First Team is the nation's most secret rapid response team.
In the modern world where enemies can lay an attack and be in another country before it has gone off, the Intelligence community seems to be constantly playing catch-up. For this reason, the President established a small group named the Joint Services Special Demands Project but known simply as "The First Team" or sometimes just as "The Team". Its directive was to exist outside the realm of normal bureaucratic oversight, ready and able to strike at a moment's notice. It had a nearly unlimited budget and was closely affiliated with the Joint Special Operations Forces lead by Colonel Van Buren who had a battalion of Special Forces troops at his disposal.
The covert nature of the work of the First Team, though, was specifically dictated by the Deputy Director of Operations of the CIA but the actual operations were left to the lead agent of the small team. In the case of this series, that small group was lead by the highly experienced CIA officer, Bob Ferguson, known as Ferg. He was assisted by two commandos from Special Forces named Conners and Rankin and a Marine named Young.
The star of the series, though, is the former Yale quarterback and graduate, Ferguson. Ferg definitely did not have to work for the CIA if he didn't want to, indeed he could probably have not worked for anyone as he was one of the heirs to a fortune made by his grandfather in the construction business decades before. This money gave Ferg most anything he might need, a fine upbringing, the best schools, and a chance at any life he chose. He chose to get his hands dirty serving in the clandestine business of keeping his country safe.