I am perfectly prepared to believe that “the agency” did not formally request help.
It was the two guys fighting it out on the ground who were calling for help.
They were ignored.
No one in Washington needed to bother with filing and then denying a formal request. A written request might look bad the day after, when the cleanup crew is hauling the bodies out of Fort Apache. A quiet phone call was all that was needed.
You are correct.
Their request was up their chain of command. Either their CIA boss or the State Department boss chose not to respond or their second level boss chose not to command.
Based on the Congressional hearings, the woman kicked it up and the request was denied at State.
The CIA did not make the request to DOD.