Espionage
CIA-Trained Korean Operatives Using Unmarked Equipment and Black Aircraft for Deniable Missions
Jocko Podcast
SOGCast 051: RT Idaho's John Trantanella on 2nd SOG Combat HALO Jump Into Laos.
"We trained Korean CIA for infiltrations using Hi-Ho, high altitude high opening. We could not have any military stuff on us. They gave us a helicopter that the US Army modified. There was no numbers on it or anything. The parachutes we used had no military markings at all. Our C-130 was pure black. They didn't know anything about it. All of them were in civilian clothes. The Korean police would block the traffic. Our C-130 would land in the middle of the night. We'd brief them and take off and go out over the coast about 40 miles."
In 1985-86, Trantanella led a four-man team training Korean CIA operatives in high-altitude infiltration techniques using completely unmarked equipment, aircraft painted pure black with no identifying numbers, and civilian clothes for plausible deniability. Teams would land C-130s on South Korean highways at night with police blocking traffic, then launch operatives over the coast. He later briefed President Reagan, Chief of Staff of the Army, and Navy leadership on these classified operations.
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Jocko Podcast