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 2003, Maj. (ret) John Spencer was a platoon leader in the 173rd Airborne. In this episode, he talks about the very first mission...
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...
For then-Major Bill “Fenway” Wyman, Sadr City in 2004 was a strange mix of combat and humanitarian missions. Fenway was a civil affairs team...