threats, despite extraordinarily tense and rapid-pace timelines, and received acclaim from at least one president. Despite this, it has suffered a constant string of double agents in its employ, at least one per season. Almost as often, internal security is compromised and attacks are carried out on the premises itself. This almost-constant penetration by outside forces, and the lax security implied by such, is easily explained from a storyteller's point of view (part of 24 's appeal is that viewers are never sure who can be trusted), but is rather unrealistic for a government-controlled law-enforcement agency, especially one with such prestige and duties.

Directors of CTU: Los Angeles
The following is a list of the Special Agents in Charge of the CTU Los Angeles Domestic Unit.

Directors of Field Operations at CTU: Los Angeles
The following is a list of the Directors Of Field Operations at CTU Los Angeles Domestic Unit.

Chiefs of Staff at CTU: Los Angeles
The following is a list of the Chief of Staff at CTU Los Angeles Domestic Unit.

Trivia

 * A clause known as Section 112 allows a senior agent to remove a director if they believe him/her to be unfit for duty due to mental instability. In the series' whole, only Jack Bauer and Curtis Manning invoked the article.
 * The phones used in the CTU offices are Cisco Unified IP 7900-series phones. MP3 and WAV audio files of the famous ring sound can be found on the Internet.
 * CTU: LA has been attacked a total of four times, thrice in the series and once in 24: The Game:
 * In Day 2, a regional terrorist cell hired by Joseph Wald and led by Eddie Grant bombs CTU with three charges.
 * In 24: The Game, Madsen's own men attack CTU, killing and kidnapping agents.
 * In Day 3, Nina Myers manages to get control of all the computers on CTU, nearly allowing hackers to get critical information about US spies all over the world.
 * In Day 5, the stolen ID Card of Lynn McGill allows a terrorist working for Vladmir Bierko to sneak and set off a canister of nerve gas, killing more than 40% of the CTU workforce.


 * Except for Day 5 and 6, CTU: LA has had a different appearance every year for a number of reasons:
 * Day 1, the "classic" CTU - Stayed that way until the end of the season
 * Day 2, the "classic" CTU - Until it is bombed in the third episode
 * Day 3, a remodeling based on "classic" CTU - due to the bombing of Day 2 (was also seen in 24: The Game)
 * Day 4, a completely revamped CTU
 * Day 5, as Season 4
 * Day 6, as Season 4 and 5, with updated computers and other minor changes
 * (It should be noted that CTU was "upgraded" in season 4 for a number of "behind the scene reasons" as well, including Production Designer Joseph Hodges annoyance of the classic CTU's constant use of the color orange as well the noisy steps to the Director's office.  The full list can be heard on the Complete Season 4 DVD set.)


 * An interesting point as to why it was specifically the Department of Homeland Security that absorbed CTU could be that historically, this new department (created in the aftermath of 9/11) has absorbed other well-established agencies, including the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).


 * CTU Domestic Units:
 * Austin
 * Boston
 * This is where Curtis Manning originally transferred from.
 * Denver
 * Milo Pressman transferred her after Day 1 until the start of Day 6.
 * Detroit
 * Before being transferred to Los Angeles, Nadia Yassir worked here as Director of Intelligence
 * Fairbanks
 * This CTU was featured in the comic, 24: Midnight Sun
 * Las Vegas
 * Los Angeles
 * The CTU 24 concentrates on the most.
 * New Orleans
 * In Day 1, CTU: LA made contact with CTU: New Orleans in an attempt to find Robert Ellis.
 * New York City
 * Before working in Seatle, Bill Buchanan first worked here as an agent.
 * Phoenix
 * In Day 3, CTU: Phoenix stopped the release of a weaponized virus in Flagstaff, AZ
 * Salt Lake City
 * San Diego
 * Agent Bern was about to hide in this CTU, when he was shanghied by Cheng Zhi.
 * San Francisco
 * This Acgency was mentioned by Chloe O'Brian toward the waning hours of Day 3, as the closest CTU that had an agent that resembled Jane Saunders more accurately than Kim Bauer.
 * Seattle
 * After Day 3, this is where Michelle transferred to. Before the start of Day 4, she and Bill Buchanan move back to CTU: LA.  Morris O'Brian worked here as well at some point before transferring to CTU: LA
 * St. Louis
 * Washington, D.C.
 * This is the Branch where Chloe O'Brian & Chase Edmunds transferred from after 24: The Game, and where Alberta Green transferred to after Day 1.
 * Virginia
 * This is where Erin Driscoll worked before transferring to CTU: LA. It is the only known CTU to be named after an entire state as opposed to an individual city.
 * Orlando
 * Omaha
 * Fargo