312 - RIC PRADO | The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior

In this episode, we welcome Ric Prado to the show. Ric had a legendary 24-year career in the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency. His career spanned two eras: The Cold War and the Age of Terrorism. Prado received the CIA Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal (highest award given upon retirement) and the George H. W. Bush Award for Excellence in Counterterrorism, among other awards. He is a paramilitary, counterterrorism, and special clandestine operations specialist, and served as an Operations Officer in six overseas posts. When he left public service, Prado worked as an executive at a private military contractor where he built a specialized operations team. He is currently a co-owner of Camp-X Training, where he continues his service training and supporting the Spec Ops community, teaching Advanced Special Operations and Techniques among other essential skills. Also, he’s the author of Black Ops: The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior. He’s the first covert operator of major rank to pen a fully operational memoir in the history of the CIA. He retired as the equivalent of a 2-star general in the military. In this interview we discuss what it was like growing up in Cuba during the Revolution, how young Americans are romanced by Communism, how he and his family managed to get to America, growing up on the streets of Miami, how he found himself in the CIA, his service on the ground during the time of Iran Contra, his reaction to seeing the 9/11 attacks, how the US had the ability to easily kill Osama bin Laden in the 1990s but decided against it, and much more. Let’s get into it…

Episode notes and links: https://www.undaunted.life/podcast/ricprado

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