Former Marine, CIA officer helping American troops at Kabul airport identify evacuees from crowds

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A former U.S. Marine and CIA officer who served in Afghanistan tells Fox News he is now helping people flee the war-torn country by relaying information that helps identify them to American troops stationed at the packed gates of Kabul’s airport. 

The source said Wednesday that he lucked out in that his former Marine infantry battalion is on the ground in Kabul, including the commanding officer who he went through training with at Quantico. 

"I was able to reach out to him and say ‘hey I got this situation, these folks are trying to get through’ and he is at one of the gates and might be able to give us very specific instructions about how to navigate through the crowd and I was able tell him and his Marines exactly what the people trying to get out were wearing," the source said. "It was a very elaborate, kind of dramatic process trying to get them – and then once the Marines had identified them in the crowd, they very quickly snatched them up and [brought] them into the gate." 

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The source said a group he helped out last night had Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) and were cleared for evacuation. 

"This has gone on multiple nights," he said. "I’ve also had many failed attempts with not only Afghan SIVs but American citizens who cannot get into the airport." 

The source – who has been undertaking this effort remotely – said he has been relaying the information through text messages and phone calls after receiving it from people in contact with those trying to escape. 

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Overall, he says efforts that he and others have participated have helped around 150 people get through the chaos surrounding Kabul’s airport. 

"The biggest problem is getting them into the airport... around the airport it’s packed, it’s the equivalent of trying to get to the front row of a concert at Wembley Stadium and then get the attention of the people up on stage that you need to come up on stage," he told Fox News. "That is what you are asking people to do, whether they are American citizens or Afghans with SIVs."