Get the Puma in the Air
This episode features a conversation with Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dylan Ferguson. In 2012, he served as part of the brigade aviation element of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. That's ...
27 Feb 202146min
Ambush Alley
In 2003, Dave Rittgers was in command of a Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan. Partway through its tour, the team moved to a firebase in Orgun-E to undertake a new mission: helping to mitigat...
10 Feb 202142min
Apaches into the Fight
This episode of The Spear features a conversation with Capt. Lindsay Heisler. An aviation officer and Apache pilot, in December 2015 she was part of a mission in Afghanistan supporting a ground force....
27 Jan 202134min
A Sniper Section's Fight in Ghazni
In 2012, Master Sgt. Brody Hall was a sniper section leader in a scout platoon in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, deployed in eastern Afghanistan's Ghazni province. Tasked with providing overwatch during ...
31 Dec 202053min
Coming in Low
During a deployment in Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dylan Ferguson was flying an Apache, providing close air support to a special operations ground force below. When his aircraft's 30-millimet...
16 Dec 202054min
Combat in the Kunar River Valley
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...
2 Dec 202036min
The Reaper in Combat
This episode features a story from Maj. Joe Ritter, an MQ-9 pilot—the first remotely piloted aircraft story featured on The Spear. The MQ-9 has a wide range of the capabilities—from providing intellig...
18 Nov 20201h 8min
The Most Challenging Start to a Platoon's Year in Afghanistan
In 2010, Maj. Tyson Walsh was a platoon leader on his first deployment. Just ten days after arriving in Afghanistan, the platoon suffered its first casualties when an IED—an improvised explosive devic...
4 Nov 20201h 9min
