Osama Bin Laden, Roberts Ridge & The First Armed Predator Strike | Col. Scott Swanson | BTD Ep. 45

He saw Bin Laden before 9/11.
He pulled the trigger on the first Hellfire ever fired from a drone in combat.

Colonel Scott Swanson spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force — from flying Pave Hawks in Desert Storm to helping pioneer armed Predator drone operations in Afghanistan. In 2000, he watched Osama bin Laden walk out into the open. The strike never came.

One year later, after 9/11, Scott and his team became the tip of the spear — arming the Predator, hunting Taliban leadership, and firing the first Hellfire missile ever launched from a UAV in combat history. He was also overhead during Operation Anaconda and the Battle of Roberts Ridge, witnessing the events that would later lead to John Chapman receiving the Medal of Honor.

This episode dives into:

The mission that almost changed history before 9/11
The first armed drone strike of the War on Terror
The psychological weight of “combat to cul-de-sac” warfare
Watching war in high definition… then going home to dinner

This isn’t a tech story. It’s a human one. About responsibility. Restraint. And living with the “what if.”

Still Here 🤙🏻

🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theBTDpod
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🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jRR6F60PV7sTWWNIsLVJF?si=tkmapUPKS4SIyvMA_pqI4g

👉 Follow Beyond the Dispatch for raw stories that bring our heroes out of the shadows — and give them the mic.

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