The Spear

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 was even wounded so badly—shot in the head, four fractured vertebrae, a broken leg, a torn labrum—that he was sent back to the United States for medical care. After he returned, the battalion conducted a mission aimed at clearing an area known to have a strong Taliban presence. Kevin shares the story of his platoon's heavy fighting as they worked their way toward their objective of Barawala Kalay.

In this episode of The Spear, US Air Force Col. Kim Campbell joins to share a story from 2003. A career A-10 pilot, during one mission in the opening weeks of the war in Iraq she felt and heard an explosion. She knew immediately that she had been hit. Listen as she explains what happened that day and how she responded when she suddenly found herself flying a heavily damaged aircraft.

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 into the deployment, the company he commanded was taking part in a large, seven-day clearing operation. They made contact with enemy fighters on both of the first two days, but on the third day of the operation, Kitching and his soldiers found themselves engaged in a fight of an entirely different level of intensity. Listen as he tells the story of that day and describes the selfless service of his soldiers' actions under fire.

In 2014 and 2015, the US Army sent soldiers to help respond to an outbreak of Ebola in Liberia. Capt. Jerod Brammer led one of the deployed teams. He was responsible for setting up and running a testing laboratory. He joins this episode of The Spear to share the story of the unique operational experience.

In 2003, Alex Perez-Cruz was a company executive officer during the invasion of Iraq. He returned as a company commander during the Surge. Now a lieutenant colonel, he shares stories from each of those deployments, compares the two experiences, and reflects on the leadership lessons he learned during combat. Note: This episode was originally released in May 2018.

In 2007, Patrick Melton was a military police soldier on his first deployment in Baghdad when his combat outpost was hit by a barrage of improvised, rocket-assisted munitions. He was sitting inside a vehicle as he and others in his unit prepared for a mission when the vehicle suffered a direct hit. Listen to him tell the story of how they reacted when the attack destroyed everything around them. (This episode was originally released in 2018.)

In this episode of The Spear, MWI Deputy Director Maj. Noel Sioson is joined by retired Master Sgt. Cedric King. In 2012 in Afghanistan, on "a day just like any other day," as he describes it, his platoon got into a firefight during a patrol. When it ended and the unit continued its movement, he stepped on an IED. The blast cost him both of his legs. The most remarkable part of his story is his recovery and the resilience he exhibits.

Col. Bill Ostlund retired from the Army in 2019. In 1990, as a lieutenant, he arrived at his first unit as an officer and almost immediately got the order to deploy to Saudi Arabia. Shortly after, he and his battalion air assaulted into Iraq as part of Operation Desert Storm. Listen as he recalls his experiences and the lessons he learned from them.

In 2003, Maj. John Spencer was a platoon leader in Iraq. One night, while waiting in an ambush position, he gave the order for his platoon to move to interdict a group of armed men. When his lead vehicle, his soldiers did what they had been trained to do: they returned fire and assaulted the objective. But there was a surprise in store for them. (Note: This episode was originally released in 2018.)

As a lieutenant on his first deployment, Capt. Steve Beckman was in charge of a platoon equipped with a unique vehicle—a Stryker variant called a Mobile Gun System. But when the 105mm main weapon stopped functioning during an engagement with Taliban forces, he had to come up with a different way to fight the vehicle to protect US forces under fire.