Shadow Warrior: Interview with Former CIA Paramilitary Officer Ric Prado

We’d like to say that Enrique “Ric” Prado is a person who wants no introduction. However that’s not true. Quite the opposite, Ric has devoted his life to secrecy and safety. A life-long veteran of America’s clandestine combat to suppress oppression, Ric has by no means actively sought fame or glory. The fruits of his labor stay, by and enormous, entombed in a casket of purple tape and rubber stamps marked “Categorised” or “Prime Secret.” The scourge of Communism — actual Communism, not the white-washed ideally suited praised in espresso outlets and collegiate lecture halls — stained his life at a younger age and set him on a five-decade mission that carried him actually all over the world. From the streets of Miami in the course of the daybreak of the Cocaine Cowboys, to the jungles of Latin America, to the skies over Baghdad, Ric has cashed in his shot on the American dream to defend all of ours.

We lately sat down with him, following the discharge of his ebook Black Ops: The Lifetime of a CIA Shadow Warrior, to debate his life within the sequestered and oft-misunderstood world of covert operations.

This text was initially printed in our sister publication, RECOIL journal. Images by John Jackson.

Ric Prado Interview

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RECOIL: Inform us why and the way you and your loved ones emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba.

Ric Prado: By the age of seven or 8, in the course of the fruits of the Castro Revolution, I noticed the implications of a firefight two toes in entrance of me. Shortly after Castro gaining energy on January 9, 1959, I witnessed the atrocities being dedicated within the identify of the Revolution: three males hanging from bushes with indicators round their necks which learn “Counter-Revolutionaries.”

Above: Ric’s final supper along with his household in Cuba earlier than his solo voyage to the US.

All companies, together with my dad’s modest espresso roasting firm, had been confiscated by Castro. My dad noticed the writing on the wall and determined to flee the island for freedom (which solely the U.S. gives). Due to corrupt political machinations, my mother and father weren’t granted the necessary exit allow (U.S. visas weren’t the issue). So, my dad discovered the “Peter Pan” program, which was facilitating the departure of children beneath the age of 15 through the Catholic church.

As an solely little one, I flew solo to the U.S. on the age of 10. I instantly was despatched to a Catholic orphanage in Pueblo, Colorado. My mother and father had been capable of flee the communist yoke eight months later. I actually consider that these three experiences — warfare, solo departure, orphanage — “cast my metallic” for what can be my path in life.

What was your childhood like in Miami? What had been some individuals or occasions that influenced you to take your present path?

RP: I obtained combined up with a tough crowd in highschool — no medicine however a lot of combating. I had respectable grades in class, however my conduct was not. The tipping level for my course correction occurred in my first yr of faculty in Miami Dade: 1971, hippies protesting the Vietnam warfare introduced the intention to burn the American flag the next day. “Not on my watch!” I stated to myself. So, I known as just a few of my fellow road rats, and when the 15 to twenty hippies confirmed as much as take down the flag, the 5 of us plowed proper by them. Torn T-shirts and beads all over, however the American flag but waved. It was the primary time in my life that I felt happy with my violence. 4 months later, I joined an elite Air Drive unit with the solemn intent of combating in Vietnam.

What did you do within the army?

RP: I certified to enter the pararescue pipeline in 1971. I assumed I used to be a tricky, match child however the preliminary expertise was humbling. Nonetheless, beneath the “ain’t useless, can’t give up” mantra, I gutted it by and obtained my coveted maroon beret in late 1972.

Are you able to speak a bit about what the pararescue coaching was like?

RP: Pararescue was one of many remaining hammer-strikes forging my character. In the course of the six-week choice, we did two-a-days (pool and PT) six days per week. Like most SOF models, our attrition charge was 80 p.c. Not solely was the bodily coaching brutal, however the psychological load of ultimately changing into an EMT-2 was additionally fairly a problem.

We did EMT-1 coaching and concurrently pre-SCUBA preparation at Sheppard AFB, Texas — that was brutal! SCUBA faculty is arguably essentially the most demanding course of most SOF pipelines. I had the slight benefit that I used to be already superior SCUBA certified (a ardour that began in ninth grade), and that allowed me to sleep a bit extra, whereas my teammates needed to examine Boyle’s regulation, nitrogen-narcosis, decompression tables, and associated diseases.

It was nonetheless a beast of a problem. Then, Bounce Faculty at Fort Benning was comparatively “simple day.” However S.E.R.E faculty was no joke. We then entered what was then known as “Transition Faculty,” which encompassed EMT-2 medical coaching, goat-labs, superior parachuting — which included SCUBA jumps with about 130 kilos of substances — mountaineering, and many PT … at altitude.

First time this Cuban child from Miami noticed snow was on a four-day trekking train by 3 toes of snow, in snowshoes. Final was a frosty evening SCUBA leap into the darkish abyss of a lake in Utah in 38-degree climate. That evening we donned our berets for the primary time.

How did you wind up on the CIA? Did you apply, or had been you recruited?

RP: Like most issues in my life, it was preordained. I used to be loving pararescue however with Vietnam winding down and no hope to check my expertise, I lacked a way of objective. Sure, I used to be leaping virtually weekly and doing nice waterwork, however coaching just for coaching’s sake. In 1974, I utilized to the Company. “Not hiring, firing” was their blunt response.

I attempted once more in 1980 and was introduced in on periodic contract as a paramedic supporting CIA’s elite Particular Actions Division, Floor Department. I represented myself nicely, I used to be “match as a firetruck,” and when President Reagan declared warfare on Latin American communism, I used to be recruited into the ranks of SAD/GB, the place I used to be home-based for over 10 years.

What was your first task for the Company, and what was the onboarding course of like?

RP: Like your first kiss, your first task is at all times unforgettable. Mine was arguably essentially the most rewarding journey of my profession. In early 1981, I used to be PCS’d to Honduras, in alias, to help the anti-Sandinista “Contras” of their combat to regain their freedom. For the primary 14 months of that program, I used to be the one CIA officer allowed within the Contra camps — this to be able to conceal the U.S. hand (covert motion equals black ops).

Above: Ric and his household whereas receiving his first CIA medal for main a workforce of native fight divers to explode a port facility managed by Sandinistas.

I slept in a jungle hammock for 3.3 years and beloved each minute. Right here, I misplaced my cherry in my first firefight, a Sandinista ambush, which we countered and subsequently leveled their camp utilizing my new mortar class, through 82mm mortars. These had been Soviet inventory, once more to cover U.S. involvement.

After the Contra program, did your Cuban heritage and language capacity “nook” you to Latin and South American postings?

RP: My subsequent two assignments after the Hondo/Nica deployment had been to Latin America. First, Costa Rica covertly working the Contra program from the south. The third was to a rustic in South America (unnamed). This was my first counterterrorism gig, and the place I recruited a Maoist terrorist. Nevertheless, though I used to be a PMO (paramilitary officer), I used to be additionally a totally certified ops officer/intel. So, being SAD, I used to be not constrained by geographical boundaries.

Above: Images from Ric’s first task with the CIA, coaching Nicaraguan anti-communist freedom fighters.

I subsequently PCS’d to the Philippines, Korea, and “Shangri-La,” a radical Muslim nation in East Africa. I used to be the Chief of Station (COS). I returned to headquarters and was awarded the coveted Chief of Operations at our Counterterrorist Heart (CTC).

How was the transition from being a full-time paramilitary officer to being a “conventional” operations officer, relying extra on tradecraft than battlefield techniques?

RP: With the copious tradecraft coaching we obtain at “The Farm,” our PMOs are well-prepared for the transition. In reality, it’s necessary for PMOs to at the start be intel-collecting ops officers. I had the added benefit that I labored in a males’s haberdashery in my junior and senior highschool years, so I discovered to “clear up nicely.”

As a lot as I beloved my kinetic PM days, I discovered the first CIA mission — accumulate intel and conduct covert ops (black ops) — essentially the most thrilling. Nothing like swimming in harmful waters undetected. My recruitment of a Maoist terrorist and my surviving a Philippine New Individuals’s Military (NPA) “Sparrow” hit workforce assault actually floated my boat.

You had been one of many unique members of the Company’s Bin Laden activity drive. How did you wind up there, and what made the CIA dedicate an entire station to at least one particular person?

RP: Sure, I’m Plank Proprietor of that activity drive, higher generally known as Alec Station. I had simply returned from my Chief Liaison job in Korea and had taken OpCon of CTC’s Palestinian Department when the C/Ops pitched me about being the Deputy Chief of Station for this effort. I had simply gotten my GS-15, and this was heaven despatched.

Above: Ric at First Coast Firearms with an M240B, which he carried whereas assigned to twentieth SFG.

Mike Scheuer, the COS, was a senior analyst, and he’s the primary to develop the idea that Bin Laden was a serious organizer of radical Islamic terrorism. We began with a small crew of about eight, all however two analysts.

Inside 10 months, we had uncovered 10 occasions the intel we had prior. And we had him beneath excessive vigilance, whereas he was in Khartoum, Sudan. Particular Forces legend Billy Waugh was the chief of surveillance for the station, working for my nice boss and buddy, Cofer Black. Billy had “made ebook” on UBL and had full documentation of his patterns of life.

Billy, through Cofer and Alec Station, saved proposing that we deliver Bin Laden to justice based mostly on the copious quantity of intelligence that was pouring in from a number of sources, together with unilateral and liaison. Sadly, that administration didn’t have the political will to approve such a enterprise. Thoughts you, Billy may have killed him with a pencil (his quote), however we had been assured that we may render him to justice with minimal resistance.

All of us get pleasure from 20/20 hindsight, but when we might have been allowed to do the deed, the usCole, our two embassies in Africa, and maybe even September eleventh may have been disrupted.

You additionally labored on the CTC — the Company’s Counter-Terrorism Heart. How did that task differ out of your area postings, and the way did the CIA’s give attention to terrorism change through the years you spent there?

RP: Effectively, my South America tour was beneath CTC’s mandate. Identical with my time within the Alec Station. After my tenure as East Asia Deputy Division Chief for the group’s Korea program, I returned to the fold of CTC in Might of 2000, first as Chief of Worldwide Terrorism and subsequently as Cofer’s Deputy for Operations (known as Chief/Ops).

CTC was cutting-edge CIA. It was the epicenter of all supply intelligence gathering and operational initiatives coping with the World Warfare on Terrorism. It was a dynamic place to work with a plethora of devoted professionals, operators, and analysts alike. And sure, terrorism grew to become the “flash bang grenade” that shifted the main focus of the entire group towards the worldwide onslaught. After Sept. 11, CTC was the most important entity within the CIA.

What was your remaining posting earlier than retirement? And when did you transition out of lively service with the Company?

RP: After my yr as CTC C/Ops, I developed an operational idea that Cofer and Jose Rodriguez beloved, for going after the smooth underbelly of any terrorist group: their worldwide help mechanisms! The concept, which I briefed to then Vice President Dick Cheney and Condi Rice, was to ascertain patterns of lifetime of two to 3 senior help parts for each terrorist group who may threaten us.

The idea was disruption — if we had been receiving main indicators that concentrate on group was planning an assault towards the U.S. or its allies, we may neutralize these pre-established targets for rendition, native police intervention, or no matter else the president of the U.S. would approve beneath CIA’s Title 50 Authorities.

After senior CTC administration, which included me, realized that we had been by no means going to be allowed something greater than long-term surveillance, we determined to disband the workforce, because it had grow to be nothing greater than a “paper tiger” that briefed nicely.

Shortly thereafter, within the early a part of 2004, I retired from the CIA. I acquired the Distinguished Profession Intelligence medal and the George Bush medal for Excellence in Counterterrorism, amongst others.

Above: A sampling of profession tokens, encased in a shadow field, together with an assortment of carry knives. “I concern knives, so I determine so does everybody else. I at all times carry two.”

We perceive that you simply additionally spent a while working for Blackwater after retirement. How did that chance come about, and what did you do for them?

RP: I had met and befriended Erik Prince whereas I used to be Chief/Ops. Once I began my “particular program” described above, I requested Erik to facilitate the kinetic coaching me and my crew wanted to hold out the missions.

I selected Blackwater as a result of we may prepare there anonymously and with the very best of the very best instructors. Shortly after my retirement, Erik pitched me to come back work for him. His patriotic concept was to permit me to deliver my abilities and my networks to the intel/CT group writ massive.

Above: Serving as a fill-in door gunner on a Little Hen in Iraq, throughout his time with Blackwater.

My title was VP for Particular Authorities Packages (wink!). I can’t go into a lot element as a result of black ops was absolutely vetted and cleared by CIA as much as and together with my CIA tenure. The remainder of what we did in Blackwater for the group, which was lots, stays categorized, though some issues have leaked maliciously. I had the very best time of my profession working at Blackwater. And having fun with the truth that Erik would prepare with us in all points of the commerce. Nice occasions certainly.

Have you ever had the chance to pursue every other consulting or personal sector work since then?

RP: Sure, I taught at Advance Particular Operations & Methods (ASOT) at Fort Bragg for seven years. There I labored with among the greatest SOF parts and teacher cadre. I’m very happy with my time supporting the ASOT and ASOT Managers Course.

Earlier this yr, your ebook Black Ops: The Life Of A CIA Shadow Warrior was launched and has since grow to be a New York Occasions bestseller. Who or what prompted you to inform your story?

RP: The concept began through my former boss, Cofer Black, whom I had recruited for Blackwater. He would harp at me incessantly about utilizing my life story as platform to inform the story of the actual CIA and the true ethos of our colleagues. I didn’t hear.

Then, my oldest son insisted I write my memoirs for the household, and that’s once I began writing. Like all issues in my life, I didn’t plan for it, however the Good Lord guided me, typically with a 2×4, towards publishing. First, Steve Coll (Pulitzer Prize winner) after which Annie Jacobson each interviewed me for books they had been engaged on, and each inspired me to make the leap.

Two issues had been catalysts: 1) My identify and particular initiatives had been maliciously leaked in 2009. My identify appeared within the entrance web page of the information, tying me to CIA loss of life squads. The significance of that is that my “fig leaf” had been ripped off and in a really adverse approach. 2) Submit-retirement, I had time for introspection. The truth that we, a tiny Company, have 139 stars on our Wall of Honor, and a couple of third of these are submit Sept. 11, I spotted that I wanted to take up defending their honor and sacrifices and make them public data.

In any case is alleged and achieved, that was the driving drive for lastly pulling the set off on Black Ops. By the best way, it additionally made Amazon Books Editor’s number-one decide final month.

From an emotional/psychological standpoint, how had been you capable of reconcile the potential publicity you’ll possible obtain from this ebook with the inherent want to stay nameless and personal, a staple requirement for intelligence officers?

RP: Males like us get pleasure from a ardour and conviction that makes us who we’re. The outdated saying “if you happen to’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly” involves thoughts. The leaking of my identify and the horrible image that Hollywood paints about my colleagues and what the Company does is at all times portrayed as treasonous, treacherous, corrupt. These women and men who adorn our Wall of Honor deserve higher illustration. Names like Mike Spann and Jennifer Mathews, the latter an early UBL/Alec Station member, deserve a greater historical past, particularly for his or her offspring.

Was there a formalized assessment or approval course of with the CIA to get your manuscript printed?

RP: Completely! My ebook underwent an intensive scrub for shielding sources and strategies. It took six months to get it by, however what I wrote was absolutely vetted and authorised by CIA reviewers.

In tv and films, intelligence officers are at all times utilizing far-flung devices and tech to perform their missions. Did your expertise as an Operations Officer contain something like this?

RP: Unadulterated “Bravo Sierra” (BS)! In Black Ops, I doc actual horny CIA ops, carried out by dedicated patriots in locations most individuals by no means even go to. We get no Aston Martins or clothes allowance for Brioni fits, however the women and men of the CIA ship, despite the politics that usually hamstring us.

Whereas devices and disguises and diplomatic wine mixers are part of legacy case work, you spent a lot of your profession in paramilitary covert motion — the “pointy finish” of intelligence operations. What was that tools like, particularly within the early Eighties while you began out?

RP: Effectively, whereas supporting the Contra undertaking, I carried an AR-15, a Browning Excessive Energy 9mm pistol on my hip, a straight-blade knife, a pair of golf-ball grenades (V-40s I believe they had been known as), and my trusty Walther PPK/S in an ankle holster. In different hazard excursions, like within the Philippines, I carried an MP5K in my armored car, first a Browning HP then a Glock 19, a knife (or two), and once more, an ankle piece.

Once I serviced “walk-ins” (volunteers) within the PI, in the course of the first Gulf Warfare, I might make my assembly on the high-end inns. They screened everyone for weapons, however I seen (consciousness guidelines in our enterprise) that they solely used the metal-detecting wand above the knee. Ergo, I carried two five-shot Woman Smith revolvers, one on every ankle, with a backup ammo strip. No gun for all seasons!

How did the Company itself evolve or change over the course of your profession?

RP: Effectively, in my case, it began with an elite army posture whereas working out and in of our 10 Contra camps on the Nica border. Tradecraft was not at all times employed, however situational alertness was necessary. This was PMO work at its most interesting. The transition to combating the Chilly Warfare beneath U.S. Embassy cowl was undoubtedly tradecraft-based and, after all, armed in EDC mode.

Then got here terrorism, and our operational world modified dramatically from diplomatic and enterprise circles to coping with rougher characters. In distinction to solo operations of the Chilly Warfare, we now usually needed to make use of “shadow surveillance” by our extremely educated cadre. I used to seek advice from them as my ghosts with enamel.

By the best way, counterterrorism is the very best factor that ever occurred to our PMOs — from second-class residents within the late ’70s and early ’80s to quick trackers and Chiefs of Station within the many hazard posts.

Above: Ric and his elite close-surveillance workforce in an undisclosed African nation the place he served as Chief of Station.

After many years of high-tempo operations, how do you spend your time these days?

RP: Effectively, at present, I’m omni-focused on the promotion of Black Ops. Subsequent, nevertheless, I plan to trip my horse, my motorcycle, and spoil my spouse any approach I can. After 51 years of “God and nation,” I’m wanting ahead to some me time. Don’t get me incorrect, this canine can nonetheless hunt and can if I have to.

Do you continue to get out and shoot?

RP: Religiously! Like bodily coaching, combating expertise are a lifestyle you simply don’t depart behind upon retirement. Due to my intensive coaching and temperament, I couldn’t ignore a lady or little one being abused or a cop being overwhelmed. Like Jack Paladin used to say: Have gun, will journey!

Above: Ric on the vary with a kitted-for-duty carbine, courtesy of First Coast Firearms. The PJ hat worn in reminiscence of teammate Cliff Kunde.

Primarily based in your expertise in international locations the place residents couldn’t defend themselves from the specter of terrorism or communism, what are your ideas on the relevance of the 2nd Modification?

RP: The 2nd Modification is the spine of democracy, together with our 1st Modification. There’s not a single communist nation on the earth that enables their civilian inhabitants to be armed. Like in lots of our cities, the states with the strongest anti-gun guidelines produce essentially the most violent and harmful cities.

Evil exists at each stage. Whether or not the lengthy tentacles of communism, the bloody final result of terrorism, or simply road survival, we live with the presence of evil. It’s not a police officer’s job to guard your loved ones, house, and life. They’re deterrents when current or investigators of the crimes dedicated towards you. It’s our private duty to care for our personal, first.

You spent a few of your childhood and the primary half of your profession face-to-face with the specter of communism. What are your ideas on the present scenario in Ukraine and the way it would possibly have an effect on the U.S.?

RP: Ah, leaving the very best for final! The one and solely aim of each Russia and China is world domination. Radical Islam has related intentions however utilizing a unique excuse, faith. We, the U.S. of A, are the first enemy of these predators.

We — our army, intel, and police forces — are the sheepdogs. Feared by the wolves and unappreciated by the sheep. The Western world must get up and notice that socialism is just a masks communism wears to lure you into their lair and devour your freedom. God is aware of we’ve ample examples that it doesn’t work for any democracy. See Ukraine, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and plenty of others. All as soon as thriving international locations now lowered to fourth world standing.

What’s your present EDC?

RP: Ah, there is no such thing as a gun for all seasons or holster for all causes. All of it depends upon what I can get away with — with nobody figuring out I’m carrying. If I’m in my summer time three-piece-suit (shorts, T-shirt, and flip-flops), I usually carry my SIG 365 SAS. With denims and an ample shirt, I conceal my Glock 43 with Protect Arms 10-round mags.

Above: A sampling of Ric’s carry gear, together with the Walther PPK, an iconic spy sidearm. In Ric’s phrases, “no gun for all seasons, nor holster for all causes.”

Jacket viable? Glock 48, once more with a Protect Arms 15-round mags. In each choice, I at all times carry a spare journal and a knife. I put on my knife on my left aspect. Why? As a result of at a match 71 years of age, if I’m attacked, my pistol (appendix or strong-side carry) is my go-to choice. If that’s negated, then my left hand comes into “sharp” play.

About Ric Prado

Ric having fun with an Arturo Fuente Opus X maduro cigar.

Identify: Enrique “Ric” Prado

Age: 71 years younger

Hometown: Hialeah, FL

Household: Married 40 years to Carmen; we’ve three grown offspring.

Really helpful studying:

Favourite cigar/drink pairing: Arturo Fuentes Maduro, Macallan 12 Single Malt or Zakapa Rum

Chosen EDC objects: I like the flexibleness of pairing my SIG 365 SAS and my SIG X Macro; Bob Kasper Dragon mounted blade combating knife.

URL: ricprado.com

Written by Tom Marshall