Podcast Summary: The Team House

Episode: CIA Targeting Officer Reveals Terror Plots You Never Heard About

Date: December 6, 2025
Host: Jack Murphy
Guest: Mike Croissant (22-year CIA veteran, author of Bombing Hitler’s Hometown)

Main Theme

This episode features a compelling, behind-the-scenes conversation with former CIA analyst and targeting officer Mike Croissant. The discussion covers Mike's path from small-town Illinois to the CIA, the evolution of U.S. national security post-9/11, little-known terror plots, the emotional toll and moral injuries of intelligence work, and his recent book chronicling a dramatic World War II bombing mission. The tone is reflective, deeply personal, and packed with first-hand insights into the complexity and cost of clandestine service.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mike Croissant’s Path to the CIA

• Background and Motivation
  • Small-town roots in Illinois, a fascination with current events, and a strong sense of patriotism shaped Mike’s ambitions.
  • Early interest in international affairs: "One of my earliest memories is listening to the news talk about Palestinian gorillas and being confused... I just couldn't get enough of watching the news." (03:05)
• Academic Journey
  • Studied political science and history; focused on Central Eurasian studies, learning languages like Uzbek, Russian, and Azerbaijani.
  • CIA recruited him while finishing his second master’s at Indiana University: “On the strength of my resume and the fact that I had published two books, they offered me employment.” (05:30)
    • Notably, the process involved a classic info session: “I starched the daylights out of my shirt… learned I was allergic to the starch. I start to leak from every facial orifice... Luckily, I didn’t have to talk to anyone!” (06:55)

2. Life as a CIA Analyst Pre- and Post-9/11

• First Assignment: Political analyst for Uzbekistan
• Nature of Analytical Work
  • CIA analysts parse “all source” intelligence—open sources, HUMINT, SIGINT, diplomatic cables—boiling findings into concise, actionable briefings for policymakers: “The audience is the American policymaker… The writing is stripped of all character, all color, all creativity. You give your conclusion first and show why.” (12:13)
• Impact of 9/11
  • On 9/11, Mike was in an analysts’ meeting discussing the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud just days before. He emerged to the news of the attacks: “By the time I got to the TV, we knew we were at war.” (18:00)
• The Days After
  • “Walking into the building thinking that on my watch we had just lost, you know, tens of thousands of people and just feeling crushed. And yet there was a little bit of a spring in my step because I had the opportunity to do something about it.” (25:23)
  • Immediate reorientation towards Central Asia—Uzbekistan became a key logistical hub for U.S. military operations.

3. Threats, Unknown Plots, and the Challenge of Analysis

• Tsunami of Threats Post-9/11
  • Fall 2001 filled with “truly terrifying” intelligence reports suggesting further, even WMD-scale, attacks: “There were days where I went to the office and I didn’t know if I’d be leaving.” (27:31)
• The Reality of Threat Evaluation
  • Most were “run down” and proved baseless, but the fear was real and the possibility of missing something was gut-wrenching: “It’s kind of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, but you don’t have all the pieces. You don’t know what the picture looks like. … So it’s nerve-wracking and you’re very worried that you’re going to miss something and people will die.” (44:23)
  • Analysts endure a different, more private type of psychological stress often marked by guilt and self-doubt.

4. Field Deployments and Counterterrorism Operations

• First Overseas Assignment (Late 2000s–Former Soviet Muslim Republic)
  • Country not named, but described as “target-rich.” Terror threat real and pervasive, with Sunni extremists returning from Afghanistan/Pakistan.
  • “One of the major Sunni extremists from this country, whom I cannot name... decided he was going to come back. … He had American blood on his hands.” (33:20)
• Embassy Under Threat
  • Mike describes a dramatic near-miss: warning a U.S. embassy spring party could be a target, attending with his kids, “hoping and praying that RPGs would not start falling onto my children.” (36:13)
  • Terrorist in question was apprehended by local partners, a moment of immense personal relief and professional pride—"It was a great success. … A few drinks were raised. It was also my 40th birthday, so it was a good ending to a couple of days." (39:19)
  • The suspect was tried and sentenced to 10 years.

5. Transitioning to Targeting Officer and War Zone Work

• Desire for Impact

  • Mike became less satisfied with analytic work: “I wasn’t satisfied with writing reports or briefing officials and not knowing if anything was ever done with them.” (46:22)

• War Zone Deployment in South Asia (mid-2010s)

  • Worked as a targeting officer: “developing targeting packages for people to go out in the dark of night to action targets.”
  • “This was dedicated counterterrorism work… I was the first targeting officer to… warn people that this was a [new] threat we would have to deal with.” (48:05)
  • Personal cost: separation from family for nearly a year, missed birthdays and holidays.

• Role of a Targeting Officer

  • “The targeting officer is charged with using all sources of intelligence to pinpoint the identities of people that, in the counterterrorism sense, need to be recruited or neutralized, removed from the battlefield, detained or killed.” (50:25)

6. Homeland Terror Plot Disrupted

• NYC Subway Bomb Plot (2015–16)
  • Detailed a plot by Talha Haroun, a Pakistani-American, to attack the NYC subway with suicide vests and firearms.
    • “It would have killed hundreds, especially during rush hour. … But through the good work of both the Agency and the FBI, it was disrupted. … The bad guys have not stopped trying to strike this country. … The agency and our other partners … have become very, very good at disrupting those before they reach our shores.” (52:24–55:32)
    • “An entire generation at this point has grown up without having to watch buildings fall ... I take great pride in having a small, small role in disrupting one of those.”

7. Counterterrorism Work’s Emotional and Moral Cost

• The Highs and Lows
  • After a major win—a multi-year effort that “dismantled a terrorist financing network” sending money to the Taliban—a bureaucratic slip allowed some suspects to escape.
    • “We saved a lot of lives, including American ones, and we were decorated... but it wasn’t a complete victory, and it left a terrible taste in my mouth.” (61:39)
• Afghanistan Withdrawal: Moral Injury
  • “The withdrawal from Afghanistan as it unfolded was a disgrace and it personally devastated me. … If I were a foreigner watching the Afghanistan withdrawal happen, no way would I work for America.” (64:57)
  • “I believe the Afghan withdrawal... and the full out invasion of Ukraine just a few months later—there is an unbroken line between here and there. America showed weakness; it showed that it would abandon its friends, and Ukraine is what we got.” (67:02)

8. Sense of Mission Post-Service

• Finding Purpose after Service
  • Mike works with Badger 6, a nonprofit helping Afghan partners from CIA’s first post-9/11 teams: “It’s helped me see with my own eyes... these are great Americans in the making.” (68:46)
  • “[Volunteering] has rejuvenated me and healed the moral injury that I suffered.” (68:46)

9. The Historian: Bombing Hitler’s Hometown

• Family Mystery Becomes an Epic WWII Story
  • Mike’s uncle Ellsworth Croissant, WWII bomber crew member, died in a crash post-war.
  • Research sparked a 12-year journey resulting in his book: Bombing Hitler’s Hometown.
    • Reconstructed the story of a little-known, massive final-days bombing raid over Linz, Austria—Hitler’s adopted hometown.
  • Vivid interviews and research:
    • “I interviewed more than 50 men who went on this mission and came back changed forever… I became very close to many of the men.” (85:19)
    • Emotional stories: “The book is a love letter to them... a message to their children because for the most part, these men never talked about it.” (85:19)
    • On their silence: “There are just no words in the English language to accurately convey what we saw, what we went through, and how it affected us. So we just didn’t talk about it.” (91:35)
• Personal Mission Accomplished
  • “I went to my uncle’s grave very early on in this process... I knelt at his grave and I promised him that I would tell his story… Once the book was published, I returned and laid a copy at his graveside. … I considered my mission accomplished.” (89:00–91:09)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Analytical Guilt Post-9/11

  • “You cannot help but feel some amount of guilt. Did, could I have done something to prevent this? It devastated me and I slipped into darkness for many, many years.” (44:23)

• On the Burden and Privacy of Secret Work

  • "These, these people will never know what you did. And I said, I understand, but that's how it is." (56:04, conversation with his son about disrupting a terror plot)

• On Afghan Allies and Moral Injury

  • “If I were a foreigner watching the Afghanistan withdrawal happen, no way would I work for America.” (65:50)

• On Why WWII Veterans Stayed Silent

  • “A lot of the men that I became close with explained it to me: we didn't talk about it because it was just too hard. There are just no words in the English language…” (91:35)

• On Service

  • “Please consider serving America because it's worth it.” (99:18)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Mike’s Early Life and CIA Recruitment: 02:24–08:56
• Analytical Duties and Writing for Policymakers: 11:04–15:09
• Experiencing 9/11 as an Analyst: 17:47–25:23
• The Wave of Threats After 9/11: 27:31–30:09
• First Major Counterterrorism Operation Abroad: 33:20–39:31
• Switch from Analyst to Targeter: 46:22–50:18
• NYC Subway Plot Disrupted: 52:14–57:10
• Counterterror Work’s Emotional Toll: 61:39–68:46
• Badger 6 and Afghan Resettlement: 68:33–71:10
• Origins and Story Behind the Book: 71:13–91:09
• Reflections on Service and Closing Thoughts: 99:18–end

Where to Learn More

• Book: [Bombing Hitler's Hometown](Amazon link provided in the show notes)
• Website: mikecroissant.com

Conclusion

A gripping, candid episode highlighting little-known stories from the war on terror and WWII, the psychological costs of intelligence work, and the enduring need for service. This conversation eloquently underscores both the operational realities and the moral complexities faced by those on “the other side of the news.” Anyone interested in national security, the psychology of intelligence work, or WWII history will find this episode deeply rewarding.