In the second episode in a two-part series, Misty Cantwell recounts the ongoing combat operations she conducted in Sadr City, Iraq, in 2003. A military police platoon leader, her sense of the political fragility of the nation was brought home after two bombings targeting the Baghdad headquarters of the United Nations assistance mission occurred. Cantwell reflects on the vagueness of American counterinsurgency efforts in and around Baghdad as 2003 turned into 2004. Assigned to help rebuild the Iraqi police, she faced gender bias and outright hostility despite her competency and professionalism. Faced with an ever-learning enemy, Cantwell’s soldiers had to adapt and learn with her as they walked the beat in Baghdad.
In 2010 Kevin Mott's unit arrived in Afghanistan's Kunar province for a deployment that would see months of hard fighting. At one point, he...
In this episode of The Spear, retired Marine officer David Berke joins to share a story from 2006, when he was a forward air...
In 1968, after one season as a professional football player, Rocky Bleier was drafted by the Army and sent to Vietnam. During a firefight,...