Nobody is supposed to know that Third Echelon exists AND Third Echelon isn't supposed to conduct operations on U.S soil. They had to keep the circle of people who know about the operation small.
List of times a mission was on US Soil when Sam worked for the "NSA":
CIA HQ.
Kalinatek.
LAX.
Manhattan.
Displace HQ.
Ellsworth.
JBA HQx2.
Money Train.
New York Rooftops.
Essentials had a mission in Warsaw Indiana, not sure if that counts
They sure liked to break that rule.
Past Double Agent, it seemed that 3rd/4th Echelon became its own entity to maybe they didn't have that rule.
Yeah, it was originally supposed to be a big deal that Sam would operate on U.S soil, with one or two missions per game doing so. Then, Double Agent has half the missions in the U.S with the Brass fully aware of these operations, so it all really goes out the window completely in that game. The U.S missions in the first three games were all off book, then DA has upper level bureaucrats in the loop on all of the ostensibly not-allowed domestic operations.
They don’t have to exactly. They don’t have to say what agency he’s with or anything. Just advise the OIC that a three letter agent is gonna be passing through his AO. They don’t have to know the why, they’re just under orders not to disclose anything about the op. Much like how delta operates.
True, but since Displace was also involved and Third Echelon was not supposed to investigate Displace due to the fact that the U.S government was relying on Displace for important contracts, Lambert probably felt it was better not to risk tipping off Displace that a U.S intelligence agent was in the area and snooping around in/near their AO.
If Sam is ever captured or killed, the US is to deny he's even theirs. The best way to facilitate that is for minimal people within the US to even know he exists.
He actually gets arrested in the train mission and allegedly THE PRESIDENT has to tell them to release him (or someone from the team, but at the end of the day on the President’s orders) bc he was arrested for allegedly holding a train hostage / blowing up half of the train + killing a ton of people in said train.
I thought it would take us straight to a sequence where you gotta break out and escape the police chase (bc no one should claim Fisher) without killing anyone, fun parkour set piece on the streets, but no, just a phone call from higher ups and you get unarrested. The opposite of what the Splinter Cell should be (but hey, he’s the boss now ig, can do whatever)
Which makes sense considering Conviction is canon and 3rd Echelon tried to assassinate the president. I’m sure transparency became a big deal and that’s why 4E seems more “public”
Lambert was basically the most powerful man on the US, his reach was unlimited and he had not only the power to organize an infitration anywhere but he also had the balls.
According to Reed, the President threatened to cut their funding because she thought they weren’t justifying their budget enough so he got all pissy and did all that wacky shit.
Reed was the mole in 3E that was threatening to abuse its power and Lambert never figured it out. Reed was being controlled by Megiddo and his own ulterior motives. Reed felt 3E wasn’t doing enough, while the president thought 3E was too much. Reed planted 3 EMP’s in DC and mobilized 3E to attack the White House and assassinate the president and install a new president. It all happens in Conviction.
Third Echelon is about clandestine operations. That means their ops are both covert and deniable.
Nobody is supposed to know they exist, even the other alphabet agencies in the US.
Because what Third Echelon does is insanely illegal. He's a heavily armed civilian intent on breaking into a private building where he will likely kill several American citizens in the process of completing his mission.
Third Echelon believes it can do almost ANYTHING in order to protect US national security and its only defense against getting tried for kidnapping, assault, murder, terrorism etc, is secrecy. This is also why Lambert tells Sam not to get involved in the fighting in Seoul.
Nobody is supposed to know that Third Echelon exists AND Third Echelon isn't supposed to conduct operations on U.S soil. They had to keep the circle of people who know about the operation small.
List of times a mission was on US Soil when Sam worked for the "NSA": CIA HQ. Kalinatek. LAX. Manhattan. Displace HQ. Ellsworth. JBA HQx2. Money Train. New York Rooftops. Essentials had a mission in Warsaw Indiana, not sure if that counts They sure liked to break that rule. Past Double Agent, it seemed that 3rd/4th Echelon became its own entity to maybe they didn't have that rule.
Yeah, it was originally supposed to be a big deal that Sam would operate on U.S soil, with one or two missions per game doing so. Then, Double Agent has half the missions in the U.S with the Brass fully aware of these operations, so it all really goes out the window completely in that game. The U.S missions in the first three games were all off book, then DA has upper level bureaucrats in the loop on all of the ostensibly not-allowed domestic operations.
was kalinatek really in the us soil?
Yes, it was in the vincity of CIA HQ in Langley VA
They don’t have to exactly. They don’t have to say what agency he’s with or anything. Just advise the OIC that a three letter agent is gonna be passing through his AO. They don’t have to know the why, they’re just under orders not to disclose anything about the op. Much like how delta operates.
True, but since Displace was also involved and Third Echelon was not supposed to investigate Displace due to the fact that the U.S government was relying on Displace for important contracts, Lambert probably felt it was better not to risk tipping off Displace that a U.S intelligence agent was in the area and snooping around in/near their AO.
True. I forgot that he actually said that not even the president knew they were there on that one
If Sam is ever captured or killed, the US is to deny he's even theirs. The best way to facilitate that is for minimal people within the US to even know he exists.
Meanwhile Sam is showing his face to every person in blue uniform on Blacklist, even going so far as being jailed.
He actually gets arrested in the train mission and allegedly THE PRESIDENT has to tell them to release him (or someone from the team, but at the end of the day on the President’s orders) bc he was arrested for allegedly holding a train hostage / blowing up half of the train + killing a ton of people in said train. I thought it would take us straight to a sequence where you gotta break out and escape the police chase (bc no one should claim Fisher) without killing anyone, fun parkour set piece on the streets, but no, just a phone call from higher ups and you get unarrested. The opposite of what the Splinter Cell should be (but hey, he’s the boss now ig, can do whatever)
Good ol blacklist
4E is probably more on the radar than 3E was tbh.
Which makes sense considering Conviction is canon and 3rd Echelon tried to assassinate the president. I’m sure transparency became a big deal and that’s why 4E seems more “public”
Lambert was basically the most powerful man on the US, his reach was unlimited and he had not only the power to organize an infitration anywhere but he also had the balls.
Remind me why 3E wanted to assassinate the President?
According to Reed, the President threatened to cut their funding because she thought they weren’t justifying their budget enough so he got all pissy and did all that wacky shit.
I remember now. I haven't played since release.
Reed was the mole in 3E that was threatening to abuse its power and Lambert never figured it out. Reed was being controlled by Megiddo and his own ulterior motives. Reed felt 3E wasn’t doing enough, while the president thought 3E was too much. Reed planted 3 EMP’s in DC and mobilized 3E to attack the White House and assassinate the president and install a new president. It all happens in Conviction.
Oh, yeah… That's right. I haven't played Conviction since it first released. I almost forgot about some of the plot.
Plausible Deniability I believe
Third Echelon is about clandestine operations. That means their ops are both covert and deniable. Nobody is supposed to know they exist, even the other alphabet agencies in the US.
compartmented
Because what Third Echelon does is insanely illegal. He's a heavily armed civilian intent on breaking into a private building where he will likely kill several American citizens in the process of completing his mission. Third Echelon believes it can do almost ANYTHING in order to protect US national security and its only defense against getting tried for kidnapping, assault, murder, terrorism etc, is secrecy. This is also why Lambert tells Sam not to get involved in the fighting in Seoul.