The Department of Defense
One of the government agencies the Syndicate used as a front.
In The X-Files, the Department of Defense is one of the government agencies through which the Syndicate works: its hitmen, most of them ex-military, worked as a front in agencies such as the FBI, the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency, and the Cigarette Smoking Man's listed occupations include the Department of Defense.
Quick Facts
- Affiliation
- United States Government; The Syndicate
Lore & Background
Michael Kritschgau, an employee of the Department of Defense, claims to know the entire truth behind the government conspiracy. In season five, Mulder breaks into the Department of Defense to retrieve another chip to be implanted in Scully's neck to save her from cancer. Mulder later shoots Department of Defense agent Scott Ostlehoff in the head to obscure his identity, and he and Scully use the situation to fake Mulder's death.
Reader's Guide
The Lone Gunmen contact Mulder and Scully about a successful attempt by a friend of theirs to hack the Department of Defense computer system. Knowle Rohrer, a former Master Sergeant, continues his military career by joining the Department of Defense.
More in Factions & Organizations
Elsewhere in The X-Files
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