Dean was quite curious about the FBI, that marvelous department that could intervene in any violation of federal law.
Massa didn't hold back and briefly explained some of the FBI's internal workings. The FBI is well-known both domestically and internationally, but its salary situation is actually difficult to explain succinctly. It has numerous internal departments. Overall, employees are divided into 19 Levels, A through D, with A1 being the lowest and D4 the highest. The D-Level positions are supervisory.
As a Trace Tracking expert, Massa was currently an instructor at the training base. His rank, C1, was equivalent to a field supervisor at an FBI regional office. This Level was already quite high. But Massa's annual salary was only just over $70,000. This was only because he was stationed in a bustling place like Los Angeles, where additional allowances brought his pay to that Level. After deducting about 26% for state and local taxes... well... he took home roughly $53,000.
