Chris Hodge is an agent with the CIA.
One important detail to mention at the very beginning is that these two adventures about Hodge working under the auspices of Langley are billed as 'military thrillers' so readers should be ready to expect a major cohesion between the two walks-of-life. Hodge is trained by the Agency and takes his orders from someone deeply connected to them but his actions are more reminiscent of what a soldier would be asked to do, albeit a whole lot more covertly and with the added joy in knowing that if caught, disavowal is a certainty.
We are told in a blurb that "Chris Hodge is a modern-day Renaissance man who has just graduated from MIT. His plan to make an impact in the world is to address the challenges posed by Islamic extremism from academia's ivory tower. Hodge's career trajectory takes a complete 180 when Abbott Mazuski, the intelligence officer who has clandestinely guided key events in Hodge's life from a young age, reveals himself. Intrigued by the challenge, convinced in the solution, and with the promise of information on his deceased Marine father who died in shadowy circumstances in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, Hodge agrees to work under Mazuski."
The comment above about his being a Renaissance man is quite true, including his proficiency in languages. In fact, one of the 'Rules' that Hodge is given by Mazuski is to "be fluent in Italian, Spanish, French, and Russian, with professional working capacity in Arabic and Japanese, and at least limited working proficiency in Mandarin Chinese". His impressive credentials do not stop there; Hodge is a graduate with honors from MIT and there is no doubt in anyone's mind, including Hodge, that he could do whatever he set out to accomplish. It would be Mazuski who would recognize Hodge's genius at a very young age and who guided Hodge along the path that Mazuski wanted from then on.