Hey, how are you, DalcoTX?
It is possible that Plame had been out of the country on a nominally "covert" mission within the five years preceding the so-called "leak." Since I am not the Director of the CIA, I have no way of knowing for sure.
What I do know is this: if she was going back and forth between working a "covert" job and working openly at CIA headquarters, then the "covert" job couldn't have been very important.
In case you are unaware, the CIA headquarters is routinely monitored by foreign intelligence agencies. They photograph every person who enters and leaves the building. They may not catch every person every time, but they definitely catch people who work there routinely.
If the CIA assigned to an important covert job under those circumstances, they are truly incompetent. I don't think even *they* are *that* incompetent.