In early 2003, Karl Blanke was a Marine platoon commander during the early stages of the US-led invasion of Iraq, when his battalion was given an objective: secure a bridge over what was known as the Saddam canal. It was meant to be a straightforward task. The intelligence briefings they received did not expect the Marines to meet with resistance from Iraqi military defenders. But as they approached the objective, that intelligence was quickly proved wrong. The lead elements began to engage, follow-on elements maneuvered alongside, and the battle began. Karl describes the fight that followed in this episode.
In 2010, Col. Jonathan Neumann commanded 1/17 Infantry Battalion, deployed in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Near the end of the deployment, the battalion received intelligence...
Maj. Brian Kitching joins this episode of The Spear to share a story from a 2012 deployment in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar Province. Two months...
In 2007, Patrick Melton was a military police soldier on his first deployment in Baghdad when his combat outpost was hit by a barrage...