WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Undetected: Billy Waugh

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

This week, Megan and Alessia explore the dramatic, unconventional story of U.S. Green Beret and CIA operative William "Billy" Waugh.

Welcome to Undetected on Radio Free Hillsdale. Go undercover with your hosts, Alessia Sandala and Megan Lee, as they uncover the stories of spies from every country and time. The most thrilling, yet the most secret of lives in history. Welcome to this week's episode of Undetected. I'm Megan, and today we will explore the insanely impressive career of Billy Wall. He is unlike any of the other spies we have talked about before. Alessia, can you give us some background on Wall?

Of course, Megan. William Billy Waugh was born on December 1st, 1929, in Bastrop, Texas. Near the end of World War II, Waugh, age 15, wanted nothing more than to join the United States military. He even attempted to hitchhike his way to California to try and join at a young age. Wow, I'm already beginning to see the markings of an agent. Waugh was finally able to enlist in the Army in 1948 and soon entered Army Airborne School. He was then assigned to the 187th airborne in Korea during the Korean War, which began in 1950. After his service in Korea, Waugh was stationed in Germany, and that was where he heard of the

Special Forces Group known as the Green Brays. Soon after, in 1954, he began his Special Forces training. When the U.S. began to get involved in Vietnam, Wall's team was sent in to fight North Vietnamese insurgents in the area. In 1965, Waugh and Paris Davis's team were sent out to one of the most contested areas of Vietnam. Paris was Waugh's commanding officer in Vietnam, and they conducted night raids and other missions while there.

In one raid, Waugh and most of his team were injured. In 1966, Wall returned to action and worked to train Vietnamese and Cambodian troops, primarily in guerrilla fighting tactics. Waugh eventually became senior NCO for the military assistance command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group, which was based in the Marble Mountains of Vietnam. The unit conducted many cover operations. This is where Waugh completed his first, high altitude, low opening, or halo jump, which he would become incredibly good at. Talk to me about the halo jump, Alessia, and why it's so impressive.

Basically, Waugh was jumping out of airplanes and landing in very small landing zones surrounded by hostile troops. Something straight out of a Mission Impossible movie. Now let's hear Waugh himself talk about his experience with halo jumps. But you'll have to learn how to do it. You learn this on your own. Nobody taught me that. If I need to go by this waterhole, I know about where it is from altitude.

I jump over there and I fall over the opening point of fire. I know that down there somewhere and that mess right there is a waterhole, I'm going to make it over there with my parachute. After retiring from the military in 1972, Wall worked as a post office employee. until an unexpected offer opened the world of espionage to him. In 1977, Wa was recruited to the CIA. He was tasked with working in Libya to train the country's special forces.

This operation was considered an off-the-books CIA operation and was technically illegal. He was then given an official assignment of surveilling the Libya military and their bases. In 1980, he was assigned to the Marshall Islands with a mission of tracking Soviet boats in the area and to stop them from stealing American missile technology. However, the most important part of his time with the CIA came in the 1990s. Waugh ran a counterintelligence team where he most famously tracked Carlos the Jackal, a Venezuelan terrorist, and Osama bin Laden, the man who would later organize the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks.

Waugh was able to photograph Carlos the Jackal and get his identity confirmed, which led to the arrest of the infamous terrorist. When watching Bin Laden, Wall's cover was a crazy man running around in the desert. At age 72, Waugh deployed to Afghanistan as part of the CIA's Operation Enduring Freedom. That was where he continued to do surveillance work. Wall died in Tampa, Florida on April 4, 2023. Just this month, one year ago, Wall earned countless awards and even wrote a book about the mission to capture Carlos the Jackal.

Wow, he had a seriously exciting career, and that seems to be exactly what Waugh wanted. Ever since he was a little kid, his resume was definitely miles long. Wall was certainly an ambitious, courageous man, unafraid to confront the dangers before him, and he was well equipped to do so with the military background that has set him apart

from other spies in the field. I'm Megan. And I'm Alessia. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Undetected. Tune back in in August for Season 2 of Undetected to explore more exciting spy stories from throughout history on Radio 4, Hillsdale 101.7 FM.