In 2009, Lieutenant Mike Karlson deployed to Afghanistan, new to both his unit and to his job as executive office of its maintenance troop. During that deployment, he struggled to balance the pressing requirements of his job and some very challenging personal circumstances: his father was terminally ill with brain cancer. After returning home on emergency leave to say goodbye to his father, he was back in Afghanistan in just two weeks, faced with new challenges as he took over a platoon under unique and potentially difficult conditions.
In the late summer of 2021, after years of service to his country—including four years at the United States Military Academy—Major Naqib Mirzada, an...
In the second of a two-part conversation with Ryan Hendrickson, our guest shares a story from 2016. Six years and a couple deployments after...
In 2007, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment deployed to the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Over their months in a combat zone,...