Working WITH PASHA WAS mainstream case officer work, and it had been a nice diversion from the headquarters routine. But with his departure, I was back to sitting at a desk waiting for word on when I might deploy. It was now well into October, and a couple of other teams had deployed to northern Afghanistan. As they arrived in country, each team was usually assigned to work with a senior Northern Alliance commander. In addition to managing the CIA’s relationship with the commander and collecting intelligence on events on the ground, the teams were also responsible for providing the Northern Alliance forces with material support, including weapons. The teams continued to be made up predominantly of paramilitary officers supported by a handful of medics with an occasional NE division officer with specialized area expertise thrown into the mix.
Also by this time, Special Forces teams began to deploy and join up with the CIA teams already on the ground. The ODA’s brought with them a Special Operations Forces Laser Marker, or SOFLAM, that could be used to direct close air support for the Northern Alliance forces battling the Taliban and al-Qa’ida on the Shomali Plains north of Kabul.
About this same time, it began to look like I might deploy as well—not to Afghanistan, but to Pakistan. A foreign liaison service had approached the CIA saying they had a cross-border agent network that could provide reporting on the Taliban and al-Qa’ida, and they were offering to work jointly with the CIA on running the network. I was teamed up with a paramilitary officer for the mission, but before we got very far into the planning, the liaison service advised that there were some doubts about the credibility of the network, and the offer to cooperate was withdrawn.
With another deployment possibility gone, all I could do was hope that Pasha’s efforts in northern Afghanistan would be successful. If they were, the tentative plan was for me to take in a team to link up with him. In the meantime, I was back in waiting mode.
During this time, most of the day to day routine was unremarkable. One day, however, President George W. Bush came to the Agency to give a talk to the employees. He offered encouragement and thanked everyone for their around-the-clock efforts since the 9/11 attacks. I didn’t attend his speech, as there wasn’t enough room for every employee to be there. But afterward, much to our astonishment, President Bush came down to the offices of CTC/SO, escorted by CTC Chief Cofer Black. We all dropped what we were doing and lined up in the bullpen area. The President, with Cofer beside him, walked along the line of employees shaking our hands. When they reached where I was standing, Cofer stopped the President and personally introduced him to me. President Bush thanked me for my work and the two then continued down the line.
I was stunned that Cofer had introduced me by name to the President of the United States. I had worked for Cofer in one capacity or another for the previous six years and had the highest respect for him. His gesture meant a lot to me.
Around the third week of October, I was called into the front office of CTC/SO, along with another NE Division officer named Jimmy. I really didn’t know Jimmy well at that point, except by his excellent reputation. Before coming to the Agency, he had completed a full Army career retiring as a Command Sergeant Major from Delta Force. He then joined the Agency to work as a case officer. He was well known and well liked, and I immediately liked him too. In part this may have been because his personality and manner of speech reminded me so much of one of my favorite characters, “Gus,” who was played by Robert Duval in the “Lonesome Dove” TV mini-series.
Upon arriving at the front office we were directed to see John, the Deputy Chief of CTC/SO. I had had a fair amount of contact with John since coming to CTC/SO and had developed a high respect for him due to the intense focus and direction he provided to the office. A former Navy officer, he had a trim build with a silver head of hair and a neatly trimmed mustache. Always well dressed, he reminded me of a middle-aged model in a men’s clothing catalogue. John was also a devout Catholic, and he was the only CIA officer I ever heard speak of the soul in the context of operational work. On that occasion, which was not too long after the formation of CTC/SO, another operations officer and I were in his office discussing CTC/SO’s mission.
“You men need to realize that what you will be involved in may well bear on the salvation of your very soul. You need to think about that. I’m talking about eternity and the things that you do in this life that can affect how you spend it. It is important that you are at peace with yourself and with God and with the actions you take.”
I believe it was an honest and heartfelt commentary on his part. Faith was clearly an integral part of his life and something that he consciously factored into his thinking and decisions. I had no doubt he had already given much thought about the impact of his current work on the question of his own salvation. The fact that he was still on the job was evidence that he was at peace with the course he was taking. I felt the same way.
This time, however, when Jimmy and I arrived in his office, there was no talk of salvation. John did not mince his words or waste our time.
“Gentlemen, things are moving along in northern Afghanistan, but we’ve got nothing going in the South. The Taliban and AQ are still in control. We need you two to get out to Pakistan and work with Station to get things going in the South. Any questions?”
Jimmy and I looked at each other and then looked back at John. We shook our heads.
“Good. Get your visas and travel reservations lined up. We want you out there as soon as possible.”
“Roger,” Jimmy replied and we started for the door.
“One more thing.”
We stopped.
“I don’t expect to see you two back here anytime soon.”
Jimmy and I glanced at each other, and as we walked out of the office Jimmy turned to me and said in his folksy, southern way of speaking, “I do believe that was the shortest ‘frag’ order I ever did receive.”
Although John had not explicitly said it, his instruction to “get things going in the South,” referred to one thing: the capture of Kandahar, the crown jewel of the Taliban movement, and what would probably become al-Qa’ida’s last major sanctuary inside Afghanistan.
I don’t recall what, if anything, I said to Jimmy, but I do remember that I was satisfied. At last I had a mission, and it was a good one.