Bane helped coordinate the response to the 1974 French Embassy attack in The Hague and helped plan the CIA involvement in Operation Eagle Claw, an unsuccessful military intervention to resolve the Iran hostage crisis. He warned of the rise of Islamic jihadism but was hampered by cutbacks at the agency in the 1990s. He was brought out of retirement following the September 11 attacks to assist with a rapid expansion of the CIA and was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.