"Trust your NCOs" is common advice given to every new lieutenant. This adage, the overwhelming majority of the time, is valid. But when it’s not, it’s not. When Chris Liggett was a lieutenant, he deployed to Afghanistan as an infantry platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division. His weapons squad leader was fit, aggressive, capable, and confident—and his hard work earned him Liggett's trust. So when his platoon was given responsibility for gate security at Forward Operating Base Fenty—an unglamorous but vital job—it was a natural decision to place the weapons squad leader in charge of the night shift. It was a mistake, Liggett later learned, with serious consequences.
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...
Many episodes of The Spear have featured stories of action at the tactical level. This episode departs from that pattern, as Capt. Pete Mitchell ...
In this episode, Brian Chontosh, a retired Marine Corps officer, details the circumstances of an intense and complex combat operation in Iraq that involved...