Exclusive Student – Educator Session 

‘Deeply insightful…A sweeping and breathtaking journey that gives the reader unprecedented access to the courage, sacrifice, and bravado of our nation’s finest warriors, in their finest hours.’
—Admiral William H. McRaven, 9th Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command

In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA’s secret war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on the Soviets for their invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Vickers transformed the covert campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghan resistance win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to the end of the Cold War.

In By All Means Available, Vickers recounts his remarkable career, from his days as a Green Beret to his vision for victory in Afghanistan to his role in waging America’s war with al-Qa’ida at the highest levels of government. In captivating detail, he depicts his years in the Special Forces—including his training to parachute behind enemy lines with a backpack nuclear weapon in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe—and reveals how those experiences directly influenced his approach to shaping policy. Vickers has played a significant role in most of the military and intelligence operations of the past four decades, and he offers a deeply informed analysis of the greatest challenges facing America today, and in the decades ahead.

Riveting and illuminating, this is a rare and important insider’s account of the account of the modern military and intelligence worlds at every level.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Michael Vickers is the former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and a career CIA operations officer & special operator. He has served multiple roles in the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.

Under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Vickers was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, Low-intensity Conflict, and Interdependent Capabilities – where he had policy oversight of all U.S. military capabilities, from nuclear weapons to special operations forces.

During the Cold War, he served as an operations officer in the CIA, and as both a commissioned and a noncommissioned officer in the Army’s Special Forces.