A firsthand account of how unmanned warfare began

This week’s American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast features the authors of “Never Mind, We’ll Do It Ourselves,” the story behind the origins of the Predator drone program and the dawn of unmanned warfare.

The book is a firsthand account told by an Air Force team leader and a CIA team leader that takes readers into the back offices and secret government hangars where the robotic revolution went from a mad scientist idea to a pivotal part of global air power. The authors are:

• Alec Bierbauer, who was a staff sergeant in the Army before transitioning to the reserves as a warrant officer. Bierbauer, a member of American Legion Post 237 in Huntsville, Ala., continued to serve as a counter intelligence special agent and later as a CIA as a case officer in the Clandestine Service.

• Retired Air Force Col. Mark Cooter, an American Legion member, was a Predator squadron operations officer, leading programs from near inception in Bosnia through Afghanistan and beyond. He is the only Air Force intelligence officer to be a Predator squadron operations officer.

The story reveals the often conflicting perspectives between the defense and intelligence communities and puts the reader inside places like the CIA’s counterterrorism center on the morning of 9/11. Through the eyes of the men and women who lived it, “readers will experience the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the evolution of a program from passive surveillance to the complex hunter killers that hang above the battlespace like ghosts.”

The book documents how a group of cowboys, rogues and bandits broke rules and defied convention to change the shape of modern warfare.

“The writing of the book was actually easier than getting it cleared for publication,” Bierbauer said. “The book’s intent is to tell the story of the people we had on our team and the mission that we had. The book was a walk down memory lane for us.”

Part of the motivation to write the book was so that the families of team members who had passed would know what their loved ones did, he said.

Cooter added, “That’s what kept us going. I get emotional about that topic — the families. When we were trying to get it through, (we thought) ‘It’s for them. It’s for them.’”

Also on the episode, hosts Jeff Daly and Ashley Gutermuth offer their thoughts on:

• What a recent surge in hiring by VA means for veterans and their pending claims.

• Five glorious minutes as a comedian.

• How a sledge hammer almost ended Guthermuth’s impressive daily run streak.

• A callback to a season one episode, featuring Backpacks for Life.

Check out this week’s episode, which is among more than 180 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on iTunes, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.