Greg Vogle

Greg Vogle served as the Director of the National Clandestine Service from January 29, 2015 until August 2017.[1][2][3]

Rescue of Hamid Karzai

On October 9, of 2001 Hamid Karzai entered Afghanistan and linked up with his supporters to seize the town of Tarin Kowt. Taliban forces launched a counterattack against Karzai's lightly armed forces and he was forced to withdraw. On November 3, Karzai contacted a member of the CIA's paramilitary unit identified only as "Greg V." who immediately acted by linking up Karzai and himself with his joint CIA/US Army Special Forces/JSOC team. From there, they made a nighttime insertion back into Tarin Kowt. Karzai then went from village to village seeking support to fight against the Taliban. On November 17, a large battle ensued. Several of Karzai's new recruits fled, but Greg V. took command and ran between defensive positions shouting, "If necessary, die like men!". The line held and as the Director of the CIA George Tenet said in his book Center of the Storm, "It was a seminal moment. Had Karzai's position been overrun, as appeared likely for much of November 17, the entire future of the Pashtun rebellion in the south could have ended."[4][5]

Later on December 5, Karzai was leading his resistance force against the Taliban at Khandahar, their capital and one of their last remaining strongholds. Greg V. was the lead paramilitary advisor to Karzai in this battle when, as a result of a mistake in calculating an air strike, a bomb was dropped on their position. Greg V. threw his body on Karzai and saved his life. The same day Khandahar fell and Karzai was named the interim Prime Minister.[4][5]

Mr. Tenet wrote, "The routing of the Taliban and al-Qa'ida from Afghanistan in a matter of weeks was accomplished by 110 CIA officers, 316 Special Forces soldiers and scores of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) raiders creating havoc behind enemy lines—a band of brothers with the support of U.S. airpower, following a CIA plan, that has to rank as one of the great successes in Agency history."[6] Several Intelligence Stars were awarded for these activities; presumably "Greg V." was one of those.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark; Apuzzo, Matt (April 25, 2015). "Deep Support in Washington for C.I.A.'s Drone Missions". The New York Times (New York ed.). p. A1. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015. Mr. Brennan recently named Greg Vogel ... to take over the C.I.A.’s vaunted Directorate of Operations
  2. ↑ Shapira, Ian (September 18, 2017). "The CIA acknowledges the legendary spy who saved Hamid Karzai's life — and honors him by name". Washington Post.
  3. ↑ "McChrystal Group – Greg Vogle". McChrystal Group.
  4. 1 2 At the Center of the Storm: My Life at the CIA, George Tenet, Harper Collins, 2007, pages 219–225
  5. 1 2 3 "The CIA honored the officer who saved Hamid Karzai's life". 18 September 2017.
  6. ↑ At the Center of the Storm: My Life at the CIA, George Tenet, Harper Collins, 2007, page 225
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