original air date 12/1/23<br />Michael Vickers joins us to discuss his path from 10th Special Forces Group to the CIA, including Cold War missions, Berlin tradecraft, Grenada, Beirut, and Ground Branch. We also get into the covert war in Afghanistan, the Reagan Doctrine, working with foreign partners like Pakistan and China, and how the U.S. helped drive the Soviet Union out by all means available.<br /><br />Grab Mike's book here:<br />https://a.co/d/05Lzlki9<br /><br />00:00 — Start<br />02:19 — Michael Vickers’ Origin Story<br />03:39 — 10th Special Forces Group During the Cold War<br />07:14 — Berlin, Detachment A, and Denied-Area Tradecraft<br />08:28 — Training With Man-Portable Nuclear Weapons<br />12:30 — OCS, Panama, and 7th Special Forces Group<br />15:16 — Embassy Rescue Prep and the RST Mission<br />21:16 — Leaving Special Forces for the CIA<br />22:27 — CIA Training, Suriname, and the Road to Grenada<br />26:16 — First Combat in Grenada<br />30:33 — Beirut, Hezbollah, and Failed Policy<br />33:49 — Ground Branch and the Afghanistan Assignment<br />40:31 — How the Afghan Covert Action Program Evolved<br />45:12 — “By All Means Available”: Defeating the Soviets<br />50:45 — Blowpipe, Stingers, and Escalating the War<br />53:12 — Selling the Strategy to Foreign Partners<br />56:18 — Working With Chinese Intelligence<br />01:00:07 — The Soviet Withdrawal From Afghanistan<br />01:03:32 — Reagan Doctrine and the Global Irregular War<br />01:10:21 — CIA Covert Action vs. Special Forces<br />01:18:23 — China, the New Cold War, and U.S. Power<br />01:30:38 — Cyber Attacks as Acts of War<br />01:37:09 — Chips, Rare Earths, and Protecting U.S. Infrastructure<br /><br />Become a supporter of this podcast: <a href="https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss">https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support</a>.