Controversy & Clarity

*The challenges of getting Weapons Co, 1/8, to HKIA *Weapons’ initial taskings and missions *The challenges of operating North and East Gates *Operating in support of the LAR company at East Gate *Frustrations working with allied and partner forces *Gunnery Sergeant Zachary Kapinus interacting with the Taliban at East Gate *The famous picture of Gunny Kapinus lifting a baby over a barbed-wire wall...

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Jon’s experiences as a weapons platoon commander with 3/7 in Afghanistan.   *His mindset and training approach for Weapons Company for the 24th MEU workup   *Building trust as a weapons company commander with the battalion commander and operations officer *Building trust within his company   *The company’s operations and training before HKIA   *In...

In this episode, we discuss: *The timeline of major events of the Battle for the Irpin *Three occasions where the Russians nearly won the battle   *The role of Ukrainian volunteers and civilians   *The role of small unit leaders   *The artillery fight    *The challenges of researching and writing operational military history   *James and Ben’s research approach  *The lack of government support in...

In this episode, we discuss the following topics.   *What a combat engineer platoon does as part of a battalion landing team   *What it was like joining BLT 1/8   *Building trust between Everett’s platoon and BLT 1/8   *Everett’s advice to platoon commanders looking to build trust between units   *His platoon’s training plan for the 24th MEU workup   *Responding to complaints from Marines about a...

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Josh’s joining 1/8   *Differences in morale and culture between units in the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions   *The current culture and unit pride in 1/8   *Recent controversies involving Third Battalion, Sixth Marines   *The challenges and benefits of leading HKIA vets in his squad   *Winning the 2nd Marine Division Annual Rifle Squad Competition an...

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Josh’s experiences with squad leaders up to this point in his career *How these leaders influenced him   *His experiences going through the reconnaissance training pipeline and serving with 3rd Recon Battalion *His decision to leave the recon community and the shame he felt as a result   *Josh's deployments with the 31st MEU   *The “golden nug...

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Andres’ operational experiences before joining 2/1   *The organization and strength of Weapons Company, 2/1, at the beginning of its deployment with the SP-MAGTF-CR   *The company’s deployment prior to heading to HKIA   *When the Afghanistan mission first appeared on the company’s radar   *Managing Marines’ expectations in the run-up to deploying...

 In this episode, we discuss:   *Mr. Smith joining 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, in Vietnam and assuming command of his platoon    *His staff NCOs, especially SSgt Richard Jackson and Gunnery Sergeant Alan Sora, and other Marines and Sailors who deeply influenced him   *Coping with the loss of subordinate leaders and advice on dealing with such losses   *Combat decision-making   *The challenges of r...

In this episode, we discuss: *Connor's time with Marine Security Forces *Corporals Course *Serving in 1/7 as a squad leader and overcoming the stigma of Security Forces NCOs *The Advanced Infantry Marine Course *Connor’s deployment to Darwin, Australia *Keeping Marines in a forward-deployed mindset *What excited Connor most about being a squad leader *What concerned him most *Some of the mista...

In this episode, we discuss: *Matt's decision to join the Marine Corps *His experiences at boot camp and the School of Infantry-East   *His experiences with squad leaders up to this point in his career *How well the Marine Corps is preparing him to be a squad leader *The Advanced Infantry Marine Course   *Matt's experiences as a team leader, assistant patrol leader, and acting squad leader...

In this episode, we discuss: *Col Glantz’s Vietnam service *How his experiences in Vietnam influenced him as a military historian and researcher *What led him to study the Nazi-Soviet War *The Army’s Art of War Symposia from 1984-1987   *How the Soviet Army and US Army defined doctrine (move???)   *The case for an operational level of war   *The introduction of the operational level of war to US A...

In this episode, we discuss the following topics.   *What drew Kendrick to study military innovation   *How he defines military innovation   *What conventional wisdom says about military innovation   *How innovation differs from adaption   *Some recent historical examples of military innovation   *Whether military innovation fails more often than it succeeds   *Popular instances of military innova...

Please visit: www.oarfoundation.org   In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Aaron’s thoughts on the two-year anniversary of Copperhead Company’s arrival at HKIA *His experiences as a rifle platoon commander with the 26th MEU and combat advisor with TF Southwest and how these influenced the way he led at HKIA   *C/1/8’s deployment with the 24th MEU prior to heading to HKIA   *The compa...

Link to Operation Allies Refuge (OAR) Foundation   OAR Foundation’s Instagram handle:  OARfoundation   Lee’s Instagram handle:  Leer_Bow   In this episode, we discuss the following topics.   *The skills and missions of EOD Marines   *How Lee’s previous five deployments shaped the way he led and made decisions at HKIA   *The people and organization of Blackbeard's EOD Section   *What Lee’s 2021...

Erik's Social Media Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/Erikhistorian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikthehistorian LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikvillard/⁠ In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *How Erik became a military historian   *Roleplaying games as training for military historians   *Which military historians influenced Erik most   *Becoming a digital mil...

In this episode, we discuss: *Hayden’s experiences in 2/10 before joining the 24th MEU   *Becoming a battery XO as a second lieutenant    *Easy Battery’s experiences with the 24th MEU prior to HKIA   *Initial indicators that the MEU might head to HKIA   *Easy Battery’s training and preparations for HKIA   *The challenge of knowing when to “flip the switch” of aggression and when to turn it off   *...

In this episode, we discuss: -What drew Col Reynolds to studying history    -The value of history for the military professional   -Avoiding traps and pitfalls in studying and using history   -Studying at Oxford   -German General Ludwig Beck   -Doctrine in the German army (1914-1945)   -How the Marine Corps used history while Col Reynolds was a company-grade officer   -His time as a student at The...

In this episode, we discuss: -Tanner getting assigned his squad before deploying with the 24th MEU   -What the deployment looked like before heading to HKIA   -His reaction to the news that the MEU would deploy to Kabul     -His understanding of the situation in Kabul before touching ground in HKIA   -Tanner’s first days at HKIA   -Clearing the airport of civilians    -Working with the Taliban   -...

In this episode, we discuss the following:   -Ben’s forthcoming book on modern ground combat   -The lack of definitions of the terms “character of war” and “nature of war”   -The “debate” on FD 2030   -The supposed massive changes touted in modern warfare, like drones   -Ben's research methods and case sample set   -Coding cases   -The problem with how the US military records modern cases of m...

In this episode, we discuss: *What an infantry battalion operations officer does *How Jordan’s experiences at 2nd LAR, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and 1/8 influenced how he fought the battalion prior to HKIA *The 24th MEU's deployment prior to heading to HKIA *The exercises done in preparation for HKIA  *The original plan to conduct the NEO *Where Jordan thinks he could have done...

In this episode, we discuss: *The experimental and intellectual predecessors of FD 2030 *The frequency of structural change in the Marine Corps *General Neller's dislike of the term “near-peer” *Vertical vs. horizontal structural cuts within organizations *The removal of scout snipers from infantry battalions *His views on the debate on Force Design 2030  *Stand-in forces *The role of air, sea...

Amazon link to Richard's book: https://amzn.to/42bM9Lx In this episode, we discuss: *Where the idea of Soviet high commands came from *How they were structured *The commanders who led them *The role and influence of commissars in the high commands *The Soviet capture of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island *The high commands post-World War II *The relationship between Soviet naval forces and the...

-Dean’s experiences as a student at The Basic School (TBS) and Infantry Officer Course (IOC) -His time as a platoon commander and executive officer with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines -Dean’s deployment to Afghanistan -How the enemy in Afghanistan differed from those in Iraq -Some of his leadership failures and successes -When people reach their breaking points on deployment -Serving with then-Capt Jo...

*Where Dean’s interests in military matters come from *How well the Marine Corps excites and educates Marines in military history, specifically Marine Corps history *How to interest Marines in military history *What led Dean to join the Marine Corps and serve in the infantry *Where Dean first learned about the 9/11 attacks *Dean’s time serving at Marine Barracks Washington (MBW) *His advice to fir...

In this episode, we discuss: *Connor’s Marine Corps career before joining the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit *What his deployment was like prior to the HKIA mission *The training Connor received in preparation for HKIA *The organization of CLB 24 *Connor’s reaction to learning about the HKIA mission *His understanding of the situation on the ground before arriving at the airport *Connor’s first da...