Michael Vickers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence | |
| In office March 16, 2011 – April 30, 2015 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Jim Clapper |
| Succeeded by | Marcel Lettre |
| Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict | |
| In office July 23, 2007 – March 16, 2011 | |
| President | George W. Bush Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Thomas O'Connell |
| Succeeded by | Michael Lumpkin (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael George Vickers April 27, 1953 Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 5 |
| Education | University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (BA) University of Pennsylvania (MBA) Johns Hopkins University (PhD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1973–1983 |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Unit | 10th Special Forces Group 7th Special Forces Group Classified counterterrorism unit |
Michael George Vickers (born April 27, 1953) is an American defense official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD-I).[2] As USD-I, Vickers, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010, was the Defense Department's top civilian military intelligence official. Before becoming USD-I, Vickers served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict.[3]
Prior to joining the Defense Department, Vickers served in the U.S. Army Special Forces as both a non-commissioned officer and commissioned officer, as well as a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paramilitary operations officer from the elite Special Activities Division. While in the CIA, he played a key role in the arming of the resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[4]
Vickers was born in Burbank, California,[5] and attended Hollywood High School.[6][7]
He has acknowledged earning C's in high school and scraping through junior college before finding purpose in the Army.[8] Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., a retired Army officer who taught Vickers at Johns Hopkins and later hired him at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, described Vickers’ poor performance as a youth, "Sometimes gifted people get bored by the offerings mere mortals get."[8]
Before he served in Special Forces, his original intention was to play professional football or baseball. He was beaten out of a starting position at Pierce College by future NCIS star Mark Harmon, who went on to play for UCLA.[9]
His father, Richard, was a master carpenter working on movie sets for 20th Century Fox. He attributed this to his son's choice of career: "It was pretty easy to see it coming, he was interested in all that spy stuff."[6] The younger Vickers would also say, "I had a spirit of adventure, and probably saw too many James Bond movies as a kid."[9]
He enlisted in the Army under the Special Forces Enlistment Option in June 1973, completing the Airborne Course at Fort Benning in December 1973, and the Special Forces Qualification Course at Fort Bragg, N.C., in May 1974. Following graduation from SFQC, he was assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Devens, Mass., as a senior weapons sergeant on ODA 225 from June 1974 to December 1976. During this period he completed Ranger School, attended the German Army's Advanced Mountain Climbing Course in Mittenwald, Germany, the Special Forces Engineer/Demolitions Course, and the Special Atomic Demolitions Course. While at 10th SFG, he also served as a combatives instructor at the United States Military Academy, deployed on a Flintlock exercise, and received advanced urban unconventional warfare training with and conducted operational missions in support of Detachment A, Berlin Brigade.[10][11] In January 1978, following completion of the Czech language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, Vickers was assigned as a senior weapons sergeant on ODA 2, A Company, 1st Battalion, Special Forces Detachment Europe (Airborne) in Bad Tolz, Germany. In June 1978, as a staff sergeant, he completed the British Special Air Service's Counterterrorism Close Battle Course at Hereford, England.[12][6]
Vickers was selected for Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was commissioned in the infantry in December 1978. Given his prior experience in Special Forces, he was selected by Infantry Branch for direct assignment with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Gulick, Panama. He graduated from the Infantry Officer Basic Course, where he was awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge, and the Spanish language course at the Defense Language Institute. In April 1980, Vickers graduated from the Special Forces Officer Course as a Distinguished Honor Graduate, and completed the Military Free Fall Parachutist Course. He was promoted to first lieutenant in December 1980, to captain in September 1982, and selected to command a classified counterterrorism (CT) unit tasked with supporting CONPLAN 0300. Vickers commanded this unit for two years and deployed on intelligence missions to several Latin American countries. He deployed twice on operational CT missions and was also a key special-operations forces (SOF) planner for contingency operations against the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Vickers left the Army in June 1983 to pursue a career with the Central Intelligence Agency.[13][12][6][9]
During his time with the CIA, Vickers served as an operations officer in the Latin America Division, the International Activities Division (Special Operations Group) and the Near East and South Asia Division. He deployed to Grenada with SOF, established the CIA Station and performed operational missions for which he received an award from the Director of Central Intelligence for heroism under fire. In the aftermath of the Marine Barracks bombing in October 1983, he was selected for a special CT assignment in Lebanon.[12][9][6]
In October 1984, Vickers was selected to be the agency's program officer and chief strategist for the Afghanistan Covert Action Program. He played a central role in reshaping U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, coordinating an effort that involved ten countries and providing direction to forces made up of over 500,000 anti-Soviet fighters.[12][14][15][6]
Later he was Senior Vice President, Strategic Studies, at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), during which he provided advice on Iraq strategy to US President George H. W. Bush and his war cabinet.[14]
In 2004, he wrote an op-ed piece for USA Today in which he stated that the United States could be successful in Iraq by using a much smaller force modeled on its deployment in Afghanistan.[16]
In July 2007, he was confirmed by the United States Senate as Assistant Secretary of Defense, where he was the senior civilian advisor to the US Secretary of Defense on such matters as "counter-terrorism" strategy and operational employment of special operations forces, strategic forces, and conventional forces.[17][failed verification] This role saw Vickers hunting many of the former anti-Soviet fighters that he assisted during the Afghan-Soviet war.[6]
Regarding ISIS and Al-Qaeda, Vickers has advocated a policy of disruption, of raids intended to distract and keep militants off-balance such that they are unable to organize and execute action against the United States and its forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East.[18]
He retired from government service in April 2015. As of December 2015, it was announced that he had been appointed to the BAE Systems board of directors.
In 2020, Vickers, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[19]
In October 2020, Vickers signed a letter that stated the Biden laptop story "has the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation".[20] In May 2023, The New York Times reported that no evidence has emerged the laptop contained Russian disinformation, and portions of its contents have been verified as authentic, prompting House Republicans to term the signers of the letter, including Vickers, as "spies who lie".[21]
Vickers originally began attending the University of Alabama in 1980, and undertook additional remote coursework through Florida State University and the University of Oklahoma. He earned credits from nine universities and colleges before graduating cum laude from UA in 1983, writing his honors thesis on U.S. intelligence policy.[9] Vickers went on to attend The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania from which he received an MBA.[22] He earned a Ph.D. in 2011 in International Relations/Strategic Studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University under Professor Eliot A. Cohen.[23][24]
Vickers was previously married to Phebe Novakovic, a former intelligence officer, General Dynamics CEO, and director at JP Morgan.[25][26]
He later married Melana Zyla Vickers and has five daughters: Alexandra, Natasha, Sophia, Oksana and Kalyna.[27]
Vickers' role at the Central Intelligence Agency during the Soviet–Afghan War was featured in George Crile's 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War, and in the 2007 movie adaptation in which he is played by actor Christopher Denham.
