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Ep 114 | Joe O’Keefe – Hunting Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora in 2001
Manage episode 488480424 series 1243467

Within weeks of the 9/11 attacks, Air Force Combat Controller Joe O’Keefe was in Afghanistan working with the CIA and other special operations units.
Joe and his small team made their way into the mountains of Tora Bora with the help of the Northern Alliance. Armed with the element of surprise, he was able to start calling in close air support against hundreds, if not a thousand enemy fighters.
What was initially thought to be an overnight observance, turned into 5 days with only 1 hour of sleep the entire period. The CIA station chief told his team to drop bombs for as long as possible because the President was getting sit-reps on it minute by minute.
He and his team ended up killing hundreds of people. “They had chosen their course, we had chosen ours, that’s the nature of it.”
You can read an excellent article about this mission in Task and Purpose here:
Task and Purpose – Air Force Commando
You can also watch this interview on YouTube at the link below:
Other CCT interviews mentioned in this episode:
Ep. 88 – Kyle Stanbro and Michael Lamonica
Copyright 2024 Thad Forester
http://www.patriottothecore.com
email questions to [email protected]
129 episodes
Manage episode 488480424 series 1243467

Within weeks of the 9/11 attacks, Air Force Combat Controller Joe O’Keefe was in Afghanistan working with the CIA and other special operations units.
Joe and his small team made their way into the mountains of Tora Bora with the help of the Northern Alliance. Armed with the element of surprise, he was able to start calling in close air support against hundreds, if not a thousand enemy fighters.
What was initially thought to be an overnight observance, turned into 5 days with only 1 hour of sleep the entire period. The CIA station chief told his team to drop bombs for as long as possible because the President was getting sit-reps on it minute by minute.
He and his team ended up killing hundreds of people. “They had chosen their course, we had chosen ours, that’s the nature of it.”
You can read an excellent article about this mission in Task and Purpose here:
Task and Purpose – Air Force Commando
You can also watch this interview on YouTube at the link below:
Other CCT interviews mentioned in this episode:
Ep. 88 – Kyle Stanbro and Michael Lamonica
Copyright 2024 Thad Forester
http://www.patriottothecore.com
email questions to [email protected]
129 episodes
All episodes
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