# Global Response Staff > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Global Response Staff," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/grs-global-response-staff/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The CIA's protective-security program for case officers operating in high-threat environments; run for the agency by Blackwater; especially active in Baghdad's Green Zone during the Iraq War, where movement between fixed locations was treated as life-threatening.* - **Mission:** Close-protection security for CIA case officers - **Operated by:** [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater) (private contractor) - **Principal deployment site:** Green Zone, Baghdad - **Personnel ethos:** Throw oneself between the case officer and the threat so the meeting can be completed The **Global Response Staff** (GRS) is the [Central Intelligence Agency](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia)'s protective-security program for case officers operating in high-threat environments. The program was operated for the CIA by [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater) under contract during the Iraq War period and its immediate aftermath.[1][2] ## Origin and formalization GRS originated informally — *"It was just like, 'Hey, you doing anything for the next week? We're going to need for you to do this thing. Don't tell anybody.'"* — before being formalized into a permanent agency program after [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s departure from the CIA in 2004.[3][2] ## Baghdad and the Green Zone The principal early deployment was Baghdad's Green Zone — the fortified U.S. presence in central Baghdad — where movement between fixed locations was, in practical terms, *"taking your life into your hands every time."* GRS personnel were the protective screen that made case officer work in the city possible.[4] ## Ethos Kiriakou describes the role in functional terms: *"Your job is literally to throw your body in front of the other guy so the other guy doesn't get killed and can complete the meeting."*[5] ## Before it was an office Kiriakou was no longer at the agency when GRS was formally stood up, and describes learning of it by accident. He was dating a woman whose soon-to-be ex-husband was a GRS officer; when she used the term he asked what it meant, got a puzzled look and an explanation, and reacted with *"Oh — they've made it official?"*[6] What it replaced was informal: *"It was just like, hey, you doing anything for the next week? We're going to need for you to do this thing. Don't tell anybody."* Now, he says, it is an office.[7] ## What the job is On its purpose Kiriakou corrects himself mid-answer — protection of leaders more than case officers, then no, case officers too, particularly as it related to operating in the Green Zone in Baghdad, where most of the work was done because the zone was easily infiltrated and moving from point A to point B meant taking your life in your hands.[7][8] His assessment of the people who do it is unqualified. Of many agency jobs one can say it is not for everyone; of this one, *"you really have to be fearless… your job is literally to throw your body in front of the other guy so the other guy doesn't get killed and can complete the meeting."*[8] ## See also - [Blackwater](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/blackwater) - [Ground Branch](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ground-branch) - Case officer - [Special Activities Division](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/special-activities-division) ## Sources 1. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 1:01:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=3665s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/ 2. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 3:18:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=11900s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/ 3. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 3:17:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=11870s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/ 4. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 3:18:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=11930s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/ 5. Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit (2025-08-31), at 3:19:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3FxH39oYsA&t=11961s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-31-dalton-fischer-mossad-blackwater/ 6. Reveals Terrifying CIA Technology (2026-05-25), at 11:22. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLkVGSYwYU&t=682s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-john-kiriakou-podcast-reveals-terrifying-cia-technology/ 7. Reveals Terrifying CIA Technology (2026-05-25), at 11:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLkVGSYwYU&t=714s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-john-kiriakou-podcast-reveals-terrifying-cia-technology/ 8. Reveals Terrifying CIA Technology (2026-05-25), at 12:24. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csLkVGSYwYU&t=744s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-john-kiriakou-podcast-reveals-terrifying-cia-technology/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/grs-global-response-staff/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt