Skip to content

UTAW

UTAW (Unorthodox Tactics and Warfare) is the fictional division of the CIA in which Kurt Larson served before he was loaned to the FBI, and the source of most of his stranger skills and stories.
Type Organization (CIA division)
Aliases Unorthodox Tactics and Warfare; "unorthodox tactics and weapons division"; "my unit"
Parent CIA
Known members Kurt Larson (former)
Motto "Anything done in defense of the American people is legal" (unofficial)
First appearance Mentioned in Radford Horror 01; never seen

Overview

UTAW never appears. Everything known about it comes from Kurt, usually as a one-line explanation of why he knows how to do something alarming, and much of it is tall tale. Its reputation precedes it: when Kurt introduces himself to the FBI in Salt Lake City as CIA, "UTAW division", agent Carl Gardner has "heard of those boys, you know, explode the cigars and all that". (Radford Horror 01, Walkers 02)

Name

Kurt first mentions the unit on the task force's first morning, and when a colleague hears it as "Utah" he spells it out: "unorthodox tactics and weapons division". At the end of the Marblehead case Dante gives the same expansion, "Unorthodox Tactics and Weapons", and then corrects it: "Oh, Tactics and Warfare." The corrected form is used here. (Radford Horror 01, Summer Service 06)

Motto

Kurt gives the unit's motto, which he admits is unofficial, as the team limps away from Marblehead.

Quote

"Just always keep in your heart UTAW's motto: anything done in defense of the American people is legal." (Dante as Kurt, Summer Service 06)

He repeats it in Georgia with one word changed.

Quote

"Just remember, anything done in service to the American people is legal. At least that's what they always told me in my unit." (Dante as Kurt, Appalachia 03)

What UTAW did

All of the following is Kurt's account.

  • Animal weapons. "We were on the cutting edge, man: bombs on bats, dolphins, dogs, gerbils, rats, cats, frisbees", and boomerangs. His conclusion is that it was a bad idea and that any plan with moving parts around an animal falls apart; Andre calls this "the voice of experience with hundreds of failed bat bombs". (Radford Horror 02, Radford Horror 04)
  • Directed energy. It never had anything like the flashlight weapon, to Kurt's lasting resentment: "You know what I could have done to Castro with that heat ray?" (Radford Horror 04)
  • Castro. Exploding cigars, by reputation. (Walkers 02)
  • Drugs and training. "LSD live-fire" exercises, which Dante says were part of his original pitch for the character; crews kept in sleep shifts; and training "not to jump to conclusions, but instead maintain a possibility space of potential likelihoods". (Radford Horror 01, Radford Horror 04)
  • The occult. "Psychic dream exercises", and a tulpa summoning with LSD involved that Kurt thinks may have worked. He later insists that "we never successfully summoned a tulpa" and that "you're not allowed to"; when Zack reminded the table that Kurt tried to make one, Dante answered, "Tried nothing. Carl is dead." (Radford Horror 04, Appalachia 06, Walkers 01, Radford Horrors 03)
  • Paperwork. "We burned half the paperwork, but, like, what didn't get burned was mostly fine." (Walkers 01)

In the field

Kurt uses UTAW methods throughout the campaign. After the dusk event in Utah he runs a few quick safety checks "in UTAW fashion", starting by throwing some trash out of the car window. (Walkers 03)

He also uses it as a yardstick. Examining a dead man in a Chewbacca costume in Georgia, he checks the body for armor, finds none and rules out his old unit: "he's not UTAW, he's not one of my boys. So that's one whole theory crossed off." (Appalachia 06)

Quote

"Kinda narrows it down to pervert, doesn't it?" (Dante as Kurt, Appalachia 06)

In Utah he offers to recruit a promising local kid: "UTAW could reach out. Always need free thinkers." (Walkers 03)

Trivia

  • UTAW is heard as "Utah" both times its name is explained. In the Marblehead finale Andre asks "Is that Utah's motto?", and Ezra agrees that it is probably not the motto of the state. (Radford Horror 01, Summer Service 06)
  • Zack's reaction to the motto was that it sounded like "more of a CIA thing". (Appalachia 03)
  • Asked how many of his people would wear a Chewbacca costume, Kurt says it comes up: "We do birthday parties... we got Guevara." (Appalachia 06)
  • Rita, on a mystery about a house's water supply: "That's UTAW's problem." (Roulet Estate 02)

Appearances

Mentioned only.