Gary C. Schroen

Gary Charles Schroen (1941-2022) was a highly decorated and prominent American intelligence officer who served with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for 32 years, focusing much of his career on the Middle East, particularly Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Born on November 6, 1941, in East St. Louis, Illinois, Schroen joined the Army after high school in 1959, serving three years in the Army Security Agency in West Germany. After an honorable discharge in 1962, he attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, graduating with a degree in English in 1968. He then taught fifth grade in Detroit Public Schools before joining the CIA in June 1969.

CIA Career and Expertise

Schroen spent his 32 years in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, rising from a case officer to Deputy Chief of the Near East Division. He became the agency's foremost expert on Afghanistan, speaking fluent Persian and its Afghan dialect, Dari. His extensive experience in the region including spending much of the 1970s in Iran. While the corrupt Shah was in power, placed there by the CIA overthrow/coup of Iran.

Interestingly, Schroen faced harrowing experiences during his career, including an assassination attempt in Tehran in 1975 because he was involved in creating unrest inside of Iran and was seen as propping up the corrupt shah. He also was inside the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad when it was stormed and burned by protesters in 1979. This is another case of locals not appreciating the CIA's involvement in creating unrest inside their country.

He served as Chief of Station in Kabul, Afghanistan (though based out of Pakistan) in the late 1980s. Moved on and worked at CIA headquarters from 1992 to 1994, controlling counter-Iran operations.

Serving as Chief of Station in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 1996 until mid-1999. During this period, he directed CIA operations aimed at finding and capturing Osama bin Laden and re-established relationships with Mujahideen commanders largely funded by the CIA to harvest opium, including Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud who would later be assassinated the day before 9/11.

Being part of the CIA's Mission Center for Counterterrorism in the late 1990s, where he was supposedly involved in efforts to kill or capture Osama bin Laden but somehow always seems to have missed him. He went on to serve as Deputy Chief of the CIA's Near East Division in its Directorate of Operations from 1999 to 2001. He also led a 1997 operation with the FBI that captured Mir Aimal Kansi, responsible for the 1993 CIA headquarters shooting.

Role in 9/11 and the War on Terror

Just days from retirement, Schroen was called back to duty after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He led the first team of CIA officers into Afghanistan, code-named Jawbreaker (or Northern Alliance Liaison Team - NALT), on September 26, 2001. His mission was to establish connections with the Northern Alliance (United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan) to set the stage for the defeat of the Taliban and to (countinue) the 'search' for Osama bin Laden.

For nearly a month, Schroen's team was the only American presence in the country. He published a best-selling book about this experience, "First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan," in 2005.

Retirement and Later Years

Schroen retired in November 2001 as one of the most decorated officers in CIA history, receiving honors such as the Intelligence Cross (the highest award given by the CIA), the Intelligence Star, and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. After retirement, he continued to support the CIA as a contractor, teaching "tradecraft" to new recruits until September 2017.

Gary C. Schroen died on August 1, 2022, in Alexandria, Virginia.