“[The] CIA specifically invited/recruited smokejumpers into the covert operations business for several reasons: 1) We were damned good looking. 2) We didn’t get airsick. … 6) We were not active duty military, so our direct involvement in an affair of arms didn’t constitute an official act of war. … 9) We were deniable. … 10) Did I mention that we were damn good looking?” wrote Don Courtney in “Smokejumpers and the CIA.”