Editing Oliver North (section)

===National Security Council staff===
In 1981, North began his assignment to the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] staff in Washington, D.C., where he served as a lobbyist from 1981 to 1983; and deputy director for political–military affairs<ref name="Time Magazine: Washington's Cowboys">{{cite news|last1=Greenwald|first1=John|last2=Beckwith|first2=David|last3=Halevy|first3=David|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962859,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408194549/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962859,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 8, 2008|title=Washington's Cowboys|magazine=Time|date=November 17, 1986|access-date=June 23, 2011}}</ref> from 1983 until his reassignment in 1986. In 1983, North was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpcbakbusconf.com/2002-north.htm|title=Oliver North profile|work=Speaker Line-Up 2002|publisher=The Bakersfield Business Conference|access-date=December 23, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806185617/http://www.bpcbakbusconf.com/2002-north.htm|archive-date=August 6, 2007}}</ref>

During his tenure at the National Security Council, North managed a number of missions. This included leading the hunt for those responsible for the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombing]] that killed 299 American and French military personnel, an effort that saw North arrange a mid-air interception of an [[EgyptAir]] jet carrying those responsible for the [[MS Achille Lauro|Achille Lauro]] hijacking. While at the National Security Council, he also helped plan the U.S. [[invasion of Grenada]] and the 1986 [[Operation El Dorado Canyon|bombing of Libya]].<ref name="Time Magazine: Washington's Cowboys"/>

During his Iran-Contra trial, North spent his last two years on active duty assigned to [[Headquarters Marine Corps]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia]]. He submitted his request to retire from the Marine Corps effective May 1, 1988, following his indictment for [[Conspiracy against the United States|conspiring to defraud the United States]] by channeling the profits from US arms sales to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/19/world/north-quits-marines-suggesting-subpoenas-for-highest-officials.html |title=North Quits Marines|work=The New York Times|date=March 19, 1988|access-date=December 21, 2012}}</ref> After his trial and felony convictions, all convictions were reversed on appeal.<ref>{{cite news | last1 =Johnson | first1 =Haynes| last2 =Thompson | first2 =Tracy | title =North Charges Dismissed at Request of Prosecutor | newspaper =[[Washington Post]] | date =September 17, 1991 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/09/17/north-charges-dismissed-at-request-of-prosecutor/d6b5b3dc-d164-40f2-a579-c23521f66686/ | access-date =January 10, 2020 }}</ref>