"Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy" – with Michael Vickers
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Summary

Michael Vickers (Website)) joins Andrew (Twitter); LinkedIn)) to discuss his remarkable career and memoir. He was formerly the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• His specialized training to wear a “Nuclear Backpack” (yes, literally!)

• Overseeing a multibillion-dollar CIA covert action program against the Soviets

• Planning the Osama Bin Laden raid

• Retooling defense intelligence for the 21st century

Reflections

• Finding a narrative that unites the various chapters of your life 

• Serving a country vs. serving a political party

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

Michael Vickers has been on a heck of a ride. He started out as a U.S. Army private with no degree and went on to oversee hundreds of thousands of people as the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence while holding a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins. Michael is the author of By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operation & Strategy). 

Quotes of the Week

*"That weapon was called the Special Atomic Demolition Munition [i.e., “Nuclear Backpack] ...it was a sporty, uh, you know, it seemed like a good idea when I was 23 years old. So, there you have it." – *Michael Vickers.

**Resources **

SURFACE SKIM

SpyCasts

- “The Nuclear Doomsday Machine”) – with Sean Maloney (2022_

- “The Spies Who Came in From the Cold”) - Chris Costa and John Quattrocki (2022)

- “The Spymaster’s Prism”) – CIA Legend Jack Devine (2021)

- “Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service”) – Hank Crumpton (2012)

- “The CIA and the End of the Cold War”) – Milt Bearden (2011)

Beginner Resources

- Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan), Homeschool History (2022) [2:25 min video]

- Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan), Encyclopedia Britannica (2023) [3-minute read]

- The Operation That Took Out Osama Bin Laden), *Military.com *(2023) [3-minute read]

- The Plan to Get Osama), *ABC News *(2012) [6:44 min video]

DEEPER DIVE

Video

- The End of a Superpower - The Collapse of the Soviet Union)*, *DW Documentaries (2022)

- Manhunt: The Search for Osma bin Laden), HBO (2013)

- Afghanistan 1979, the War that Changed the World), Gulya Mirzoeva, Icarus Films (2015)

- Red Star Over Khyber,) PBS Frontline (1984)

**Primary Sources **

• Commander, 500th MI Group, Subj: Guerilla Use of Stinger Missiles and Their Effect on Soviet Tactics in AF, circa 1987.)

• Memorandum of Conversation between Vice President Bush and Pakistani President Zia, December 8, 1982)

• Conversation between M.S. Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan on Afghanistan (Excerpt), December 8, 1982)

• Message to Soviet Ambassadors on the Invasion of Afghanistan, Attachment to CPSU Politburo Decree #177, December 27, 1979)

Wildcard Resource

• A Distant Plain: Counter-insurgency Afghanistan: Government, Coalition, Taliban and Warlords compete (2013))

Play this board game developed by former guest and former World Board Game Champion, Volko Ruhnke), 

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