Episode 8 -- Dr. Michael Vickers is a former Green Beret, CIA operations officer, and national security policymaker with a remarkable 40+ year career. Mike talks about his early career, including being part of the Grenada invasion force as a CIA trainee, taking down the Soviets in Afghanistan, and provides great analysis and assessment of operations and policy decisions, connecting his experiences to conflicts that the U.S. faces today. Among many roles in his career, Vickers served under President George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, Low-Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities from 2007 to 2009 and was held over by President Barack Obama, serving as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence before retiring in 2015. Dr. Vickers' Book: https://www.amazon.com/All-Means-Available-Intelligence-Operations-ebook/dp/B0BG14NJDS UnderSimplified Home: https://www.undersimplified.org/ UnderSimplified Music by:  Arethusa Strings Exclusive Sponsor 2430 Group:  2430Group.org ****Ways to support this podcast**** Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/undersimplified Venmo: @UnderSimplified PayPal: paypal.me/UnderSimplified GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/3d1b01b4 UnderSimplified Home: https://www.undersimplified.org/ UnderSimplified on Twitter: @undersimplified UnderSimplified on Instagram: undersimplified_podcast