I just realized something folks; I could have been working at CTU. Where does this wistful and slightly remorseful statement come from? In 24: The Official CTU Operations Manual there is brief description of offices and facilities at the Los Angeles campus, including the CTU Walsh Memorial Library. “…one of the most extensive collections of military and intelligence journals and academic papers… staffed by some of the country’s most experience reference librarians.”
There you go. My resume has a five-year gig in the tech library of a defense contractor, with Secret-Squirrel security clearance as the deal-maker. I could have been cheek by jowl with Jack Bauer! Ya think?
Enough about me, let’s delve into the book. With a slick and smart presentation, the Operations Manual comes in a hardcover slipcase. Complete with an “Eyes Only” warning before you actually open the pages, the book is a cross between glossy collection of photo stills taken from various 24 episodes and SOP text on all types of cops/robbers/terrorists/government mole scenarios.
All very exciting.
The 200-or-so page book contains typical sections one might expect to find: Interrogation, Surveillance, Combat. Fantasy stuff, really. The average person’s potential for engaging in surveillance or interrogation is nil, but it’s a fun exercise to flip through the guidelines for those activities.
Other pages give tidbits that we love, but didn’t know we needed. For example under section B – Gear; there’s a list of materials that a field agent should stock in his handy-dandy messenger bag. A few must-haves: aspirin, cold compress, Ziploc bags, polarized sunglasses, two 9 mm semi-automatics, and of course, a Fisher Space Pen. And right away, one of the biggest mysteries of the show is answered.
Jack actually does carry batteries and a charger for his phone/PDA.
The book has also answered another 24 mystery. During season five I wrote a piece mentioning CTU’s TAC team and their use of assorted inexplicable hand signals that – to my untrained eyes – looked like a bit of fun with Charades or MLB pitching signals. But in the Manual, I see in section E (Combat), a chart with Field Agent Hand Signals that put to rest all the guess-work involved in figuring out what Jack and friends were really trying to convey. Whew!
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