Career uncovered: 'Special Agent'

By Stephanie Morris
CNN

"Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI"
Candice DeLong
Hyperion, 303 pages, May

(CNN) -- Apprehending terrorists, chasing after spies, tracking down child abductors and busting drug operations -- topics that might fill a season's worth of a new television drama.

But this script could be written by Candice DeLong, a former agent and head field-profiler in the FBI. DeLong's book, "Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI," is out from Hyperion this month.

In it, she regales readers with her "war stories," weaving bits of safety information into the narrative. For 20 years on the inside of some of the most important and highly publicized cases, DeLong often faced a bigger battle as a woman inside the FBI than on the outside as a single parent.

In 1980, she left a career as a psychiatric nurse and chose to join the FBI -- it was a time when only 4 percent of agents were women. Nowadays, they make up 15 percent of the agency's work force.

QUICK VOTE
	What would keep you from going into special-agent work tomorrow? I'm too old. I'd hate not being able to brag to everybody about what I was doing. I've got a family to think about. I'm not up for the background check they'd run on me. I'm just chicken. View Results

Raised with three brothers, DeLong was unafraid of the almost all-male environment of the FBI. She was used to being thick-skinned and says she relied on her sense of humor to survive.

She says she endured some pranks and skepticism during her first 10 years at the agency. The hijinks tapered off as she gained seniority.

Surprisingly, she says, a male superior once told her early in her career that she couldn't handle stress.

Like many agents, she says, she had three ambitions in mind when she started FBI work: She wanted to rescue a child from an abductor, catch a class-A fugitive and capture a terrorist. She accomplished all three.

Scare tactics

Among the work that came her way was undercover investigation in the Unabomber case that eventually led to the arrest of Ted Kaczynski. But while working on that case, she says she had quite a scare -- at the media's expense.

"The media found out we were in a small town in Montana," she says, "looking for the Unabomber. And we were absolutely terrified that the media would break the story before we were ready. Eventually they did force us to arrest him before we were ready."

DeLong says taking this gamble was nothing new for her. Earlier in the case she'd picked up a hitchhiker she suspected was the Unabomber, only to find out it wasn't the right guy. Was she scared?

"My heart was in my throat in the truck. I thought it was him. I really wanted it to be him."

When she eventually did come face to face with the man who would be convicted as the Unabomber, he wasn't what she expected.

"I found him a little dull," she says. "Here's this guy who was the most sought-after criminal, with worldwide notoriety. And he was just a little guy, all dirty, with funny-looking hair."

While some describe DeLong as courageous and call her a heroine for such things as returning abducted children to their parents and catching terrorists and murderers, she says she's uncomfortable with the label.

"For me it was fun," she says. "It was easier than being a psychiatric nurse. You don't go into the FBI to get rich and you don't go into the FBI for positive reinforcement.

"You have to make your own music and you have to be happy with how it sounds."

What it takes

DeLong cites four critical elements a person must exhibit to be an effective and successful agent.

•  "Be both a good listener and a good speaker. Practice good verbal skills."

Candice DeLong

•  "Be tenacious. Don't give up easily on anything."

•  "Be happy with the fact that you're in it for the long haul. Every now and then you'll be having so much fun that you won't believe you're getting paid for it, but this won't happen everyday."

•  "Be thick-skinned. If you can't take teasing or are easily embarrassed don't join the FBI."

DeLong says her career was hardly always rosy.

And she took what she considers her biggest risk because she wanted to give her son the best life possible. When she ran into financial problems, she started moonlighting as a nurse, a practice forbidden by the FBI.

Near the end of her career she was caught and endured an administrative trial. Luckily she was able to leave with her pension intact.

Since leaving the FBI last July, DeLong has been on the lecture circuit, pursuing a passion she picked up while an agent: Safety issues for women and children.

Today, she speaks at various colleges and universities in both criminology and women's studies programs.

Looking back, Candice DeLong, says, she has no regrets.

"I probably would have had an easier time if I hadn't been so outspoken," she says. "But it's my nature."