6 Life Lessons from the American Who Helped Defeat Al-Qaeda

In the event of war with the Soviet Union, Vickers’ job was to be dropped into occupied Eastern Europe or Russia itself. The nuclear device would be armed with a mechanical timer and his duty was to ensure it detonated. “This was a very dangerous mission but it was elite, so it was attractive,” he explained.

Michael G. Vickers at the Pentagon in 2015.

Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux

3. Achieve escalation dominance

Vickers played pivotal roles in the Afghanistan campaign against the Soviets — as a CIA officer — when the Mujaheddin prevailed with American support, and in the struggle against Al-Qaeda — as a senior Pentagon official — when the terrorist network that had carried out the 9/11 attacks was dismantled.

So what is the common thread connecting these two historic successes? “It's achieving the necessary scale and scope to achieve escalation dominance over your adversary,” Vickers said. The U.S. settled on the right strategy and went all in on bringing it about.

This was true too with the bin Laden raid in 2011, when maximum force was made available and every contingency accounted for — something that had not been done during the ill-fated Eagle Claw mission to free the Iran hostages in 1979.

Success flowed from providing answers to three essential questions, Vickers explained: “What's your objective? How are you going to do it? What do you need to do it?”

4. Not looking the part can be a good thing

After Special Forces, Vickers decided to apply to become an operations officer in the CIA. “In the psychological assessment, the woman interviewing me said, ‘You did great, your scores are all good. But you know, you don't look like a Green Beret. If I had to pick, I'd say you're an insurance salesman’.”

Vickers thought: “OK, I really feel insulted here. I'm really in good shape. But, you know, this is the CIA. Aren’t we supposed to look like something different?”

5. Training matters

As a Green Beret, Vickers trained for close-quarter battle. Thankfully — as with the nuclear backpack — it was a skill he never had to use. But it still mattered in the long run. “How you dominate a room with precision fires, shoot the terrorists and not the hostages,” was an important lesson.

The training added to the confidence he already gained by learning infiltration skills and freefall parachuting. It gave him the sense that he could do almost anything. Even as a policymaker sending in special operators who would use these skills, it mattered that he was part of this elite fraternity and understood the capabilities and mindset needed.

6. Savor your moment in history

Just before the bin Laden raid, Vickers took time to visit the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon before heading to the White House. “It was emotional,” he said. “I really felt as I did when I was doing Afghanistan [in the 1980s]. How did I find myself in this spot? I’m as prepared as someone can be, but it's still surreal.”

The future

Vickers, 70, is currently out of government but one senses he would be willing to return to service should the right circumstances arise. He is widely tipped in national security circles as a potential future Defense Secretary or CIA Director.

By All Means Available: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy by Michael G. Vickers is published by Knopf.