In early 2019, Eric Kahle was a first sergeant assigned to an aviation maintenance company bound for Forward Operating Base (FOB) Dahlke in Afghanistan—also known as “Rocket City.” It was not long before rockets became a common occurrence for the soldiers of Delta Company and Kahle was mentally transported back to his first combat deployment in 2006 to Iraq. That deployment, which saw the loss of flight crews and friends, impacted how Kahle approached combat leadership and taking care of his soldiers. Faced with an ever-increasing threat from indirect fire, Kahle and his commander trained their soldiers how to react regardless of where they were on the FOB. On August 10, 2019, their training was tested when a rocket hit the soldiers’ housing area.
In the spring of 2003, Lt. Col. Dave Rittgers commanded a Special Forces team deploying to Afghanistan. As soon as the team arrived in...
In this episode of The Spear, retired Marine officer David Berke joins to share a story from 2006, when he was a forward air...
Rick Jackson enlisted in the Marine Corps in the 1980s, later attending Officer Candidates School and commissioning as an infantry officer. He joins this...