Is Bond more SAS than actual secret agent?

osris · December 2010

Is Bond more SAS than actual secret agent, in that he’s given specific missions, involving physical danger, usually requiring the destruction of property, whereas a secret agent is someone not previously employed by a security service but who is recruited by an intelligence officer of one of these services to spy for that service over a considerable period of time; such spying usually being confined to the area of employment the agent was already working in before recruitment? For example, someone who worked for the ministry of defence of one country being recruited by another country’s security services to spy on that ministry of defence. It seems to me that Bond does little of this sort of “bread and butter” work for him to strictly be considered a “secret agent”.

thesecretagent · December 2010

Yes. I would imagine his roots would be SBS though - given his naval background. He comes over more NCO than officer to me as well. He's a million miles from the MI5 agents I observed whilst driving them in Northern Ireland - and although I have never had any dealings with MI6, I can't see the two services would be much different.

osris · December 2010

He's a million miles from the MI5 agents I observed whilst driving them in Northern Ireland

Were you some sort of a chauffeur for them? Being new to this forum, I'm not up to speed on anything the posters here have said about themselves in the past. I suppose you can't talk about it, anyway.

thesecretagent · December 2010

I was part of their protection detail. Towards the end of my service, I trained in close protection and evasive driving to prepare myself for my new career in the civilian secuirty circuit. I was then assigned to a tour in Northern Ireland to pay-off all that expensive training.

) The British Army doesn't like giving something for nothing...

osris · December 2010

Fascinating...but no doubt stressful.

CmdrAtticus · December 2010

Bond is not one would consider a classic "spy", as is the type of agent that only gathers intelligence and nothing more. Fleming's idea was that the 00's were a select group of agents that would also be used as saboteurs and assassins as well as intelligent gatherers - similar to the SOE agents of WWII. However, this was only on special occasions. If one reads the novels carefully, one will see that the 00's only have these type of assignments once or twice a year (because these type of special jobs would not be routine events). The rest of the time they spend training and studying in the various arts they would need to keep on top of - hand to hand combat, shooting, evasive driving, lock picking, scuba, explosives, codes, surveillance, etc. This would take up a lot of their month to month schedule and would keep the "trigger ready" when they were needed. The SAS commandos and the like are only like Bond in that they have some similar training. Their mission is totally different - they are part of the Armed Services and are used during wartime or against terrorist threats, similar to the Navy Seals. Fleming's idea of Bond was also unique in that he had the Service assign him to jobs that required posing as corporate - upper management business types or affluent gamblers, in order to get close to the wealthy villiains such as Goldfinger and Largo. There may have been a few agents like this used during WWII, but nothing like that would exist today.

Ricardo C. · December 2010

CmdrAtticus wrote:

Bond is not one would consider a classic "spy", as is the type of agent that only gathers intelligence and nothing more. Fleming's idea was that the 00's were a select group of agents that would also be used as saboteurs and assassins as well as intelligent gatherers - similar to the SOE agents of WWII. However, this was only on special occasions. If one reads the novels carefully, one will see that the 00's only have these type of assignments once or twice a year (because these type of special jobs would not be routine events). The rest of the time they spend training and studying in the various arts they would need to keep on top of - hand to hand combat, shooting, evasive driving, lock picking, scuba, explosives, codes, surveillance, etc. This would take up a lot of their month to month schedule and would keep the "trigger ready" when they were needed. The SAS commandos and the like are only like Bond in that they have some similar training. Their mission is totally different - they are part of the Armed Services and are used during wartime or against terrorist threats, similar to the Navy Seals. Fleming's idea of Bond was also unique in that he had the Service assign him to jobs that required posing as corporate - upper management business types or affluent gamblers, in order to get close to the wealthy villiains such as Goldfinger and Largo. There may have been a few agents like this used during WWII, but nothing like that would exist today.

Yes and everyday for Bond pretty much entails normal office work. I have also noticed in the books the big assignments only come once or twice in every year.

Thunderpussy · December 2010

With the Movies these Big missions used to come along Once every two Years.

)

CmdrAtticus · December 2010

Or many more years depending on the finances of the studio!!

osris · January 2011

CmdrAtticus wrote:

Bond is not one would consider a classic "spy", as is the type of agent that only gathers intelligence and nothing more. Fleming's idea was that the 00's were a select group of agents that would also be used as saboteurs and assassins as well as intelligent gatherers - similar to the SOE agents of WWII. However, this was only on special occasions. If one reads the novels carefully, one will see that the 00's only have these type of assignments once or twice a year (because these type of special jobs would not be routine events). The rest of the time they spend training and studying in the various arts they would need to keep on top of - hand to hand combat, shooting, evasive driving, lock picking, scuba, explosives, codes, surveillance, etc. This would take up a lot of their month to month schedule and would keep the "trigger ready" when they were needed. The SAS commandos and the like are only like Bond in that they have some similar training. Their mission is totally different - they are part of the Armed Services and are used during wartime or against terrorist threats, similar to the Navy Seals. Fleming's idea of Bond was also unique in that he had the Service assign him to jobs that required posing as corporate - upper management business types or affluent gamblers, in order to get close to the wealthy villiains such as Goldfinger and Largo. There may have been a few agents like this used during WWII, but nothing like that would exist today.

Good answer. I only just saw it now. It answers a similar question I posed on another thread also:

http://www.ajb007.co.uk/post/477285/#p477285

Is Bond more SAS than actual secret agent?

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