The Spear

For sixteen 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.

In 2007, Col. Marc Hoffmeister was a major on a Military Transition Team advising Iraqi Security Forces when an explosively formed penetrator, a specific and devastating form of IED, hit his Humvee. He talks about the event and his team's performance in the immediate aftermath, along with an incredible story about a big part of his recovery—leading a team of wounded veterans to the summit of Denali, the tallest mountain in North America.

On September 11, 2001, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen was a colonel assigned to the Pentagon. Today he's the superintendent of the US Military Academy, and he sat down to share his firsthand experience of the the attacks that day—a day that has influenced the operational trajectory of the US military ever since.

In 2010, Col. Jonathan Neumann commanded 1/17 Infantry Battalion, deployed in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Near the end of the deployment, the battalion received intelligence that Taliban forces were massing nearby, intending to try to overrun an American position. Col. Neumann talks through the four-day battle that followed.

On August 16, 2013, Capt. Brandon Thomas was a troop commander deployed to Kandahar province, Afghanistan. That day, during an unplanned halt on a mission, Capt. Thomas and his soldiers were hit by a suicide bomber. In this powerful episode, he talks about that day, the wounds he suffered, and his recovery.

In 2003, Maj. John Spencer was a platoon leader in the 173rd Airborne. In this episode, he talks about the very first mission after his unit jumped in northern Iraq. He also described a complex ambush in which enemy forces targeted his platoon. Listen as he reflects on the experiences and what lessons he took from these experiences about combat, training, and fear.

In 2014, Master Sgt. Raymond Collazo was a platoon sergeant deployed to eastern Afghanistan. Just weeks into his unit's deployment, the platoon was on a mission that took them to a police compound. Insider attacks had been on the rise in the country for several years, and that day, the platoon would experience what it's like to have a presumed ally open fire on them.

In 2008, Maj. Emily Spencer was an EOD platoon leader in Iraq. In April, she and one of her teams accompanied a route clearance patrol that was planned to approach Sadr City, a notorious safe haven for militants. As the reached the edge of the dangerous neighborhood, IEDs began detonating and they began taking fire. Listen to Maj. Spencer talk through the fight.

This is the first episode in MWI's new podcast, "The Spear," which is aimed at providing a window into the combat experience. In this episode, Capt. Jake Miraldi walks us through the 2009 Battle of Barg-e Matal in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, and his role in it as a platoon leader.