Strap in for a doozy, folks. This week on SOFREP Radio we welcome Alec Bierbauer and Colonel Mark Cooter (Ret.), the men behind the secret CIA mission to hunt down Usama bin Laden using the never-before-seen Predator drone.
In this exclusive interview, Alec and Mark — alongside Michael Marks, who captured their story — pull back the cloak on the origins of the operation to build, test and field the first Predator drone and recall what it was like to view, for the first time, a live feed of a target area through the eyes of a UAV.
Not only did the pair lead the clandestine mission, they actually put eyes on Usama bin Laden in Afghanistan — through the Predator — before the 9/11 attacks. After 39 months of back and forth with the CIA and DoD Publication Review Boards, their manuscript has finally been fully cleared for release.
Their tale is chronicled in their new book, Never Mind, We’ll Do it Ourselves.
With commentary from Charlie Allen former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence, Lieutenant General John Campbell, USAF (Ret) and USAF Lieutenant Colonel Gabe Brown, survivor of the Battle of Robert’s Ridge, this book will introduce you to the unlikely team of patriots, innovators and rule-breakers who defied the odds to relentlessly prosecute America’s most pivotal mission. A testament to the accuracy of this book is that the CIA fought for almost four years to prevent it from ever being published.
Don’t miss this first hand account of the early days of the CIA’s mission to track Usama bin Laden, the start of the War in Afghanistan and the legacy of the Predator Drone in modern warfare.
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