Review Black Ops by Ric Prado

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Ric is a former PJ turned CIA contractor instructing the Contras in the early 80's before being picked up fulltime by the Agency. He bounced in and out of Ground Branch over his career, had some pretty spicy assignments, one of the guys who tracked UBL from well before 9/11, Chief of Ops at the Counter Terrorism Center when 9/11 happened...you get the idea.

Fantastic book. He came to the US as a Cuban "orphan" essentially and would retire as an SIS-2, which is a 2-star level position. The book is a great read, not boring, but it is also detailed. He went through this mysterious practice of submitting his manuscript for review, and as such there are significant portions which are redacted. Almost refreshingly for an autobio, I think he spends as much time praising others as he does in "I" mode. His section on the Philippines is fascinating and how he integrated his family into working overseas, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the evac, etc. I think his book is a great addition to anyone piecing together the CIA's work in tracking UBL and our post-9/11 efforts in Afghanistan. His book, Waugh, Coll, Schroen and others I don't recall all fill in the gaps between the various books and stories.

I kind of wish he'd spent more time on his PJ service, I believe he was a Reservist, but I think it is a really good book.

I give this 4, maybe 4.5, out of 5 dead Communists.
 
kind of wish he'd spent more time on his PJ service

Listening to several podcasts with Ric over the last couple of days. I've always been super capitivated by Iran- Contra but there isn't a lot out there from the ground level. He talks alot about his time in the camps with the Contras and the Moskito's. No link included because there are several good videos on youtube.Thanks for the review!
 
I kind of wish he'd spent more time on his PJ service
He doesn't spend much time talking about PJ stuff, with the exception of one incident, but he mentions in one interview that he was offered another position (no spoilers) almost as soon as he earned his beret. I will be reading the book because I'm sure he doesn't spill ALL the beans in these podcasts.
 
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