Sergeant Major Chuck Ritter overcame a series of bad decisions in his youth—as well as a rough start to his Army career—to become a highly successful Special Forces senior noncommissioned officer. In this episode, Chuck joins MWI's Charlie Faint for a discussion about resilience, personal responsibility, motivation, good leadership, and the circumstances that led to Chuck receiving the Purple Heart three times, as well as the Bronze Star and Silver Star medals for valor in combat. He also offers his perspectives about critical thinking, the utility of storytelling, and the dangers of hubris.
In 2012, Sean Marquis was an infantry platoon leader—deployed to Dehqobad, Afghanistan—with a Stryker brigade. The boundary between the platoon's area of responsibility and...
In 2007, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment deployed to the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Over their months in a combat zone,...
In 2004, Dan Gade’s armor company took over a sector of Ramadi, Iraq, then the heart of the Sunni insurgency. Within days, his unit...