Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul

The Debrief: Stories from Damn Fine Soldiers

Society EN ↓ 6 episodes

"The Debrief: Stories from Damn Fine Soldiers" is a podcast series built around the untold stories behind "Damn Fine Soldiers," an unfiltered account of Task Force 2-7 Infantry's 21-day advance from Kuwait to Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Each episode goes deeper than the book. Authors Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul sit down with soldiers who lived the mission — pulling back the curtain on the decisions made under fire, the faith that sustained them and the leadership lessons that still apply today. This is military history told by the people who made it. For v...

Author

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul

Episodes

The Aftermath 26.06.2026 1:04:19

Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul are joined by retired Lt. Gen. Dan Bolger—combat veteran, former division commander and author of "Why We Lost"—to tackle the question that has haunted American military strategy ever since Operation Iraqi Freedom: What do you do after you win? The conversation opens by discussing April 11, 2003, the day the Saddam Hussein regime fell and Task Force 2-7 Infa...

The Kill Chain 22.06.2026 1:05:25

We dive deep into one of the most critical concepts in modern warfare: the kill chain. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul are joined by former S2 intelligence officer Derrick Smits (Able 2) and ex-fire support officer Jason Happe (Able 30) for a raw, unscripted conversation about how Task Force 2-7 sensed, decided and acted its way through 21 days of combat—from the Kuwait border to dow...

Steel in the City: Part 2 08.06.2026 54:24

In the second installment of "Steel in the City," Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul welcome a special guest: Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jimmy Lee, former commander of the only tank company team in Task Force 2-7 Infantry during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A decorated combat veteran, Lee brings a first-hand perspective on what it meant to lead a company team through the streets of Baghdad i...

Steel in the City: Part 1 02.06.2026 47:32

The battlefield changes in Episode 3. After two episodes covering the desert drive north and the rapid push toward Baghdad, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matthew Paul shift their focus to one of warfare's oldest and most brutal proving grounds: the city. In "Steel in the City," Rutter and Paul take listeners inside the dense, chaotic urban terrain of Iraq—ancient cities with no g...

The Drive from Hell: Speed is Survival 22.05.2026 1:32:55

Before the Thunder Run. Before the airport fight. Before Baghdad — there was the road north. In March 2003, Task Force 2-7 Infantry launched one of the fastest armored offensives in modern military history. But speed alone doesn't win wars. Fuel does. Ammunition does. The ability to keep moving when everything around you is breaking down does. In this episode, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and...

Forged Before the Fight 14.05.2026 50:11

Before the first shot was fired, the battle was already being won — or lost — in training. In this opening episode of "The Debrief," Lt. Col. (Ret.) Scott Rutter and Matt Paul, authors of "Damn Fine Soldiers," go back to the beginning. As commander of Task Force 2-7 Infantry, the legendary "Cottonbalers," Rutter led 900 soldiers on a 21-day advance from Kuwait to Bagh...