Not a Positive Sign

Exodus of senior agents creates FBI 'brain drain'

Since the al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington, more than three dozen senior-level agents, assistant directors and section chiefs have left the bureau in what some agents are labeling "brain drain."

More are likely to follow over the next year because the current 197 senior agents have an average service time of 19 years and four months. That is just eight months shy of the 20 years of service required for agents to retire with full pension benefits.