While serving as a company executive officer with the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in 2016, Ryan Crayne and his company were training at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center when they received emergency overseas deployment orders. Just days later, and after a herculean logistical effort, Ryan and his fellow Rangers were in Afghanistan and engaged in a major clearing operation against ISIS. He joins this episode to share the story of that operation, explaining how high-performing units leverage leadership principles such as mutual trust, disciplined initiative, and prudent risk to enable extraordinary accomplishments in training and on the battlefield.
"Trust your NCOs" is common advice given to every new lieutenant. This adage, the overwhelming majority of the time, is valid. But when it’s...
In 2003, Maj. John Spencer was a platoon leader in the 173rd Airborne. In this episode, he talks about the very first mission after...
In 2007, Patrick Melton was a military police soldier on his first deployment in Baghdad, when his combat outpost was hit by a barrage...