John Carpenter is an agent with the CIA.
One aspect about Carpenter that becomes quite evident once we start following him in his assignments is how very, very good he is at it. This would certainly have come as a surprise to anyone who knew him in the early days.
Carpenter "had been average all his life. Still was in many ways. Taller than many, but still passing for average. Average weight, although muscled more now. Average looks. He had a strong jaw and gray-blue eyes that pierced like a hawk's, but spotting him in a crowd would leave him forgotten. His only distinguishable personality trait was his seriousness. People described him as cold. Grim, even. John knew he didn't empathize the same way as others, or process emotions as readily. But he still felt average in all the other ways. He didn't feel like a special person. Not really. But his training begged otherwise." This training would not come immediately.
Being of both US and Canadian parents, Carpenter had spent most of his youth in the latter but when he decided to not go to college, he listened to his American father's advice and joined the US Navy. He had expected to be shipped to Africa or the Middle East but instead he was dispatched to Latin America. an area about which he knew next to nothing when he was ordered there but for which he almost immediately found a tremendous love.
"He was in Panama first, then Nicaragua, then Guatemala. He picked up the language, the feel, the nuance in each region as best he could." He found the people and the geography totally to his liking. His desire to become more a part of it meant that he spent his free time assimilating, "refusing card games in favor of language lessons" as well as sitting with innumerable locals who would explain the "cultural particularities" of each country.
It was after that the "brass took notice" and decided that to be even more efficient, he needed additional training and he was encouraged to apply to the SEALS. "It was the most challenging thing he'd ever done in his life. It would probably remain that way. If John had thought Navy training was tough, becoming a SEAL was pure hell. He was broken down and built back up, stronger in ways he couldn't imagine ever becoming."
More training would come, including an opportunity to attend college and earn a degree, majoring of course in Latin American. That is when the Firm started requesting his participation in their operations. They never identified themselves as the CIA but he knew.