In 2011, Todd Angstman and his Special Forces team deployed to Gao, Mali, to provide training and assistance to the Malian Armed Forces. Gao was an important city, the hub of trans-Saharan trade, and had a combined arms task force deployed there, working with Angstman's Green Berets. The Arab Spring and subsequent uprising in Libya led to a decrease in security across northern Mali as displaced Tuareg tribesmen entered Mali. What was supposed to be a simple training mission took on more ominous tone as instability threatened the team. In this episode, Angstman recounts a fascinating tale of having to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
In 2009, Lieutenant Mike Karlson deployed to Afghanistan, new to both his unit and to his job as executive office of its maintenance troop....
On August 16, 2013, Capt. Brandon Thomas was a troop commander deployed to Kandahar province, Afghanistan. That day, during an unplanned halt on a...
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...