OODAcast Episode 48: Ric Prado on Intelligence Operations and a Legendary Career in the CIA
Ric Prado has been described by CIA leadership as the closest thing to 007 that the United States has ever had. Ric's life is packed with more adventure and operations than your favorite spy novel series. Coming out of the shadows, this is Ric's first video interview and covers his career, operational decision-making lessons learned, why we need a next generation of CIA agents, and we even dive into some more obscure topics like CIA knife fighting and how he came to train the King of Jordan.
Arriving in the United States as a Peter Pan refugee from Cuba, Prado dedicated himself in service to his county in many capacities that culminated professionally with a 24 year career in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During his tenure at the CIA, Ric was involved with dozens of operations including spearheading the CIA's operational response to 9/11 as the Director of Operations within the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. For this response he worked with the National Security Council and FBI, as well as with elite U.S. military representatives from Delta Force and SEAL Team Six.
Earlier in his Agency career his service included 36 months in Central America jungles as the first CIA officer living in the anti-Sandinista "Contra" camps and Subsequently running counter-terrorism/insurgency operations in Peru and in the Philippines. He has also held operations officer posts in six countries and was a plank-owner of the CIA's original bin Laden desk in 1996.
Upon leaving public service, Ric worked at as an executive at a Private Military Contractor where he built a specialized operations team for a U.S. government customer and is currently the co-owner of Camp-X Training and continues his service training and supporting the "SPECOPS" Community as Subject Matter Expert (SME) at the SWCS' ASOT (Advanced Special Operations and Techniques) and ASOT Managers Course, Dragon Warrior, Emerald Warrior, among others.
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