Origin of the CIA and Military Armed Drone Program | CIA War Zone Chief of Base | Never Mind, We’ll Do It Ourselves Author | Alec Bierbauer

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2023

⏱️ 126 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we hear a Combat Story detailing the almost start-up like creation and expansion of the CIA and military’s drone program that would go on to help find, fix, and finish high value targets across the globe with Army veteran and CIA officer, Alec Bierbauer.

Alec was an Army intelligence soldier and Warrant Officer before being hand picked to join DIA and then being hand picked again, this time by CIA legend Cofer Black, to join the CIA. Prior to 9/11, Alec was detailed from DIA to CIA’s virtual station, coincidentally named Alec Station, tracking Al-Qaida and Bin Laden. He would later have the opportunity to fire some of the first shots of the war against AQ through the predator program.

He went on to be a CIA Chief of Base in the early years of the Global War on Terror to track down targets in Afghanistan and continued serving in austere environments, including several stints more recently in an expeditionary capacity in locations he can’t name while in more senior roles at the Agency.

Alec and Mark Cooter wrote the book “Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselves: The Inside Story of How a Team of Renegades Broke Rules, Shattered Barriers, and Launched a Drone Warfare Revolution” which details never before seen experiences of how the drone program was stood up and leveraged post-9/11.

This interview was a blast and I hope you enjoy this detailed look at such a critical program to national security during such a pivotal time, as much as I did.

Find Ryan Online:
- Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory
- Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combats...
- Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory
- Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
- Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial
- Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Find Alec Bierbauer Online:
- LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-bierbauer-a6b3135/
- BlackRock Strategy https://www.blackrockstrategy.com/
- Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselve - https://www.amazon.com/Books-Alec-Bierbauer/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAlec+Bierbauer

Show Notes:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Guest Introduction (Alec Bierbauer)
02:24 - Interview begins
04:05 - Getting connected
04:56 -Living overseas
07:00 - Giving a cover story
09:15 - Being in Moscow in the late 70's
11:20 - Moving around, growing up, and grades
12:53 - Path to the Army
15:48 - Impression of America growing up overseas
17:06 - Deciding what role to fill in the Army
20:03 - Joining the Seapower and Projection Forces Commitee
23:12 - Transition to the D.I.A.
27:47 - Drones during the late 90's
32:13 - Working with other Agencies
38:41 - Identifying terrorist threats
45:41 - Intelligence Operations in Afghanistan
57:05 -Alternate options to Drones to find Bin Laden
59:48 - 9/11 and Drone deployment
01:11:51 - Time in Afghanistan
01:23:13 - Leading a base at the front end of the war
01:31:13 - Mike Span's passing
01:35:40 - Most couragous acts
01:45:50 - Satisfaction of the Drone Program
01:49:45 - Unmaned aircrafts Vs. Manned aircrafts
01:51:11 - Keep going back to the fight
01:53:10 - Retirement
01:55:47 - Starting BlackRock Strategy
01:57:17 - Sentimental items
01:58:53 - Do it all again
01:59:43 - Closing thoughts
02:01:24 - Listener comments and shout outs

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	little time goes by and he's like hey you this is me yeah so about those
0:05.8	hellfires tell me again where you are well I'm in Virginia about 7,000 miles
0:09.5	away but the aircraft's sitting right over top of you and I'm pretty
0:13.6	comfortable I can put that hellfire wherever you need it and he's like you're
0:17.0	gonna pull the trigger on a hellfire from 7,000 miles away danger close on me I
0:21.7	don't think so he goes I'll tell you what he goes I'm gonna give you a target
0:24.9	down the hill I'm gonna give you I'm gonna walk you on to this bush you hit the
0:28.8	bush and then I'll have confidence welcome to combat story I'm Ryan Fugid
0:33.2	and I serve war zone tours as an army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer
0:37.3	over a 15 year career I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite and
0:41.6	combat on this show I interview some of the best to understand what combat
0:45.8	felt like on their front lines this is combat story today we hear a combat
0:50.9	story detailing the almost startup like creation and expansion of the CIA and
0:55.8	military's drone program that would go on to help find fix and finish high-value
1:00.3	targets across the globe the army veteran and CIA officer Alec Beerbauer Alec
1:05.7	was an army intel soldier and war an officer before being hand picked to join
1:10.3	DIA and then being hand picked yet again this time by CIA legend Cofa Black to
1:15.7	join the agency prior 9 11 Alec was detailed from DIA to CIA's virtual
1:20.8	station coincidentally named Alec station tracking Al Qaeda and Bin Laden he
1:25.6	would later have the opportunity to fire some of the first shots of the war
1:29.2	against a Q through the predator program he went on to be a CIA chief of
1:33.7	base in the early years of the global war on terror to track down targets in
	...

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