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Today I’m so excited to share this Combat Story with a legend from the CIA spanning the First Cold War battling the Soviet Union, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the Counterterrorism refocus, and then the second Cold War with Putin’s Russia: Glenn Corn. 

Glenn recently retired after 34 years of US government service that included time with the Army and State Department but, primarily, was with the CIA as Case Officer, Russia expert, and multiple time Chief of Station in some of the most important countries in the world for America’s security.

In this interview, we delve into Glenn’s experience at the Agency, to include close calls, lessons learned, his command of foreign languages (Glenn’s a fluent Russian speaker) and where the Agency is going today, but we spend the entire second half digging into everything Russia, to include Putin’s motivations, Navalny’s death, the experience of the Russian people from the late 1980s until today, and what it would take for Putin’s reign to finally stop and give the Russian people a just leader.

I’m good friends with Glenn’s brother, Gavin, who was sitting just off-screen during this interview, who also spent many years in government service with the Department of Justice. They come from a family that has given so much to this country and I’m so excited for you all to hear Glenn’s story for the first time.

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Join hundreds of others with our weekly Combat Check-In Newsletter (www.combatstory.com/newsletter) to get a short email from Ryan each week about the show, life, and the military.

👇 Show Notes: 00:00 - Introduction 00:56 - Guest Profile:  02:13 - Start of Interview 2:43 - Getting Out of CIA 04:46 - Thoughts To Return To Russia 06:09 - Interest In Government Service 10:00 - Learning Languages 15:29 - Time in Soviet Union 19:55 - Challenging Moments 22:19 - Bolotor Ad 23:32 - Experience During 9/11 27:26 - Children Going Into the Military 29:00 - Mentorships 33:10 - Losing Teammates 40:37 - Planning and Executing 45:25 - Misunderstandings of the Agency 47:18 - First Time Outside the Wire 50:44 - Give Legacy Ad 52:05 - Aftermath of the First Mission 59:27 - Pre and Post 9/11 CIA 01:05:31 - Toughest Moments 01:08:34 - Thoughts on Russia/Soviet Union 01:23:47 - American/Russian Proxy Wars 01:29:50 - Second Cold War 01:34:11 - Russian Propaganda 01:41:50 - Putin's Motivations 01:45:29 - Theoretical Changes in Russia 01:56:04 - Glenn's Book  02:01:54 - Sentimental Items 02:030:06 - Would You Do It All Again? 02:04:57 - Listener Feedback