Delta Force Operator, Green Beret & CIA Officer | Gary Harrington | Ep. 226

[@moonglum125]

Great interview, thanks for hosting Gary, loved his description of SOF’s operation speedbump in Kuwait

[@thepowerofprudence]

I actually never knew it was called that, but what a fitting name!

[@f82dot]

Gary seems like the coolest guy to be around and have as a friend/mentor! I watched this all the way through and was glued the whole time. What a spectacular guest, really hope to see more of him!

[@ianshearer6813]

Great guest and interview, thanks Gents.

[@stujohnson1462]

Thank you very much for the kudos for support military members. I served 25 years and was a "go between" for combat controllers and combat comm. I know that doesn't mean anything to you guys but, if aircraft want to land it helps a lot to have certain assets on the airfield. I was in Iraq in March 2003, could not get out of Tallil and go to Baghdad due to the evacuation of J. Lynch. Made it to Baghdad early April to set up airfield stuff. You guys and your guest deserve all the kudos, but again, thanks for pointing out the support folks - Cooks to Techs, we all have a job and and I loved mine. I got stories, but they do not compare to the ones you guys and your guest convey, although I know I've supported a lot of them. It really hit home when you start telling stories in the "civilian" world and people really get quiet when tell them your stories.

[@thepowerofprudence]

Pleasure to hear from you and thanks for your service! Nothing i ever did was possible without professionals like you doing their jobs. I ran a very successful team of Afghans once and was asked how I was able to accomplish tis with virtually no operational support./ it was the finance clerk, the logistician, the admin guy, and several others that were willing to give up time to come out in a dangerous environment and teach my guys how to do all the things that make operations possible. They were the ones that delivered. One fight, many roles.

[@ivanmarijanovic6047]

😊 l

[@rarefruit2320]

Hey did you guys ever find those weapons of mass destruction you were killing people over? Asking for a friend

[@tomnohmy1273]

This dudes a hero

[@thepowerofprudence]

A human hero in some areas is often a zero in others. Glad we did not talk about those!

[@Vince-ml9gw]

Excellent interview and conversation, always growing, always learning.

[@joesgotya9930]

That’s pretty cool he had a small role in the Colombia era hunting Pablo Escobar.. It’s pretty clear that (other) JSOC member he was working with was a Centra Spike SIGINT’er. @28:24 Delta Force commander Jerry Boykin talks a little bit about this in his memoir “Never Surrender”.. Delta would use these high powered spotting scopes up In high grounds overlooking key areas of interest for relevant players of Escobar.. At the same time they were also monitoring the air waves for any phone calls or radios in an effort to help aid in triangulation with other teams listening in the area. Old school RDF

[@ryanthompson4940]

Another phenomenal drop from you guys. This has become my favorite watch/listen on youtube. Thanks guys.

[@kxkxkxkx]

Whole bunch of sweet coins in that case 👀 Gary is a great leader and great guest 🗽

[@ryanjones4917]

Glad you had Gary back. He comes across as a respectable man with a lot of wisdom and lessons learned to share with those willing to learn. Sounds like he's experienced a lot of growth throughout his life as well.

[@jacain1234]

Just love this revisit with Greg. Semper Fi

[@mrmichael972]

He's a very interesting man. I could listen to him for hours.

[@samsmusichub]

One of the best interviews I've seen.

[@juliusspartacus5437]

His government career is staggering. I'm just floored at the different elite units eventually leading to CIA.

[@thepowerofprudence]

Often wonder what it would have been like to remain one place and spend a career there, but it is what it is and was what it were!

[@elizabeth3280]

ppl like this dude motivate me

[@DaleKallio]

I have to share the story of bumping into Lt. Gen. Cavezza while running the ring around I Corps parade field. I was an ambitious E3 (recently promoted), and I yel 'TRACK!', to get a slow mover off my line to make time. I ballet danced around him, ran in reverse, realized it was Gen. Cavezza and snapped a salute, and ran. I saw a wide grin on his face as I escaped😂

[@hollywoodlibertarian]

I have a perfect image of him walking out of the Kuwait embassy to his car while the diplomats were running in scared for their lives 😂😂 that’d be good for a movie

[@thepowerofprudence]

It was funny at the time and I did not really want to ignore procedures, but I was bone tired from an op until the wee hours of the morning and still had a long day to get through. I just needed a short nap. Wonder what the Marine Security Guards said afterward?

[@stanleymaestas5441]

Thank u for your service and amazing content 😮.

[@georgenaidoo9553]

I like the lack of b.s and they let him talk .

[@thepowerofprudence]

They are great hosts!

[@DaleKallio-jk9wo]

I was at Fort Kobbe when Howard AFB was in the mix when Escobar went down. I love the old school attitude (.. here's how I'm gonna solve it 👍🏻). I wonder if he was near the Nation Builders in El Salvador 🤔

[@thepowerofprudence]

Never been to El Sal. Honduras, Panama, and Medellin.

[@blamesaw]

He's so vulnerable without the stache

[@ajback2917]

The Hot Dog is a sandwich question was on the Justified TV show last week, not sure if that was where the question came from? The retirement of 4* on full base pay is just a result of the majority of 4* serving ~40 years. With 40x2.5% of base pay being 100%. There was a cap of 75% base pay in retirement that was removed in 2007/8 but that applied to all service members not just Generals. Obviously getting past 30 years in the US military is going to mean having rank whether enlisted / warrant or O.

[@manuellabor2759]

As a former Grunt, I can agree with Gary's train of thought that the bones on his boss's desk was funny.

[@blamesaw]

The Vibram five finger shoes were popping in 2010-2015

[@oldhillbillybuckkowalski]

Coming home from my deployment before we could board the plane we had to place our Duffel and Rucksacks on the pavement while in ancopen ranks formation. Then we were told to fall out and form up about 25 yds behind our duffel and ruck formation at which time the brought the dogs through looking for ordinance/explosives. We had a paper tag with our name wire tied to each but when that German Shepherd grabbed my ruck and tossed it about 4 feet into the air (great way to alert on a rucksack that is suspected of having ordinance/explosives lol) I knew it was mine and I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I could possibly have in there. My Plt Sgt was called down to where my ruck was, read the tag and called me over. He's staring at me like he's literally going to toss my ass out of the plane somewhere over the Atlantic while the MP is asking, "Before we search your rucksack is there anything you'd like to say, something you want to tell us about, if so now is the time?" I respond, "Negative Sgt." So they empty my ruck out, all they found that they said may have triggered the hit was one of those Ramen soups you get from the Korean aisle of the "Ethnic Section" at the PX , had the 3 ingredient packets, vegetables, hot pepper powder, and condensed oily beef broth liquid, the dog was at the end of a long shift and was due to be fed in about 10 minutes, the MP said this might be the dogs way of telling him it's time to eat. Unfortunately the dog had but a couple holes and a rip in my rucksack that forced me to have to replace it in order to clear CIF ...

[@louambers]

This man sounds like an Americanized Cajun...

[@TheCarlious]

I almost got kicked out of basic in 2005 at Fort Jackson for going around and gathering up all the CS grenades the Drill Sergeants had rigged up and throwing them in peoples hasties that night. Ended up knocking out a chics tooth with one while it simultaneously went of in her face. The only thing that saved me was DS Upchurch.

[@CScott-wh5yk]

Sounds like this guys life would have been better if he never read that Netenyahu book 🤣

[@marcuscrossie8558]

Living the dream ,if you've served then you would be able to tell ,good always out weigh the bad ,the bond you make, shall never break ,never give in always dig ,the banter you have ,each and everyone would go bk just for that given half the chance,the many of different experiences be it place, people culture,situations way of life you remember them all ,the friends you lost ,guilt, pain,we all learn how to adapt and over come each and every day like me you've got a choice so make good of your life and honour the sacrifice making sure they didnt die in vein ,what this man's achieved in his life is off the chart ,tie one brotherhood, watch it again ,watch his face light up and smile as he reminiscing of the time he served because I think you misunderstood ,tie one ,C.I.A ect ect ect he's lived life and survived the many of fight how's your life been 😮😢😂

[@Daniel-fq5vq]

Just shut your trap and remain in rank. Someone oughta slap you silly boy, lil boy yea understand?

[@Jjmartin1530]

for us it was arty sim rounds that got tossed in the fox holes up in the alpha shelf lol

[@KristinP-zi2dj]

love the hot dog/sandwich metaphor!

[@soundzbyj8979]

Shoutout to the hometown hickory/taylorsville

[@rarefruit2320]

A lot of good slaves come from that area. They’ll do almost anything without question

[@jacain1234]

It was sheep/goat farming for me. Homesteading is a great temporary or longterm option.

[@Wheres-my-toes-bro]

Be careful goat herding they might send a drone strike and say you were a terrorist.

[@gent_Carolina]

A hot dog on a bun = open-faced sandwich, as it only has 1 bread item split in middle. A pita would count as either type of sandwich depending on whether or not you rolled it or cut in half & stuffed it. Yes, I have put overly much thought into this in the course of my life. 😁 🍞🥪🌭🍔🌯🥙

[@MrContemplation]

If it goes in the bread cold or without heating. It's a simple sandwich. Otherwise, it's something different. That's just my philosophy.

[@KristinP-zi2dj]

Y'all sure do drink A LOT. Good times.

[@토비-d1c]

I'm quite curious about what happened in south america when he was in the unit and why even his team leader couldn't know about it. Did he catch an ailen from a crashed ufo?

[@Kor34nNaSn1p3r]

Neil and brad did it

[@karenkline7221]

The Hot dog comes on a bun, though. It has to be a sandwich. Yay .... CHICAGO DOG !!!

[@DannyB497]

Nearly 100k subs guys

[@AugustusTitus]

Officer then goes to be an enlisted guy? You'd think that would make things easier to deal with officers, reverse mustang and all.

[@thepowerofprudence]

Sometimes not. On one hand I could remember mistakes I made and forgive them and other times, I thought, I sure as heck would never handle this that way! I think I remained always somewhere philosophically stuck between an NCO and officer. I imagine I was hard to deal with in some respects.

[@jamesruscheinski8602]

Substantive choice republic

[@c.hundley9714]

So much for the step forward. Military sits back and watched Bi den piss on the flag.

[@rarefruit2320]

Have you seen all the desecrated flags from the blue line brotherhood with the blue line running across the middle dividing it?

[@c.hundley9714]

Like the bin Laden thing. Fake. It's all come out with Snowden. Tim McVeigh was CIA. The device that took out the Oklahoma City place was a gas pumped in. The truck was a prop. So for military to sit back and do nothing while Skull and Bones runs the Country. Disgraceful. SO MUCH FOR ALL ENEMIES!

[@Bill-xx2yh]

This is not a personal criticism, as such. However there seem to be a "plethora" of drugs there.

[@thepowerofprudence]

I can say I never did them nor saw others on my teams do them. I have heard the stories and knew folks caught up in that. There may have been folks that did them out of my sight. I could not condone drug use.

[@teddycadle3387]

RLTW!

[@KristinP-zi2dj]

there's no need to say 'blank,' i'm pretty sure this is uncensored, dear.

[@wangchatlowang274]

Bring Major vivek jacob

[@dave_parke]

We had him on. Check out Episode 196.

[@wangchatlowang274]

@@dave_parke I've watched that episode but u guys should bring him again in person Major jacob is the most battle hardened soldier india has right now. Last time u didn't asked him about combat

[@MikeHunt-rw4gf]

algorithm

[@HerreraCam]

A marine lieutenant playing pranks on Marines? And even injuring a Marine? Then leaving a Marine Corps career as an officer behind to enlist in the Army? From the beginning, this sounds like total bullshit. LOL

[@mrs8171]

Listen to the 1st episode and it will make alot more sense. This was an abridged version that left out the historical context, but had alot of great stories. Seriously, the guy is damned legend. ALSO, the Marine Corps was a very, very different place back in the 80's. His stories are definitely true with little embellishment, but a lot of it is hard to imagine when compared to today's Corps. Certainly another era.

[@moonglum125]

Or are you jealous 😮

[@JohnRyan-gr8bs]

Ask him when he knew the Vietnam war was lost

[@TheTeamHousePodcast]

Wasn’t in Vietnam you space cadet

[@JohnRyan-gr8bs]

@@TheTeamHousePodcast well when did he realize that ear was unwinnable? And I am a space cadet under Captain Midnight Thanks for giving me the respect of my age!

[@thepowerofprudence]

I am old, but was in high school for that war.

[@iBirdn]

Jack you mentioned that the guy who shot Bin Laden has never gone public. He did go on The Shawn Ryan Show a year ago and spoke about it, his name is Rob O'Neill Episode 27 of that Podcast. He and Shawn did speak at length about him not wanting to go public for a long time, but did so to get the story out. Not sure if he's doing any other Podcasts/Shows, haven't seen him pop up elsewhere. Would be cool if you guys could get him on as well! Another great show, as always. I've been a long time fan of the show, thanks for what you're doing and keep up the great work!

[@lvcisferre3523]

Rob O'Neil has his own podcast called the Operator.

[@jamesortiz5388]

They ask special operations people not to talk about their missions O'Neil is the biggest blabbering mouth.

[@kxkxkxkx]

Shows what you know 🤭😆😂 You dum dums think Jack never heard of Rob O'Neill? 🙄 Push!! Google "Bill Rapier" if you really want to learn something...

[@GooglePixelGoogle]

There is a debate within the Seal community as to who actually shot Bin Laden. There is speculation that Rob O'Neil did not infact kill him, but it was a different operator who has chosen to not go public.

[@pedro808]

The reason he says that it’s because it’s well known O’Neill is not the shooter.

[@bingobabymusic]

Really sad… this Dude desecrated a body and laughed about it. What a psychopath

[@GooglePixelGoogle]

The body was desecrated well before he got it. The head, hands, and feet were already gone. With out knowing the persons name, religion, culture, and or origin it would be impossible to not in some way "desecrate" the body. By some standards just moving it would be desecration, by others not burying it would be desecration, by others burying it with out the head, feet, and hands would be desecration. It's a no win situtaion and the guy was already dead. What he did does not make him a psychopath.

[@songen1042]

It wasn’t a body, the dude was probably been dead for years. He didn’t desecrate it either.

[@mrs8171]

Lighten up Francis. (Dark humor permits guys like Gary to actually do that work for 40 years and stay mentally stable.)

[@thepowerofprudence]

Hey - I did chuckle about this, yet I would not make the same choice today. When you have been in harms way for years straight, things have a different perspective. Things seem funny that aren't; things that should be funny fall flat on you. No excuse, just a fact. I:n this case, I:could not report it because nobody was supposed to be where it was. :In hindsight, i should have left it there, but did not. I pointed the story out because it goes to show how things take on a different perspective and how the strangest things happen when under stress in hostile environments. I guess i could have talked about the time I paid for a villager to bury a child out of pity, or villagers i helped, but i chose this story. Good or bad it was true.

[@Chertoff88]

Who made the call not to have the Khost bomber searched?

[@thepowerofprudence]

That has become a hot-button issue. For my ops, including meeting with known Taliban, was search them myself and never expose other Americans or the compound to anyone not searched. Sometimes the GRS guys searched folks. I understand there are times when it is deemed better for rapport to not search, then perhaps it is better to do the meeting outside the compound. Another question is the person a developmental or a recruited asset? Lots to consider and not a good practice to throw stones on calls made in the heat of an op; some of us were lucky our mistakes did not end lives.

[@poebutcheddar]

I've seen this guy before. He's a pipehitter. 🇺🇲🥜💪🏻