The Spear

In 2005, Jeff Marshburn was a reconnaissance platoon leader in the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, in Mosul, Iraq. While leading his platoon during the battalion's first contact with the enemy,...

8 Elo 20251h 8min

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 v...

31 Heinä 202558min

In 2004, Tim Strabbing was a lieutenant and platoon commander in the Marine Corps, deployed to an area just outside Fallujah in Iraq's restive Anbar province. On his platoon's very first patrol, they ...

19 Kesä 202537min

In 2007, United States Marine Captain Kyleanne Hunter was flying an escort mission above Marines operating in western Iraq. When the Marines on the ground discovered a massive weapons cache—and a larg...

5 Kesä 202541min

In this episode of The Spear, retired Marine officer David Berke joins to share a story from 2006, when he was a forward air controller attached to an Army unit in Ramadi, Iraq. During a movement-to-c...

22 Touko 202552min

Air Force pararescuemen, also known as pararescue jumpers or PJs, are special operations forces known for their wide range of professional skills and for their motto, "that others may live." In this e...

7 Touko 20251h 4min

During the Vietnam War, the 1972 Easter Offensive was a major operation launched by North Vietnam to destabilize South Vietnam and strengthen its own hand in ongoing peace talks in Paris. The offensiv...

25 Huhti 20251h 27min

In this episode Maj. John A. Meyer shares a story from his first deployment, in 2007, to Afghanistan. On July 27, his platoon and a group of Afghan National Army soldiers were moving along the road ne...

10 Huhti 202536min