President Barack Obama visited CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., to personally thank officers Friday for their work in tracking Osama bin Laden.
The president ended his remarks by saying intelligence agents miss many of the conventional rewards of success.
"So most of you will never get headlines for the work that you do. You won't get ticker-tape parades," he said. "But as you go about your work with incredible diligence and dedication every single day, I hope all of you understand how important it is, how grateful I am, and that you have the thanks of a grateful nation."
CIA Director Leon Panetta, who introduced the president, said he was grateful Obama made the "gutsy" decision to go after Osama bin Laden based on the available information. Navy SEALS killed bin Laden in April in his compound in Abbottabad,Pakistan.
Obama said this was his third visit to Langley. The first was in 2009 as his presidency began and the second last year to honor seven officers killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.
The president got a laugh when he said the operation made more work for the CIA.
"Because we not only took out the symbol and operational leader of al Qaeda, we walked off with his files -- the largest treasure trove of intelligence ever seized from a terrorist leader," he said. "Many of you now are working around the clock; you didn't have much time to celebrate."