The Reaper in Combat

November 18, 2020 01:08:34
The Reaper in Combat
The Spear
The Reaper in Combat

Nov 18 2020 | 01:08:34

/

Show Notes

This episode features a story from Maj. Joe Ritter, an MQ-9 pilot—the first remotely piloted aircraft story featured on The Spear. The MQ-9 has a wide range of the capabilities—from providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to conducting battle damage assessments to helping a ground element direct their fires to striking enemy targets with air-to-ground Hellfire missiles. Ritter and his sensor operator brought all of these capabilities to the fight during a single mission in Afghanistan in October 2018.

Other Episodes

Episode

July 19, 2023 00:48:35
Episode Cover

Smiling When It Sucks

In 2003, Dan Stuewe was a platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division preparing to cross into Iraq. With only a few weeks with...

Listen

Episode 0

April 26, 2021 00:51:45
Episode Cover

A UH-60 in a Firefight

In this episode, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Joe Roland joins to share a story from 2004. A UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, his aircraft and...

Listen

Episode

March 28, 2025 00:53:54
Episode Cover

Rescue Mission in Kunar

This episode of The Spear features a conversation with Josh Webster. A US Army officer, he previously served as a US Air Force pararescueman—a...

Listen