Tag James Bond

Career intelligence officer Alex Younger is the new chief of MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), according to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Friday.

The 51-year old Younger is now the new “M”, popularized in James Bond movies but otherwise known as “C” after the first head Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming, replacing Sir John Sawers who is stepping down after 5 years as chief of the country’s spy agency. The appointment is a sign of continuity of policy and strategy as Younger has served as the right-hand man for Sawers.

Younger has oversaw the agency’s worldwide intelligence operations the past 2 years. He had overseas postings in Europe and the Middle East and was the senior SIS officer in Afghanistan. He also led MI6’s work on counter-terrorism in the run up to the London Olympic Games 2012, according to the FCO.

The SIS, commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the British intelligence agency that supplies foreign intelligence to the British government. It was founded in 1909 and currently employs around 3,200 people with its headquarters in Vauxhall Cross, central London.

Kudos to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

What better way to celebrate true British culture and identity (and yes, humor) than to have James Bond (actor Daniel Craig) escorting the Queen to the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in true 007 fashion?

A brilliant idea, but I have three immediate wishes.

I wish other English spy characters like Austin Powers and Johnny English had also featured in this truly comedic, quintessentially British moment.

I also wish all the past screen Bond actors were on hand to usher Her Majesty to her seat.

And I wish, ahem, US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney would play the role of party pooper and jump out of nowhere to spoil the event in his very own disconcerting way.

Well, no worries, all the real Bonds and security staff would jump forward to salvage the moment.

Fat chance.

The real Bonds are clearly stirred, shaken and not at all prepared to take extra risks, given their low morale and jaw-dropping poor compensation package. And the general public would probably not count on the outsourced security and protection industry as well (Read the entire column here and there).