Looking on resources for government superteams

[BishopofB&W]

I'm looking for ideas on how a government would organize a superteam. Support staff, logistics, that kind of thing. Should they be federal marshalls like in PRIMUS or something else entirely? Also, what kind of recruitment strategies? I don't mean just "work for us or die" or "we'll make your criminal record go away". I mean, how would they go about attracting a presumably public-spirited person to apply for a slot on a team? Government pension plan, maybe? Comics, websites, movies, TV, books and anything else you can think of would be helpful. My goal is to have some kind of internal consistency in government paranormal operations.

Thanks.

[Vondy]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

It depends on the teams charter.

 

If they are intended to function domestically they would likely be a law enforcement agency (department of justice).

 

Its entirely possible that such a group would be operated by the FBI, who has the broadest mandate of any federal agency, and has a number of interesting programs. In that case, characters would have to qualify to be FBI agents, attend the FBI academy, and then be assigned to the "meta-crime division."

 

Another possibility in that regard to a justice department scenario would be a team tasked to assist all federal agencies on a case by case basis. In such an event they would be special agents of a DOJ project (the project director would be answerable to the attorney general).

 

If they are intended to function as a "national security team" then there are three (likely) possibilities:

 

1) a DoD project (probably civillian like the DIA)

2) a team organized under the department of homeland defense

3) a special project within the intelligence community answerable to the NSC

 

I would check out the FBI and CIA websites (both have org charts incidentally), and the homeland defense sites.

[Vondy]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

A link to the FBI org chart.

 

http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/todaysfbi/orgchart.pdf

[Vondy]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

The DOJ Org Chart

[BishopofB&W]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

THANKS.

 

I remember in Stormwatch, they actively searched for people who already showed strong paranormal abilities before catalyzing them. It seemed like all Stormwatch offered them was cool uniforms, room and board, and a space station to live on. Few, if any, seemed to have any dependents or any other way to appeal to them beyond playing on whatever sense of philanthropy they had.

 

A private superteam could draw all kinds of hopefuls just from its reputation. I was thinking that even though a government team could do the same, a lot of people would shy away from it because they didn't want to get involved with the political angles so directly. I'm trying to think of ways, both mundane and otherwise, that a recruiter could "sweeten" the offer.

[Vondy]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

1. A legitimate/legal outlet for their abilities

2. God and country

3. benefits (government stability & retirement)

4. Golden parachute (early full retirement and keep working)

5. Specialized pay-scale. GS-13 + % Dollars for super-hazard pay.

6. Government resources

[BishopofB&W]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

1. A legitimate/legal outlet for their abilities

2. God and country

3. benefits (government stability & retirement)

4. Golden parachute (early full retirement and keep working)

5. Specialized pay-scale. GS-13 + % Dollars for super-hazard pay.

6. Government resources

 

Yesssss. More like that. Ways to appeal to everyone from the idealist to the mercenary. They could also pull strings in Immigration to smooth the way for relatives to imigrate from a war-torn country. Get a terminally ill child into an experimental treatment program. Really, it occurs to me that there's a lot of things that normally would be called gross influence-peddling that could be re-cast as honorable in this context.

[pinecone]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

I used to use the idea of direct requitment...Primus allows Silver Avengers to go on "sabatticals" (often to provide deneability) and after teaming up with a super, he or she makes a pitch.."Hey, a publicly spirited person like your selve should think about working for the government" Both Primus and the FBI sponser or mentor super teams (this is not the official way...in the most recent write up Primus is under the FBI/DOJ) I also used the federal marshals as a source of government authority for official supers......

[Trebuchet]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

I think it most likely a government superteam would be treated much as if they're some sort of special operations team, sort of a super-SWAT or super-SEAL team. They'd likely get specialized training and equipment, a training base, and some sort of transport.

 

Some basic skills in common such as Teamwork and Tactics would go a long way toward cementing comeraderie amongst the team members. I'd also suggest uniforms rather than costumes and state-of-the-art encrypted radios.

[Metaphysician]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

Similar motivations could be used to attract superhumans into military service.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Looking on resources for government superteams

 

I rather liked the premise used for Executive Sanction from the Allies sourcebook: a representative was chosen from each of several federal agencies, either a paranormal already in their employ or one with an background appropriate to the organization who was approached to join. Kind of an "equal opportunity" government team.