The Spear

In this episode, Col. Bill Ostlund tells the story of what he calls the most honorable mission he took part in over more than three decades of Army service. When a soldier from an adjacent battalion, Staff Sgt. Ryan Fritsche, was reported missing in action after a firefight, Col. Ostlund led a force composed of his battalion's soldiers to find him. The story is an example of a vital part of the Army's ethos—to never leave a fallen comrade—in action.

In March 2018, after a dangerous nerve agent was shockingly used in the British city of Salisbury, authorities looked to the armed forces to play a role in the response. Maj. Clodia O’Neill was part of that response. An engineer officer in the British Army, she explains the mission that she and her soldiers were given. The discussion also touches on some pretty major questions about how we conceptualize combat, military operations, and war.

In 2010, Maj. Patrick Dubois was a lieutenant deployed as a Kiowa helicopter pilot to Afghanistan. One day, a mission to provide support to a ground force changed quickly when he and his co-pilot were asked to do something Kiowa pilots almost never do: land and evacuate a casualty.

In 2007, Tony Luberto was a maintenance platoon leader deployed in Baghdad. Early one morning, he awoke to the devastating sounds of a Katyusha rocket attack. He talks through the attack, his soldiers' efforts to save the lives of their friends, and the lingering impact the attack had on his platoon.

For seventeen years, the US military has been at war in Afghanistan. The guests on this episode were there at the very beginning. Jason Amerine and Mark Nutsch were both Army captains and in command of the first Special Forces detachments on the ground in Afghanistan in 2001. They share stories from the earliest days and weeks of what would go on to become the longest war in American history.

In 2012, Capt. Nick Dockery was a platoon leader in Afghanistan. When his platoon was attacked during a mission, an intense fight ensued. Capt. Dockery was recently recognized as the 2017 recipient of the Alexander Nininger Award for Valor at Arms by the West Point Association of Graduates for his actions during the engagement.

This episode of The Spear is the second in a two-part series featuring three guests who took part in the Battle of Mogadishu, made famous by the book Black Hawk Down and the movie of the same name. This episode picks up where the last one left off, with our guests—from the Army's most elite units—describing how they react as the battle quickly intensifies.

This episode of The Spear is the first in a two-part series featuring three guests who took part in the Battle of Mogadishu, made famous by the book Black Hawk Down and the movie of the same name. Even if you've read the book or the movie, you're certain to learn much more about that fight from these three practitioners from the Army's most elite combat units.

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.

In October 2008, Maj. Nick Eslinger was a lieutenant on his first deployment as a platoon leader in Iraq. While on patrol one day, he turned his head just in time to see an incoming grenade. He only had time to react reflexively, and what he did likely saved his life and those of his soldiers.