Billy Waugh’s military career stood out for its impressive length and his remarkable service. His strong dedication earned him many honors, including the Silver Star, four Bronze Stars, four Army Commendation Medals, and eight Purple Hearts. While he briefly tried out retirement, Waugh eventually returned to active duty, showcasing his deep commitment to the military even in his later years.
Billy Waugh enlisted too late to serve in World War II
At the age of 15, Billy Waugh was inspired by two US Marines who sparked his desire to join the military. Discovering he was too young to enlist in Texas didn’t deter him. Still motivated, he traveled to California, thinking that the enlistment age there was 16.
Waugh packed his belongings and hitchhiked toward Los Angeles. Along the way, he encountered a police officer in New Mexico. Without identification and reluctant to reveal personal information, he was taken to the station. He was released only after proving he had enough money for bus fare back home.
After returning home, Waugh refocused on his education, opting to wait until after high school to enlist. He devoted himself to his studies and graduated with a flawless 4.0 GPA.
Becoming a Green Beret following the Korean War
It wasn’t until 1948 that Billy Waugh finally enlisted. However, he chose to serve with the US Army, not the Marine Corps. He joined the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, but in 1951 re-enlisted so he could join the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (originally the 187th Infantry Regiment), for deployment to Korea.
Following his service in the Korean War, Waugh had heard the US Special Forces needed platoon sergeants. He earned his Green Beret in 1954 and became a member of the 10th Special Forces Group in West Germany. His first tour occurred in 1961 in South Vietnam and Laos, where he trained tribesmen in combat.
Billy Waugh survived a brutal wound to the head
In 1965, Billy Waugh embarked on his initial tour with the CIA’s Special Activities Division, deployed to the frontlines in Vietnam. There, his team was informed by intelligence that only a few hundred North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers were stationed at their target site in Bồng Sơn, Bình Định province. Unfortunately, this assessment was grossly inaccurate, as there were actually more than 4,000 troops, including Chinese regulars.
During the raid, Waugh’s ammunition dwindled, and he found himself without grenades. He was struck in the knee by a Soviet-made RPK and had to crawl to seek cover. While attempting to move, he was shot in the ankle and foot, and then suffered a severe injury.
In the midst of the confrontation, the Green Beret was hit in the head and lost consciousness. “I took another bullet, this time across the right side of my forehead,” he recounted in his book, Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier’s Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terror. “I don’t know for sure, but I believe the bullet ricocheted off the bamboo before striking me. It sliced in and out of a two-inch section of my forehead, and it immediately started to bleed like an open faucet.”
The North Vietnamese soldiers, believing Waugh was dead, stripped him of his clothes and Rolex watch, and left him among the other casualties of the raid. He was later rescued by a recovery team.
The first high-altitude low-opening (HALO) jump
After spending several months in the hospital, Billy Waugh returned to Vietnam, joining the Military Assistance Command – Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). He became a sergeant major and participated in the planning and execution of operations throughout the rest of the war.
While with MACV-SOG, Waugh participated in the first combat high-altitude low-opening (HALO) jump. He participated in several of the dangerous jumps, including the final one in Vietnam.
Billy Waugh was an “unofficial” spy for the CIA
Billy Waugh left the Army in 1972 and took a job as a postal worker, but he found the role didn’t suit him. By 1977, he was called back into service to train the Libyan Special Forces. While this initially appeared to be a private initiative led by former CIA operative Edwin Wilson, it was not officially a CIA operation.
Unbeknownst to Waugh, his mission in Libya was indeed linked to the CIA. He had previously agreed to provide the agency with photographs of suspicious activities in the region, including images of his trainees and various surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, thus effectively becoming an unofficial intelligence asset.
Tracked Osama bin Laden at 71 years old
Billy Waugh proved to be a valuable asset for the CIA. After years of evading detection, he and his team successfully tracked down Carlos the Jackal (Ilich Ramírez Sánchez), a terrorist affiliated with the KGB and Stasi. Captured in 1994, Carlos was sentenced to three life terms in prison.
Waugh’s surveillance skills also extended to tracking Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At 71, he joined the Northern Alliance Liaison Team, collaborating with Afghans who actively opposed the Taliban during Operation Enduring Freedom. He later revealed that he had several opportunities to eliminate bin Laden, stating, “I was within 30 meters of him. I could have killed him with a rock.”
Billy Waugh’s life following his service
Billy Waugh had gotten used to the fast-paced lifestyle while serving and to this day struggles to stay away from his former life in the military. “If the mind is good and the body is able, you keep on going if you enjoy it,” he said in an interview with Macdill Air Force Base, Florida, adding that “once you get used to that [life of adventure], you’re not about to quit it. How could you want to do anything else?”
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Well into his years as a senior, Waugh still jumped out of aircraft and even listed himself as a “contractor for my present outfit.” On April 4, 2023, the famed Green Beret and CIA operative passed away at the age of 93, having lived one of the most action-packed careers of any US Army service member.
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