Benghazi by Brandon Webb Read Free Book Online Page B

paramilitary groups. In pop culture terms, GRS agents are similar to Jason Bourne without the complex spy work. GRS agents work closely with CIA case officers and analysts to ensure that missions and security are tactically sound. Typical agents have a minimum of ten years of Special Operations experience. They come from all over: Army Green Berets, USMC Recon, Air Force Para-Rescue/Combat Controllers, and, like Ty Woods, the Navy SEALs. Agents undergo a rigorous security clearance process with a series of tests that involve shooting, small unit tactics, and driving. They are held to the highest of standards, and more than one seasoned operator has failed the CIA’s operational readiness test standards. There is also another group that is recruited to conduct what we call “static” security. These men are mostly regular military and law enforcement professionals who are highly trained in base security.
    Contrary to the many media myths about Benghazi, requests for help were not denied by the Obama administration. It appears as if every informed agency and organization tried its best to give whatever help it could during the attack. As you will soon see, this would also be true at the smallest unit level, where several American patriots in Tripoli would do anything to rally to the aid of their fellow countrymen.
    Ty and the TL made their case to the CIA Chief of Base (COB), but it fell on deaf ears. It is rumored that the COB initially said absolutely not—he refused to authorize the GRS agents to conduct the rescue. Ty was relentless and assertive in his pursuit, refusing to take no for an answer; he explained that unless they did something, all of the people in that compound would be dead. A few minutes later, it became clear to the Chief of Base that Ty and the rest of the GRS team were going to go with or without his permission. It is unknown whether he relented and authorized the rescue attempt or simply turned a blind eye. Only the CIA After Action report holds that information, and it is unlikely to surface for years to come. Regardless, it was Ty Woods’s persistence and patriotic sense of moral duty that ultimately resulted in his getting the go-ahead for the rescue.
    The GRS agents, all former Special Ops, would listen to Ty as he briefed them on the plan. It’s worth noting that, while there would have been no time to come up with a perfect plan, a good plan executed immediately will save lives. If you wait too long to come up with a brilliant idea, people die. Ty would have known this, and his plan must have been 90% instinct, honed over three decades of service to his country. (He had served twenty years as a SEAL and the rest of the time as a GRS operative.)
    Six of the seven of them loaded up in two Toyota Land Cruisers. The Land Cruisers had a much larger capacity than the armored sedans. They did not drive through the consulate’s main gate, as that would have been too obvious. Instead, using the element of surprise, they planned to conduct an L-shaped ambush on the main body of attackers, and then shoot and maneuver to the TOC to link up with the other DSS agents. The Cruisers would stop short on the side of the walled State Department compound. They would lock the vehicles and use them to climb the main compound wall and take up positions. Nobody would fire a shot until the small team was in position, and then they would unleash Hell. Ty had radioed to the DSS agents in the TOC and told them not to fire on their position as they were coming over the wall. To a man, everyone in that room knew what needed to be done, and all of them were more than willing to follow Ty into the fight. They would do whatever they had to in order to save their fellow Americans. Most of the men in that room had spent half their lives serving their country in some capacity.
    One advantage that the CIA team had over their inexperienced State Department security counterparts was that they knew the area