Constant Combat

Ramadi Podcast
  • 5.0 (8)
  • History

This veteran-led podcast highlights the experiences of Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, starting with their harrowing 2004 deployment to Ramadi; a 9 month combat tour which resulted in the highest casualties in a single deployment - a deployment that most Americans have never heard about. Through candid conversations surrounding these events, the series also explores earlier experiences that shaped the Marines, emphasizing their grit, humor, and humanity while aiming to honor their stories authentically.

  1. 2d ago

    A Giant on the Hood - James Hardin (part 1 of 3)

    Send us Fan Mail This time we have James Hardin from MAP 2 to trace how a Weapons Company platoon goes from thin-skin Humvees and peacetime nonsense to Ramadi improvisation and hard-earned competence. We swap the stories that still stick, from peace time frustration to night training to IED wake-up calls and the moments you choose humanity in the middle of a gunfight.  • early vehicle setups, armor upgrades • getting stalled by tape test standards • rebuilding capability after personnel losses, boot drops, and stop-loss  • drilling fundamentals and why boring reps keep people alive  • adapting TOW vehicles for urban combat • the “vomit comet” transit story and recovering just in time to fight  • being under-tooled and under-supplied • IED learning curve, enemy innovation, and respect earned the hard way  • hearts and minds missions versus being the “go shoot things” platoon  • Hurricane Point realities, QRF logistics, and civilians through active fights  if you like what you've heard this is a multi part episode make sure you listen to the rest of the story  ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  2. 2d ago

    A Giant on the Hood - James Hardin (part 2 of 3)

    Send us Fan Mail Part 2 with James Hardin walks back through Ramadi memories, from losing Geoff Morris to the days when the city’s mood shifted and everything escalated fast. We also talk honestly about the media, daily life on the COP, and what it feels like to come home.  • recollections of the night Geoff Morris is wounded and evacuated  • drawing a line on photos and why dignity matters  • losing trust when quotes get distorted  • why Oliver North earns respect by sharing risk on patrol  • the VBIED story and the TOW missile shot  • the resource gap between Ramadi and Fallujah • sanitation failures,  and feeling exposed at night  • hooch life routines, pranks, and the weird humor that keeps us going  • the electrified shower problem and other wiring nightmares  • smoke pit culture, and stress coming down after patrols  • calling home, emotional distance, and relationships straining  • April 6 street fighting, ambush moments, and pushing through chaos  • choosing a ground medevac when helicopters will not fly  • hard lessons about leadership decisions and what we still question later  if you like what you've heard this is a multi part episode make sure you listen to the rest of the story  ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  3. 2d ago

    A Giant on the Hood - James Hardin (part 3 of 3)

    Send us Fan Mail Part 3 with Jimmy Hardin goes through the small decisions that kept people alive and the moments that still feel impossible to forget. A weapons cache is supposed to be a victory lap, but what happens when you know those same rifles could be pointed back at you next week? We talk through ambushes, mass-casualty chaos, and what it takes to come home carrying grief without letting it hollow you out.  • destroying captured weapons  • Route Apple contact, RPG volume, and fighting while exhausted  • clearing jams under fire  • minefield near misses, phosphorus scares, and mortar mishaps  • medevac runs, triage pressure, and the helplessness of grievous wounds  • friendly fire risk and the consequences of bad assumptions  • left seat, right seat handoff friction and last-day fighting  • post-deployment distance, trauma processing, and asking for help  • veteran resources including Focus Marines Foundation and Semper Fi Odyssey  ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  4. 6d ago

    Mater Artium Necessitas - Blake Musser (part 1 of 3)

    Send us Fan Mail Along with guest co-host Jon Wade, Blake Musser of Sledgehammer 81s digs into why 2/4’s road to Ramadi in 2004 is a one-time mix of pre-9/11 training, stop-loss chaos, and nonstop workups that forced real adaptability. Blake reflects on what it meant to roll into early Iraq with unarmored trucks, outdated guidance, and leadership that let Marines solve problems fast.  • pre-9/11 training culture meeting a post-9/11 mission shift  • Noble Eagle riot control prep shaping early “hearts and minds” skills  • Okinawa stop-loss and rapid leadership turnover  • turning down Marine Security Guard orders • intense workups, extra schools, and learning from British experience  • Cold War surplus resupply  • building armor, mounts, and new vehicle tactics • Kuwait scrounging and crossing the border with a Humvee full of HE rounds  • first shock of Ramadi living conditions • 81s as a Swiss Army knife unit for odd missions  • blast analysis, pursuit stories, and the operational value of manpower  • a leadership correction that sticks If you like what you've heard, this is a multi part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story. ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  5. 6d ago

    Mater Artium Necessitas - Blake Musser (part 2 of 3)

    Send us Fan Mail Part two continues with Blake Musser who talks trading the clean CQB playbook for what actually worked in Ramadi, where every door, wall, and hallway forced them to adapt fast. We also talk thru the parts that don’t fade, from running radios on April 6th to handling the aftermath of losing our own.  • how odd construction drives on-the-fly breaching and room clearing  • why “roof first” becomes the rule  • using surprise, speed, and mass to avoid drawn-out fights inside houses  • bigger fears like RPGs from rooftops and IEDs in compounds  • a door kick that ends with a a long minute alone in the courtyard  • running the COC with too many moving pieces and too few people  • the first Bug Hunt mission • how understanding Arabic changes your experience •  watching governance plans fall apart, and seeing the enemy get sharper  • recovering fallen snipers and the anger that follows  If you like what you've heard, this is a multi-part episode. Make sure you listen to the rest of the story.  ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  6. 6d ago

    Mater Artium Necessitas - Blake Musser (part 3 of 3)

    Send us Fan Mail Part 3 with Blake Musser telling about what combat felt like on the ground in Ramadi, from hooch life and resupply routines to raids with Special Forces. We also walk through his September “alive day,” a government center battle, and what it takes to carry brotherhood, trauma, and meaning back into civilian life 22 years later.  • a no ear protection story  • hooch life with fights, cards, and taser experiments  • care packages as real logistics • chow runs, PX trips • Operation Traveler raids and Oliver North footage  • armed drone tech and how warfare evolves  • unit handoff friction, command culture, and broken feedback loops  • the RPG ambush  • the government center fight, ROE confusion • coming home, “amnesty,” and the struggle to stand down  • rebuilding identity after the Corps  • telling the stories later, humanizing the war, and staying connected  ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  7. Oct 21

    Gold Star Family - Kirk Morris

    Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Kirk Morris to remember his son, PFC Geoffrey Morris, and he recounts the moments that carried him from a Lake Michigan fishing boat on 9/11 to the gunner’s seat in Iraq. We talk about the phone calls, the knock at the door, the diary entry he left behind, challenges from a clueless public, and what it takes for families to keep a life from being reduced to a name.  • Geoff’s timeline from boot camp • Card games, chess, and small comforts during deployment  • Geoff’s love of fishing and hunting • The full-ride football scholarship he walked away from  • 9/11 as the turning point • Early platoon memories, double pneumonia, and earning a gunner billet  • Barracks life, mischief, and “good initiative, bad judgment” • Protectiveness at home and the hard conversations before Iraq  • Casualty notification and the shock that follows  • Combat images and media pressure  • Reading Geoff’s diary entry • Coming home and the need for veteran support  • Memorial fishing and hunting events that bring veterans together  • Standing up to funeral protests and public hostility  • Why remembering 9/11 still matters  ** Rest in Peace: Pfc. Geoffrey S. Morris, 19, of Gurnee, Illinois died April 4, 2004 from hostile fire in Anbar province, Iraq. ** ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

  8. Oct 14

    Gold Star Family - Eva "Mama" Savage

    Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Mama Savage to trace her son Jeremiah’s path from a wild kid who always wanted to be a Marine to the moment the casualty notification team arrived at her door. We talk honestly about war, family, Arlington, survivor guilt, and how the Marine brotherhood keeps showing up long after the headlines fade.  • Jeremiah’s childhood drive to become a Marine and how that shaped everything  • A no-coddling parenting style and the family culture around service  • Okinawa, post 9-11 deployments, and the shock of “I’m going to Iraq”  • anxiety of watching the news and tracking casualty reports  • The blackout after April 6 and the relief and guilt cycle  • The door knock • Arlington National Cemetery burial logistics and the travel burden on families  • Grief that changes identity, and why May and Memorial Day are hard  • Finding support through Marine families and Weapons Company connections  • John choosing to join the Marines • Jeremiah as a “rescuer” and more than a title or a uniform  • Survivor guilt, purpose, and remembering Jeremiah Savage for how he lived  ** Rest in Peace: Lance Corporal Jeremiah E. Savage, 21, of Livingston, Tennessee, died May 12, 2004, of wounds received due to hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. ** ---------------------------------------------- If you like what you heard, please subscribe on your favorite podcast service or follow our webpage for direct downloads @ https://www.buzzsprout.com/2525088 If you are a member of Weapons Company or someone with a story about Weapons Company 2/4 in 2004, please come tell some stories with us - 20 mins or 20 hours! Help paint the canvas of an archival story for others to know what it was like. Contact us @ RamadiPodcast@gmail.com, or via the podcast website above.  All music used with permission by soundbay: https://www.youtube.com/@soundbay_RFM

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

This veteran-led podcast highlights the experiences of Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, starting with their harrowing 2004 deployment to Ramadi; a 9 month combat tour which resulted in the highest casualties in a single deployment - a deployment that most Americans have never heard about. Through candid conversations surrounding these events, the series also explores earlier experiences that shaped the Marines, emphasizing their grit, humor, and humanity while aiming to honor their stories authentically.

Information

  • Creator
    Ramadi Podcast
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    134
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Constant Combat
  • Show Website
    Constant Combat

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