Host of LinkedIn Perspective Broadcast/Podcast-Chairperson of the Board at Warrior Rescue(501c3 Nonprofit)
United States Marine Corps USMC Special Operations USMC Scout Sniper Association (official) Recon & Sniper Foundation We seem to find quite a few former Recondos and HOGs in this line of work. Very interesting but of GWOT history. OP: @socom_archive A CIA SAD officer taking point during a joint patrol between an Afghan Counter Terrorism Pursuit Team (CTPT) and 10th Mountain Division soldiers in Nuristan, Afghanistan. Between 2002 and 2004, the Central Intelligence Agency began to develop a clandestine program designed to harass and chase al-Qaeda fighters around the Afghan-Pakistan border. These teams came to be known as CTPTs, and at its height, the program recruited and regularly paid over 3,000 Afghan militiamen to carry out these operations so that the CIA could maintain deniability. These militias were favored over most government forces due to their reliability (I say this very loosely) and their vehement hatred for al-Qaeda. While the initial CTPT program was somewhat shortlived, it evolved into the Omega Program some years later. Omega was split into several teams, stationed at several outstations across Afghanistan. Teams of US SOF operators would partner with CIA officers (who’d lead these teams) to provide specialist support, like medical care, close air support, and EOD support to their Afghan counterparts. They’d then lead their Afghan teams onto target, where they’d clash with al-Qaeda terrorists to collect intel for follow-on operations. Omega would later face scrutiny after reports surfaced that its Afghan soldiers were carelessly shooting and recklessly torturing civilians, suspected to be insurgents, during missions. Ultimately, the program came to be dissolved when the United States and NATO left Afghanistan in August 2021. Despite this controversy, the Omega Program became a template for the CIA and Department of Defense on using surrogate partner forces to conduct clandestine strikes in denied areas all over the world. Tertia Optio. 🇺🇸 🇦🇫
