GRP 139-What we think we become: The Andrew Coussens Story

Global Recon

John Hendricks

Government

4.8 • 592 Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2020

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joining me for this week's podcast is Andrew Coussens. Andrew is an author and has written two books. His first is "A failed State," and his second is "Relapse." Andrew served in the U.S. government security services for 21 years. He began his career working with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, where he worked his way up to an Aerial Interdiction Unit Leader. He later spent time working with the agency's BORSTAR unit, conducting search and rescue operations all along the border. The 2002 winter Olympics was the first major event held inside the U.S. post 9/11. Andrew worked security with the Department of Interiors National Helicopter Rescue units. A few later, he would be recruited to work security and counterterrorism for OGA (Other Government Agency), where he would deploy 21 times, including spending years in hostile environments where he and a small team were the only Americans in country. Upon leaving government service, Andrew worked as a consultant for The Activity Group. A company started by former Delta Force medic's, which provided medical training and equipment for various organizations. He's also deployed with my good friends over at the Global Surgical Medical Support Group, who send teams of doctors, surgeons, and military medics to Iraq to support communities affected by ISIS. We discussed Andrew's career, his novels, the untimely passing of his wife, and much more. Enjoy. 0:00-Intro 6:50- Aerial Interdiction teams at the Border, BORTAC 12:14- Running security for the 2002 winter Olympics 14:56- Counterterrorism for with OGA You can purchase your copies of Andrews novels here: https://andrewcoussens.com/store www.Globalrecon.net https://www.instagram.com/igrecon https://www.instagram.com/globalreconpodcast www.twitter.com/igrecon https://www.facebook.com/GlobalReconPodcast/ Chantel Taylor: https://www.instagram.com/mission_critical https://www.instagram.com/altern8rv

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The With that suicide bombing that killed eight Americans at a CIA base in eastern Afghanistan.
0:35.6	It's believed to be one of the deadliest attacks in the
0:38.4	agency's history, and this morning, the Taliban are claiming responsibility. CBS News,
0:43.6	National Security correspondent, David Martin has the latest on this story, and he joins us this
0:48.3	morning. Good morning, David. Good morning, Harry. The CIA still has not confirmed the
0:53.5	deaths, but officials say eight CIA employees were killed and as many as eight more wounded.
1:01.5	The bomber apparently just walked up to them on the base and detonated his suicide vest.
1:09.3	What he was doing on the base, how he got on the base, whether he was
1:12.8	deliberately targeting the CIA or just out to kill Americans, or among the many things
1:18.6	still under investigation. But one thing seems clear. This was the worst single loss of life
1:24.8	for the CIA since 1983 when a truck bomber blew up the American Embassy in Beirut.
1:33.2	As far as we know, eight employees of the CIA had been killed in Afghanistan prior to yesterday's
1:40.8	bombing. This base that they were working out of not so far from coast, which is that area
1:46.0	around North Waziristan, which is a Taliban hotbed in that border area between Afghanistan
1:52.0	and Pakistan.
1:53.0	What would the CIA have been doing there?
1:56.0	Well, we don't know specifically what these eight were doing, but this is exactly the kind of place where the CIA would try to recruit locals who could cross over the border into Pakistan and report what they see, intelligence that could be used to target predator drone attacks, for instance. The Taliban, of course, would know or at least suspect what the CIA was up to, and in
2:23.0	classic espionage fashion, would try to turn those CIA spies into double agents working
2:30.4	for the Taliban.
2:31.4	Whether that happened in this case, we don't know yet.
2:33.9	Terrible story. David Martin from the Pentagon this morning. Thanks so much.
	...

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