Curtis Manning

Curtis Manning was the Director of Field Operations of CTU Los Angeles. Previously, he was head of Tactical and Assistant Director of Field Operations in CTU Los Angeles. During the events of Day 6, he took Hamri Al-Assad hostage and Jack Bauer was forced to kill Curtis.

Before Day 4
Curtis Manning attended the University of Massachusetts and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. He joined the United States Army, serving as a 2nd Infantry and, later, as the commander of the 32nd Support Group Special Forces Battalion during Desert Storm. The unit was ambushed by members of Hamri Al-Assad's terrorist organization. Although Curtis survived, five of his men were killed, and two were taken hostage to be executed on video by Assad's lieutenant after begging for their lives. Curtis held a deep grudge against Assad ever since.

Back in the United States, Curtis graduated from MASD's Basic SWAT School and joined the Boston Police Department. He eventually joined that city's CTU domestic unit, as a field agent and assistant Director of Field Operations. Curtis later transferred to CTU Los Angeles, where he was a member of Chet Blackburn's strike team, and also took part in an undercover operation with Jack Bauer at the Cha-Cha Lounge in Las Vegas. He ultimately transferred to administration, becoming the CTU Chief of Staff under Erin Driscoll.

Curtis had a romantic relationship with Marianne Taylor, but quickly broke it off when it became clear that she was using him to advance her own career.

Day 4


During the events of Day 4, Curtis was the Chief of Staff of CTU Los Angeles. When a train bomb in Santa Clarita killed dozens of civilians, CTU was put in charge of the investigation. Curtis briefed Erin Driscoll on what they knew about the situation. When Jack Bauer, who worked for the Department of Defense, arrived for a budget meeting, Curtis greeted him.

After Ronnie Lobell failed to get any information from Tomas Sherek, the man who planned the train bomb, Jack decided to interrogate him. After Tomas was shot in the leg, he confessed that Secretary James Heller was the primary target. After Heller and his daughter Audrey were kidnapped, President John Keeler assured CTU that the country would be in turmoil, if they witnessed Heller get executed via the internet. When Lobell and Jack left CTU to follow up on a lead, hostile Kalil Hasan shot and killed Ronnie.

Curtis took over administrative duties and Erin decided to have all Level 5 contractors to be called in. When Curtis learned that one of the contractors was Marianne Taylor, he was highly against her working at CTU.



After Jack was arrested by the local authorities, Erin bailed him out by telling the police he was working on a covert operation. Erin decided to reinstate Jack as the Director of Field Operations, the position he held before Erin fired him. Jack took over all of Ronnie's operations and Curtis continued to become suspicious of Marianne. Due to Jack's efforts, Secretary Heller and Audrey were rescued and brought back to CTU.

Eventually CTU learned that the terrorists behind the kidnapping only kidnapped Heller to create a diversion. Their real plan was to use the Dobson Override device to melt down nuclear plants across the country. The man behind the day's terrorist attacks was Habib Marwan and Curtis worked on trying to find him. Luckily Edgar Stiles managed to create and execute a program that stopped the meltdowns from occurring, but six plants were unresponsive.

When Jack and Audrey were nearly killed, they learned there was a mole inside CTU and Jack alarmed Secretary Heller of the situation. Secretary Heller set up a trap and it was discovered that Sarah Gavin was working with Henry Powell. Gavin was arrested and Erin had a medical interrogation placed on her. Both Curtis and Edgar felt that Sarah was innocent.

When Edgar found proof that Marianne set Sarah up, Sarah's interrogation was stopped and a lockdown was initiated. Marianne was able to get to the CTU parking lot, but Curtis was right behind her. Curtis took Marianne into custody and he ordered CTU agents to search her car. When the agents opened her door, Marianne's car exploded and, as a result of the explosion, Marianne was knocked unconscious.



Curtis interrogated Marianne and he had Henry Powell's dead body brought in, so he could torture her with it. Curtis revealed to Marianne that Powell was killed, after being taken into custody by Jack and Tony Almeida. When Curtis offered Marianne protection in exchange for her helping CTU's investigation, Marianne agreed to pull some files of Powell's computers. After Curtis placed tracking devices on Marianne, they left CTU and went to Powell's office.

While Marianne tried to pull something off Powell's hard drive, armed men killed Curtis' team and killed Marianne in cold blood. They decided to use Curtis as leverage and they interrogated him. Curtis refused to give in and he eventually was able to escape. Curtis began to kill the hostiles and CTU became aware something was wrong when they lost contact with him. Driscoll had teams sent over to the location and Jack also headed over to the Rockland Building.



After Jack arrived at the Rockland Building, he met up with Curtis and they tried to look for Habib Marwan, who was using Harris Barnes as an alias. When Marwan realized he was spotted, he fled from the building and Jack chased after him. Curtis noticed the Dobson Override device on a computer and he disarmed the remaining plants from melting down. Marwan was able to pose as a CTU field agent and escape from the premises.

Curtis went back to CTU, while Jack decided to follow up on a lead. When Erin's daughter Maya committed suicide, Erin became distraught and was unable to continue her duties at CTU. Erin decided to step down, after Secretary Heller encouraged her it was the best thing to do. When CTU needed a temporary director until the replacement from Division arrived, Heller appointed Tony. Curtis was against Tony taking over, due to Tony's past. Heller told him that Michelle Dessler would take over within the hour.

When Jack and Paul Raines followed up a lead at McLennen-Forster, the company sets off an electromagnetic pulse bomb, in order to destroy any evidence of their involvement with Marwan's activities. The bomb caused all of the technology in a 8 mile radius to go out, and CTU was unable to get into contact with Jack. After Jack created a gunfire with commandos hired by the company, CTU was able to pick Jack and Paul back, and bring back the evidence they found.

When CTU was unable to locate Marwan, Jack decided to make a deal with Dina Araz. Jack told Dina that he would give her immunity and put her in the Witness Protection Program with her son Behrooz, if she helped CTU find Marwan. Dina agreed and she went to Joseph Fayed, and claimed Jack was her hostage. Eventually Fayed brought Dina and Jack to Marwan, with Dina getting shot and killed. When Marwan's men took Jack and switched cars under a tunnel, Curtis and Chloe O'Brian were unable to track Jack through satellite.



Marwan called CTU and he told them he would trade Jack in exchange for Behrooz. Bill Buchanan, the Regional District Director, arrived and he refused to go forward with the trade without knowing Behrooz's connection to Marwan. Both Curtis and Tony interrogated Behrooz, with Curtis using physical tactics on Behrooz. When Buchanan decided to go forward with the trade, Curtis placed decoy trackers on Behrooz. He also implanted the real tracker in Behrooz's neck.

Curtis transported Behrooz to the location where Marwan's men brought Jack. Curtis pushed Behrooz through the gate, while Jack was released. Though Marwan's men attempted to take out Jack, Curtis and the TAC team were able to prevent this. Curtis arrived back at CTU and Jack later discovered that Mitch Anderson planned on shooting down Air Force One with a Stealth fighter. Anderson went forward with the attack and President Keeler became incapacitated.



When Curtis and Jack brought Joe Prado into CTU for questioning, Prado's lawyer David Weiss arrived and slammed down a court statement that refused CTU from physically torturing Prado to extract information. Guarded by a US Marshal, Buchanan tried to convince newly appointed President Logan to sign-off on Prado's torture. Logan refused and Jack convinced Buchanan to release Prado, so both he and Jack would be private citizens. When Jack knocked out the marshal and interrogated Prado, he managed to obtain information on Marwan.

Jack and Curtis lead a team to a night club, one of Marwan's many hideouts. When President Logan learned that Jack went against his orders, he ordered for Jack to be detained and arrested immediately. Secret Service agents arrived at the club and Curtis tried to stop them from arresting Jack. Curtis couldn't stop them, due to the agents following a presidential order, and they arrested Jack. This caused Marwan to escape and Logan later reconsider his decision, by dropping all charges against Bauer.

Curtis and the team headed back to CTU and they learned that Lee Jong was their best lead in finding Marwan. Jong managed to escape to the Chinese consulate, and he was under China's protection. President David Palmer, Jack, and Tony were all complicit in an operation to raid the consulate, which resulted in Consul Koo Yin's death from friendly fire. Despite getting shot, Jong was able to provide information on one of Marwan's hideouts.

Curtis and Jack worked together on capturing Marwan and the operation was successful. When Jack offered Marwan a deal in order to stop his last attacks, Marwan refused, as he was willing to die to see his goals succeed. While escorting Marwan to a vehicle, Jack and Curtis were attacked by Marwan's men. Marwan was able to escape and neither Curtis nor Jack were injured from the attack.



When it was discovered that Richard Heller was in recent contact with Marwan, CTU brought him in and Curtis prepared for an interrogation. Both Audrey and Secretary Heller decided to speak to Richard before the interrogation. When Richard pleaded that he was innocent and wouldn't give up any information, Heller authorized Curtis to do anything in his power to get his son to talk.

Eventually Richard confessed that when he was having sex with a guy, the guy's girlfriend must have used his cell phone to make the call. CTU was able to trace the hostiles to a hotel and Jack was put in charge of the operation. Jack asked to bring Lee Castle and Curtis along, but Michelle and Bill needed Curtis at CTU. When Jack requested for Tony, they agreed.

During the midst of the operation, Agent Castle was killed and Tony disappeared. The female hostile, Mandy, contacted Michelle and told her she would release Tony if Michelle were to clear an exit for her. Michelle agreed to this, but was working with CTU in setting a trap. When Mandy learned that Michelle double-crossed her, she self-destructed the car she and Tony were in.



Jack was convinced that Mandy set out body doubles to the car, and he filled Curtis in on his plan to rescue Tony from Mandy. Eventually Jack found Tony, and Mandy threatened to kill him. While Jack talked to Mandy, Curtis snuck up on her and Tony was able to release himself. Curtis hit Mandy in the face and she was taken into custody. Despite being responsible for the assassination attempt on Palmer in Day 2, Mandy was given immunity in exchange for helping CTU find Marwan.

Jack and Curtis were able to find Marwan's location at the Global Center. In the gunfight, Curtis was wounded in the left arm by the terrorist mastermind. Marwan's stolen nuclear missile headed for Los Angeles, and, refusing to disclose its target city, fell from a multi-story parking garage to his death. The joint efforts of Chloe and Edgar allowed a fighter pilot to intercept the missile. During the final moments of the day, Jack was thought to be shot and killed by Dale Spalding, but it was just a cover-up so that Jack could escape and disappear; Curtis was among the majority of those who was unaware of the cover-up.

Day 5


During the opening moments of Day 5, former President David Palmer was assassinated in Los Angeles. When Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida are targeted, Bill Buchanan asks for Curtis to find a connection between them and Palmer. Michelle died from the explosion and Tony was brought back to CTU. Curtis insisted on talking to Tony, but he was unconscious. Curtis discovered that the last time Tony and President Palmer talked was the day Jack Bauer died, and he believed that they were hiding something about Jack's death.

Edgar Stiles then pulled up some security footage and it revealed that Bauer was Palmer's shooter. As Buchanan briefed CTU about the finding, Audrey Raines questioned why would Jack be involved in Palmer's assassination. Curtis then argued that he could've gotten scared and maybe felt he was in danger of being exposed. Curtis then talked to Adamson who informed him that Chloe O'Brian was also in the call made after Jack's "death", with Tony and Michelle, hinting that she might be involved in it. Buchanan then made Bauer CTU's primary suspect and he would have been brought into custody, if Chloe didn't help Jack escape.

Chloe claimed that Jack was being set up and that was the dying confession of Palmer' shooter, Conrad Haas. She claimed that there were bodies of hostiles at the oil refinery on Variel and Topanga. Buchanan had Curtis and a TAC team check it out. Curtis took a TAC team with a helicopter and went to the refinery, verifying Chloe's statement. He then informed Buchanan about it. However, as he was returning to CTU, Spenser had him redirected to the Ontario Airport on orders of Bill Buchanan.



As soon as he arrived, he started setting his team. Jack, who was inside the airport at the time of the take over, called him and informed him of the situation. When Officer Mike McLaren brought Diane Huxley to talk to Curtis, Jack overheard her name and asked to speak to her. After he did, Jack asked Curtis to keep her safe at the command post. Some minutes later, Anton Beresch, leader of the terrorists, took Diane's son, Derek, to execute him. As Curtis watched the live feed, Diane saw it from a distance and started crying and screaming. Curtis ordered McLaren and another officer to take her away and keep her calm. Jack called Curtis to see how long it would take for them to enter the airport, but Curtis told him they were still waiting for some reinforcement and he needed at least 30 minutes. Desperate, Jack told him it wasn't enough.

Curtis continued to prepare his team. When they heard an explosion inside the airport, Bill called Curtis to ask him what happened. Curtis simply told him that something exploded inside. Jack then informed them that he managed to detonate the vest of one of the terrorists to buy some time for Derek. As Curtis prepared to raid the airport, he checked with Davies and Matthews to make sure they were in position. He then went to Diane and told her that Derek was still safe.

As he entered the airport, Jack relayed to Curtis information about the terrorists' position. Curtis and his team were ready to strike, but they lost communication with Jack when he was about to tell them something. Angrily, Bill aborted the operation. As Bill tried to contact Jack again, he ordered Curtis to stand down. He then told him to figure out a new plan without including Jack. As he headed back to the command post, he told Diane that they had lost contact with Jack. When she asked more information, he assured her he would tell her anything as soon as he knew.

At around 10:10am, Jack called CTU, and Curtis was patched in on the call. Jack informed them that he had to end the transmission when a hostile got too close. He then told Curtis to change the assault plan and enter through the emergency exit on the south of the terminal because Beresch had moved the hostages. Although Curtis wasn't comfortable with the entry point, he decided to trust Jack. Jack also told them he was in a "flank 2" position. Curtis then told Bill that he would have his team ready in 20 minutes since he would have to reposition the explosives.

Curtis continued to coordinate the new assault plan, repositioning the explosives and assembling his men at their new positions. At around 10:30am, he told Bill he was almost ready. Curtis also told him that he would scramble the cell frequencies to prevent Beresch from detonating the vests remotely. A few minutes later, Curtis called Jack to inform him of the situation. Jack stressed out he was in a "flank 2" position and Curtis told him they would begin in 60 seconds. As he counted down the seconds to detonate the explosives, Bill called him again in the last second to order him to abort the assault. Buchanan then informed him that they had detected a duress call in Jack's conversation. He then ordered Curtis to return to the original assault plan.

After moving his team once again, Curtis and his men successfully raided the terminal killing all the hostiles and securing the hostages. Just as he walked in the terminal, he informed CTU the operation was successful. At almost 11:00am, Curtis greeted Jack and told him he was happy to see him. Jack then told him about a sleeper terrorist among the hostages who received a key card from Beresch. Curtis asked him for the description, but Jack offered to help him. However, Curtis told him he had orders to take him to CTU under custody. Reluctantly, Jack complied but gave Curtis the description of the man. Curtis then contacted Altieri and Hutchison to coordinate a search effort for this man.

Curtis and another agent started checking the airport surveillance cameras looking for the man Jack described. After verifying with Jack about the man's position, they spotted him going inside Hangar BB. Curtis called on his team to check the hangar and informed Edgar about it, asking him for comm on the hangar. When they arrived, they found the empty container where the nerve gas was hidden. Curtis also noticed some dead rats nearby and contacted Craig to have a forensics team on-site. As they checked the rats, they realized the container actually held weaponized nerve gas. Curtis informed this to Edgar who in turn told Buchanan and Lynn. Lynn then ordered him to call back Curtis. Once he arrived at CTU, he supervised the raid at the Port of Long Beach, along with Buchanan and McGill.



After CTU intercepted a call from Erwich and a man called Jacob Rossler, Buchanan notified Jack and gave him the address of Rossler's penthouse. Jack also asked Buchanan to have Curtis meet him there. Curtis arrived there with a TAC team and waited for Jack on the rooftop of a nearby building. Once Jack arrived, Curtis greeted him and gave him a comm unit. They then prepared to raid Rossler's apartment with the help of Chloe and Spenser at CTU. After Spenser temporarily disabled the cameras, Jack and Curtis entered the lobby and forced the security guard to give them access to the elevator. Once they were inside, Jack knocked the guard unconscious. Once they arrived at the penthouse, the security guards there opened fire, hitting Curtis in his vest. As he recovered, Jack killed them. They then entered the apartment and managed to detain Jacob Rossler after injuring him on the leg. They also found Inessa Kovalevsky, a 15-year old girl that was Rossler's sex-slave.



As Jack questioned Rossler, Curtis stepped on his wound to force him to cooperate. Rossler agreed to cooperate in exchange for full immunity, unfreezing of his assets, transportation to a foreign country, and Inessa. Despite Jack's reluctance, Lynn decided to accept the deal. Rossler insisted on having the deal certified by the Attorney General before talking. As the deal was being written, Rossler told them about his deal with Erwich to reconfigure a chip for the remote trigger of the nerve gas canisters. Jack told Curtis to be ready to fit the chip with a transponder. As they were waiting for Erwich to call to set a meeting place, Inessa drew a concealed weapon and shot Rossler twice, killing him instantly. Curtis and the other agents drew their weapons on Inessa, but Jack asked them not to shoot as he disarmed her. Curtis then ran to Rossler and verified he was dead.

As they tried to come up with an alternative, Erwich called Rossler's apartment and gave Jack a meeting place, not knowing he wasn't Rossler. Jack decided to pose as Rossler then and asked Curtis for the chip. Curtis told him that the chip was genuine and would release the gas, if used with the correct unlock code. He also told him that the tracker was built into the chip itself. Curtis then asked Jack what was his plan, and Jack told him he wanted to present himself non-threatening to the terrorists. Curtis told him that the TAC team would be ready and gave him a new comm unit so that CTU could hear within 20 feet of him. Curtis also assured him he'd be watching his back.

Curtis then drove close behind Jack to the meeting place at a parking garage on Los Angeles streets and Madison. As Jack drove in, Curtis parked nearby as Bill Buchanan warns him to maintain his distance. When the blue van with the terrorists drove by, Curtis gave CTU the plate for them to verify. When Curtis heard that the terrorists were kidnapping Jack, he insisted for instructions, but Lynn McGill ordered him not to intervene, but reassemble his team for a follow operation.

Curtis followed the terrorists through Nordhoff Street, and heard when Jack said they had one of the nerve gas canisters on the van. Curtis asked CTU if they should intercept them, but Lynn insisted they needed to have a visual. Buchanan then told Curtis that the intended target was the Sunrise Hills Shopping Mall, so Curtis and his team decided to set up on the second level of the parking structure. Curtis then watched through his binoculars as the terrorists and Jack got out of the van and into the mall. After Lynn and CTU received permission from President Logan to allow the terrorists to release the nerve gas, Curtis and his team were ordered to move out and wait. However, Curtis heard as Jack disobeyed the order by giving the terrorists the wrong unlock code. Still, the terrorists figured out a way to manually activate the canister.

At 2:45pm, after the terrorists managed to release a small amount of nerve gas into the mall, Lynn ordered Curtis to move inside. As Jack headed to the food court to turn off the air conditioning, he told Curtis to watch for the remaining terrorist that escaped. He also told Curtis that the nerve gas had concentrated on the food court and there were people collapsing already. Curtis arrived at the entrance of the food court, just as Jack was running out with an unconscious girl. Jack asked for a shot of atropine as Curtis helped him lay her on the floor. Jack gave her the shot and, as she stabilized, he and Curtis prepared to follow Polakov. Curtis left Agent Michaels in charge at the mall, and asked Walsh's team to follow him.

Curtis, Jack and the TAC team followed Polakov to Cal's Bikes and prepared to raid the shop. After donning their gas masks, they entered, but only after Polakov had shot himself.



Lynn was furious and felt it was Jack's fault why they weren't led to the other canisters. He ordered Curtis to bring Jack in, though Curtis was resistant at first. Curtis then informed Jack about Lynn's orders, but assured Jack that he supported his actions and that he knew Lynn was looking for someone to blame. However, Curtis still took Jack's gun. As they were ready to leave, Jack got a call from Audrey Raines and told Curtis the call was personal. Curtis waited as Jack talked outside of the car, unaware of the fact that Jack was receiving new information from Cummings' contact, James Nathanson. When Jack got back in the car, Curtis told him how tough he knew the situation should be for Audrey. As they reached a stop sign, Jack knocked Curtis out unconscious and dragged him out of the car. Curtis eventually woke up and called Lynn, telling him what happened. Although Curtis offered to find Jack, Lynn was so angry that asked him to return to CTU. Curtis then had one of his men pick him up. He arrived at CTU shortly before 4:00pm.



After getting back at CTU, Curtis noticed that Lynn was losing control of the situation. Lynn was convinced that Chloe and Audrey were covertly helping Jack. When Buchanan distracted Lynn, in order for Chloe and Audrey to help Jack, Bill was placed under arrest. Lynn started firing CTU's employees and he told Audrey he would have her thrown out of the building if her father wasn't the Secretary of Defense.

When Edgar found chatter that there will be a possible attack on President Suvarov's motorcade route, he told Chloe about it and they told Lynn. Lynn refused to warn Secret Service and President Logan about the attack, and Audrey later confronted him about it. Lynn verbally abused Audrey and told her to leave his office. While Curtis was walking down the hall way, Audrey ran to catch up with him.

As the Director of Field Operations, Curtis was the ranking officer in CTU and Audrey asked him if he could activate Section 112. This would relieve Lynn of his duties, due to mental incapacity to perform his job. Curtis wasn't sure if he should activate it, as he believed Lynn's mental capacity was fine, but he knew Lynn was losing control. When Lynn asked Curtis to take Audrey and Chloe away, Curtis refused and told him he was relieving him of his duties.

Lynn ordered security to take Curtis into custody, but Curtis threatened to draw his weapon if security followed that command. The guards asked Curtis what they could do to help, and he asked for them to bring Lynn to holding. Curtis then had Buchanan released from holding and they were able to warn Secret Service about the attack. Though the Russian separatists went forward with the attack, Agent Aaron Pierce was able to finish off all of the hostiles.



The bodies of the hostiles were brought back to CTU and Curtis examined them. Curtis found a schematic of a building on one of the hostiles. It was discovered that the schematic was for the Tyler Memorial Hospital and Buchanan ordered for the hospital to be evacuated. Curtis went over to the hospital with a TAC and Chemical Response team.

When Curtis arrived at the hospital, Tom Wegman noticed someone he didn't recognize on the security cameras. Curtis found Viktor Grigorin and when the hostile opened fire, Curtis was forced to retaliate and kill him. Curtis found a timer on Grigorin and one of the field agents found a canister of nerve gas. The chemical response team arrived to analyze the canister. Curtis decided to bring the canister to the contained area, despite a chance of it detonating if it was moved. Curtis was convinced it was worth the chance.

Curtis ran out of the hospital with the canister and he was able to put it in a contained area before the canister went off. Curtis called CTU to keep them up to date on the situation and he reported he was on his way back to CTU. However, a terrorist named Ostroff was able to gain access to CTU with Lynn's keycard. Ostroff set off a canister of nerve gas, and over 40% of CTU personnel were killed. Curtis spoke to Buchanan on the phone, and told him it would be a while before the teams could arrive.

Thanks to Lynn and Harry Swinton serving as sacrifices, the gas was prevented from breaking through the seals and it was flourished out of the building. Despite Jack's best friend Tony apparently getting killed by Christopher Henderson, Jack was forced to go back to work. Chloe found the address of Henderson's contact Collette Stenger on his computer, and Jack went with Curtis to the hotel Collette was staying at.



Curtis and Jack arrived at the hotel with the TAC team, but Collette was already gone. They eventually found a man trying to escape from the hotel, and he threatened to shoot Curtis if Jack's men didn't stand down. After it was confirmed that Jack and Curtis were with CTU, the man revealed his name was Theo Stoller and he was an operative with German Intelligence. Stoller had been undercover for six months, as he was assigned to learn Stenger's connection.

Eventually Stoller agreed to work with CTU for a steep price and once Curtis confirmed that it was Stenger, Theo left and Collette was taken into custody. Jack interrogated Stenger and she agreed to cooperate for presidential immunity. Stenger revealed that she just brokered the deal, and she got her information from a contact at DOD. Stenger revealed that her contact was Audrey Raines.

Audrey was interrogated by Jack and Rick Burke, and Jack was convinced Collette was setting her up. After Jack was able to prove Stenegr withheld information, and her immunity agreement was broke. It was learned that Bierko planned on releasing gas through the Wilshire Gas Company, so the gas would go into 90,000 homes in Los Angeles. Jack and Curtis lead a team to the gas company, in their last attempt to stop the Sentox attacks.

Curtis and Jack arrived at the gas company and were able to take out the hostiles, but Bierko had the gas released and he was able to escape from the building. Jack was forced to blow up the building in order for the Sentox to be destroyed. When Jack went after Bierko, the explosion occurred and they were caught in the wave of it. Curtis wasn't able to confirm if Jack was alive, and luckily Jack survived the explosion. He handed an unconscious Bierko over to Curtis and told him to bring Bierko back to CTU.

Curtis arrived back at CTU and Homeland Security had absorbed it. Despite Buchanan and nearly all of the CTU staff being replaced with Karen Hayes' personnel, Curtis and his team stayed on board. When Chloe and Bill began to covertly help Jack prove President Logan was behind Palmer's hit and the selling of the Sentox, they decided to bring Curtis into it.



Curtis learned that Audrey was with Christopher Henderson, as Jack had to go on board Flight 520 to retrieve the audio recording implicating Logan in the day's events. When Henderson's men arrived, Audrey ran off and Curtis found her. Curtis instructed his team to strike and Henderson's men were killed. Curtis brought Audrey and Henderson back to CTU.

While Audrey was recovering in medical, Curtis learned that Secretary Heller was alive. Earlier in the night, Heller had driven his car into a lake, as Jack was being forced to choose between his life and letting Henderson go. Curtis informed Audrey about her father's survival and she thanked him for all of his help. Eventually Jack returned to CTU with the recording, but Miles Papazian erased it.

It was soon learned that Bierko managed to escape, while he was being transported to District Command. Agent Davis survived the attack on the transport van and he revealed that Bierko's men were talking about another attack and a canister of nerve gas. Jack was forced to strike a deal with Henderson, and Jack would help stage his death if Henderson helped stop Bierko.



Henderson went to meet with Joseph Malina, in a covert operation. Jack and Curtis' team surrounded Malina's place, and Henderson told Malina about CTU agents being around the building. Jack ordered for the teams to strike, and Curtis ended up getting shot in the shoulder. Jack caused Henderson's plan to blow up, but they still managed to find out Bierko was targeting the Natalia. Curtis was stable, but Jack had him brought to the CTU medical clinic for attention. Curtis was unable to participate in the operations which brought down Bierko and Logan respectively.

Day 6


During the events of day six, Curtis was serving as the Director of Field Operations at CTU Los Angeles. He accompanied CTU Special Agent in Charge Bill Buchanan to the Chinese delivery of Jack Bauer. It was soon learned that terrorist Abu Fayed was willing to give CTU the location of Hamri Al-Assad, the man responsible for the recent terrorist attacks. All Fayed wanted in exchange was $25 million and to have Jack be a sacrifice.

After Curtis and Bill dropped Jack off with Fayed, Jack was tortured and he soon learned that Fayed was the real man responsible for the attacks and Assad came to this country to establish peace and stop Fayed's plans. Jack managed to escape and he warned CTU and President Wayne Palmer to stop the strike against Assad. They failed to do so and Jack went to warn Assad.

When CTU learned that Jack stopped a train bombing and that Assad was helping him, they agreed to work with them on an operation. Assad was placed undercover with one of Fayed's men, while CTU tracked him with satellite coverage. Jack and Curtis led a team to apprehended the subject, but the terrorist gave his life. Luckily his surviving hard drive was able to give CTU new information on Fayed's plans.

It was quickly established that Curtis and Assad had some sort of history, as Curtis was very uncomfortable working with him, and assigned a subordinate agent to shadow him everywhere. After Scott Wallace was rescued from Ahmed Amar, President Palmer agreed to give Assad a full pardon for his past terrorist activity if he helped apprehend and stop Fayed. Chloe O'Brian soon contacted Jack and told him about Assad and Curtis's sordid history. It turns out that Curtis's squad had been ambushed in Iraq, and five were killed. Two of his other men were captured while Curtis himself was too injured to continue. A video was later released showing Assad's men torturing the two men. Assad's lieutenant made them beg for their lives just before he cut off their heads.



Curtis decided to eliminate Assad, feeling it wasn't right to give him a pardon. While attempting to kill Assad, Jack arrived and demanded for Curtis to holster his weapon. Curtis refused to do so, forcing Jack to shoot him in the neck, killing him in seconds.

Memorable quotes

 * Bill Buchanan: Curtis, move your men in!
 * Curtis Manning: About time, all teams move in. Move in! ("Day 5: 2:00pm-3:00pm")


 * Curtis Manning: If you try to carry out that command, I will draw my weapon. ("Day 5: 4:00pm-5:00pm")


 * Curtis Manning: (to Assad) Why do you keep saying "we"? There's you, and there's us. ("Day 6: 9:00am-10:00am")


 * Curtis Manning: (his final words) I can't let this animal live. ("Day 6: 9:00am-10:00am")

Background information and notes

 * Throughout the run of the series, only two performers have been elevated from a lesser credit into the first-billed main cast in the middle of a season. They are Roger Cross (Curtis) and Lana Parrilla (Sarah Gavin). Both occurred during Season 4, and both were "guest starring" before they were moved to the main cast.
 * In a deleted scene from the Day 4 DVD, Curtis rescues Behrooz Araz just before he is killed by Habib Marwan's men.
 * Just before Jack shoots Curtis, Roger Cross breaks character by flinching before the sound of the gunshot.
 * There is a character in the novel 24 Declassified: Trojan Horse with a similar name to Curtis Manning, Chip Manning, but there is no indication this was meant to be the same character.
 * Curtis' weapon of choice throughout the series is a Glock 17.
 * In Season 7, Larry Moss lists Curtis, along with Ryan Chappelle and Teri Bauer, as someone who didn't survive being around Jack.
 * During Days 4, 5 and 6, Curtis received gunshot wounds. In 4 he is hit on his left arm, in 5 on the right arm, and in 6 he is shot fatally through the neck.

Appearance notes

 * Curtis lasted longer than any of Jack's other "field-partners" coming in at 45 episodes, longer than Mike Doyle, Chase Edmunds, Ronnie Lobell and Cole Ortiz.
 * Curtis holds the fifth place for most appearances (45 in total) for a deceased character, along with Sherry Palmer. David Palmer is in first place at 80 episodes, Bill Buchanan is in second with 64 episodes, Michelle Dessler is in third with 62 episodes and Wayne Palmer is in fourth at 48 episodes.
 * Curtis appeared in the most episodes for a character killed by Jack Bauer with 45.