Former CIA Officer Breaks Down Source Operations in Afghanistan | Delbert Roll
Author: dee takos
June 6, 2026
Duration: 1:58:20
Former Army officer and CIA operations officer Delbert Roll joins us to discuss his path from Third Special Forces Group to the Agency, including joining CIA just before 9/11 and working counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan. He breaks down CIA training, running sources, building targeting packages against al-Qaeda, working with JSOC and indigenous forces, and the realities of protecting assets in the field.
The episode also covers covert action, counterintelligence, counter-WMD work, teaching at the Farm, CIA bureaucracy, writing after retirement, and the bizarre CIA gold bar scandal.
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"Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio"
00:00 — Start / Delbert Roll joins The Team House
01:10 — Growing up in Pennsylvania and joining the Army
07:06 — Third Special Forces Group, Africa missions, and comms work in the 1990s
15:09 — Leaving the Army and trying to join the FBI before the CIA
16:04 — Joining CIA three weeks before 9/11
21:09 — The day after 9/11 and CIA’s shift toward counterterrorism
23:46 — Moving from analyst to operations officer
25:20 — CIA training and “Ranger School for your brain”
30:42 — First Afghanistan tour and arriving at a forward operating base
33:22 — Running a source operation against a senior al-Qaeda target
39:13 — Building a targeting package without GPS coordinates
44:40 — Airstrike decision, protecting assets, and the target slipping away
48:54 — Working with JSOC and indigenous forces to shut down rat lines
52:47 — CIA support to conventional Army units in Afghanistan
56:17 — Language training, European posting, and traditional case officer work
01:04:25 — Covert action, liaison partners, and gathering intelligence through proxies
01:05:05 — Counterintelligence, recruiting foreign officers, and disrupting Russian operations
01:09:07 — Counter-WMD work and handling sources without being the technical expert
01:12:50 — Teaching at the Farm and training future CIA officers
01:22:29 — CIA bureaucracy, NSA comparisons, and publication review problems
01:27:58 — Recruiting, technology, and learning how to talk around classified subjects
Hosted by Jack Murphy, The Team House is a long-form conversation built around a simple, powerful premise: to understand national security, you need to listen to the people who have been there. This podcast deliberately steps away from the partisan noise, offering a fiercely apolitical space where special operations veterans, intelligence professionals, and frontline reporters can share their experiences and analysis. Many guests here are speaking publicly for the very first time, providing raw, firsthand accounts that you won't find elsewhere. Each episode is a deep dive into the realities of conflict, the nuanced tradecraft of intelligence work, and the underlying geopolitical forces that shape global events. The conversations are detailed, often technical, and always grounded in the lived expertise of the guests. Alongside this main show, the The Team House network includes the sister program Eyes On Geopolitics, hosted by Mick Mulroy, Andy Milburn, and Jason Lyons, which continues the focus on global dynamics with a similarly experienced lens. For listeners seeking substance over soundbites, this podcast delivers complex narratives about modern warfare, espionage, and international relations, told directly by the individuals who have operated within these shadowed worlds. It’s a rare opportunity to hear unfiltered perspectives on the most critical security challenges of our time, making each episode an immersive lesson in the human and strategic dimensions of power.
Author: dee takos
Language: English
Episodes: 100
