AI Summary
5 min readErick Miyares came to the United States as a Cuban refugee before he was born. His mother, pregnant with him, caught one of the last flights out of Cuba in May 1971. Raised in Hialeah, Miami, by a stepfather with Bay of Pigs connections, Miyares absorbed a particular kind of patriotism early. He joined the Marine Corps at 18, served as a scout sniper, and spent nearly six years trying to get onto active duty. When that didn't work out, he switched to the Army as a military intelligence specialist — a 98G electronic warfare interceptor — and went through the Defense Language Institute for Spanish. That combination of hard infantry skills and technical intelligence work made him a natural fit for a Special Operations Support battalion (SOD-A) in 7th Special Forces Group, where he spent two years before being recruited into a Joint Special Operations Command intelligence unit.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:05) **Host Introduction & Origin Story** - Host recounts a 2004 anecdote of encountering a lone American operator on the Pakistan border, framing the secrecy of JSOC missions.
- 2 (03:04) **Eric's Background: Cuban Heritage & Marine Corps Start** - Eric details his family's escape from Cuba in 1971 and his early motivation to join the Marine Corps.
- 3 (07:50) **Transition to Army & Military Intelligence** - Eric explains his shift from the Marine Corps to the Army, driven by a desire to get into intelligence work for a future at the CIA.
- 4 (14:45) **SOT-A Life & First Combat Ambush** - Eric describes his role on a SOT-A team and the intense firefight on the Ecuador-Colombia border where he was shot.
- 5 (35:14) **Discovering the JSOC Unit & Selection** - Eric recounts how he first learned about the secretive JSOC intelligence unit through an exercise and the subsequent selection process.
- 6 (44:42) **Core Qualities of an Operator** - Eric defines the essential mindset and traits selected for in his unit, contrasting it with more direct-action roles.
- 7 (51:37) **Unit History & Straddling Two Worlds** - Eric discusses the unit's origins and the unique challenge of operating in the gray area between special operations and the intelligence community.
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Show Notes
Erick Miyares recounts his path from the Marine Corps and 7th Special Forces Group into a highly secretive Army special mission unit, conducting intelligence and advanced force operations across Afghanistan, Iraq, and other sensitive environments. He also opens up about being shot in Colombia, hunting high-level targets in Ramadi, singleton missions, hostage rescue work, and the psychological toll of spending two decades operating in the shadows.
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00:00 – Start
02:38 – Erick’s Cuban-American Upbringing in Miami
04:18 – Joining the Marine Corps
06:13 – Airborne, Pathfinder & Becoming a Scout Sniper
07:20 – Leaving the Marines for Army Intelligence
10:12 – Becoming a SIGINT / Electronic Warfare Operator
12:42 – Getting Assigned to 7th Special Forces Group
14:32 – Life on a Special Operations Team Alpha
18:37 – Mission on the Ecuador-Colombia Border
23:13 – Ambushed by Guerrillas
27:04 – Getting Shot in His First Firefight
34:31 – Discovering the Secretive JSOC Intelligence World
35:19 – Getting Hog-Tied by Rangers During a JSOC Exercise
41:22 – Selection for a Special Mission Unit
44:06 – What Makes the Right Kind of Operator?
47:18 – Living With Ambiguity & Controlling Aggression
51:04 – The History & Mission of the Unit
58:44 – Straddling Special Operations and Intelligence
1:04:28 – 9/11 Changes Everything
1:06:01 – Early Global War on Terror Missions
1:09:10 – Afghanistan & Advanced Force Operations
1:11:20 – What AFO Operators Actually Do
1:19:33 – Hunting a High-Level Target in Ramadi
1:23:23 – Going Up Against State-Level Tradecraft
1:26:01 – Infiltrating a Cordon-and-Sweep Operation
1:28:03 – Finding the HVT and Leaving Him in Place
1:29:31 – RPG Attack & Hours of Fighting in Ramadi
1:34:44 – Building the Final Target Package
1:35:48 – Rangers Raid the Target & Seize Everything
1:39:02 – Sitting Face-to-Face With the Man He Hunted
1:41:24 – Espionage Inside a War Zone
1:41:40 – The American Hostage Rescue Mission
1:46:07 – The Psychological Toll of Constantly Switching Missions
1:49:31 – Compartmentalization, Secrets & Family Life
1:53:38 – Activating an Emergency Destruction Plan
1:57:23 – Destroy the Gear and Escape
2:03:03 – The Fear of Being Captured on a Singleton Mission
2:07:41 – When the Entire City Went Dark
2:09:40 – Treating PTSD With a Stellate Ganglion Block
2:15:05 – Helping Special Operations Veterans Get Treatment
2:18:47 – Leaving the Clandestine World Behind
2:20:25 – Opening Pandora’s Box After 20 Years
2:22:49 – Suicide, PTSD & Finally Asking for Help
2:24:24 – Becoming Erick Again After the Military
2:27:10 – What Special Operations Does to Families
2:30:26 – T
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