Birth of Shadow Ops

In 1980, after a rescue attempt of American hostages in Iran goes tragically wrong, President Carter secretly authorized a clandestine army intelligence unit. They were called the Field Operations Group (later renamed the Intelligence Support Activity), and though the unit existed for just a decade, they laid the foundation for some of America's greatest enemy takedowns, including Noriega, Hussein, and bin Laden. Now, through recently declassified documents and firsthand accounts, we reveal the origin story of this group of shadow warriors.