Constant Combat

Ramadi Podcast
  • 5.0 (7)
  • 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. 3D AGO

    The Path From The Dark Side - Joshua Alderette (part 1 of 2)

    Send us a text Josh Alderette gives a candid oral history: a young lance corporal is yanked from his team and dropped into 81s as a TOW gunner, right after losing a friend. The early Ramadi period shows how expectations fractured early. They were sold stabilization... then hit with IED craters, night missions, and gear failures under stress.  What lingers isn’t only violence; it’s the culture that kept people from seeking care. • transfer from MAP 2 to 81s and leadership pushback • March AFB spin-up, open-bolt lessons, early blasts • stigma around getting medical care, undocumented wounds • April 4–6 turning point • friendly fire on Nova, gear failures, light loadouts • killing time through gallows humor, pranks, and cards • chasing adrenaline after war, a hotel incident... and recovery • TOW employment in Ramadi 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

    1h 2m

  2. 3D AGO

    The Path From The Dark Side - Joshua Alderette (part 2 of 2)

    Send us a text “We went from amateur to professional in two days.” Ambushes, mortars, Bradleys, and the fog of war as told by Josh Alderette in part 2 of our conversation. Two brutal April days, from convoy ambushes and mortar fire, and the small human moments that still echo decades later. We talk tactics, errors, lucky breaks, and how those hours turned kids into adults overnight. • the white Opel • mortars, counter-battery, and sensing incoming • April 6 push to Echo Company under ambush • rooftop fights, IEDs and palm grove contact • evacuating wounded down Nova under fire • DShK in a tower, TOW impacts and ammo runners • sprinting for the RPG launcher under fire • pranks, bonding and keeping morale intact • left seat right seat frustrations • later deployments, shifting tactics and geopolitics • pride, regret and meaning after combat ---------------------------------------------- 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

    1h 4m

  3. JAN 30

    The Real Machine Gun Kelly - Nick Kelly

    Send us a text Nick Kelly recounts Ramadi in 2004, from the first push, to the government center, to the fight that swallowed Easy Street, and the strange silence of coming home. Nick also paints the story of what lingers. It's the humanizing part: calling a parent from an accidentally open phone center; cleaning carbon off steel because it steadies the mind; reading about Vietnam under desert stars; and deciding how much of the past to carry into the present.  • background as 0331 in a Mobile Assault Platoon • training gaps versus urban combat reality • convoy north, first IEDs, arrival in Ramadi • April 6, government center push and Easy Street fight • close engagements with Mk-19 • casualties and battlefield triage • April 7, Route Nova ambush and tree-top fighters • car bombs, jam clears, alley fights • night ambushes, tanks, and near misses • downtime rituals, books, music • family support and perspective • meaning, memory, and choosing when to speak ---------------------------------------------- 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

    1h 10m

  4. JAN 26

    A Lifetime of Explosives - Heath McKenzie (part 1 of 2)

    Send us a text Heath McKenzie's story comes with a lot of laughs sprinkled into a good recounting of some busy days. The streets emptied and everyone knew what came next. If you listen closely, he gives an excellent account of tactical changes made from lessons learned. We walk through April 6 and 7 as Golf pinned down... QRFs ambushed from both east and west, and a small team surging ahead to break the line while the rest of the convoy wrestles contact on every block. • joining 2-4 on the heels of 9/11 • Okinawa extension, stop-loss, MP assignment • Kuwait training with Brits • improvised armor and welded gun mounts • April 6–7 ambushes • casualty evacuation under fire • April 10 bug hunt and a bridge overwatch mortar find • partnering with ODA for raids and cordons • patrol rotations, QRF rhythm, daily grind • Conde’s death on Route Michigan and survivor’s guilt 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

    49 min

  5. JAN 26

    A Lifetime of Explosives - Heath McKenzie (part 2 of 2)

    Send us a text Part two with Heath McKenzie of MAP 3. He leads us thru the memory of Ramadi: VBIEDs, RPG ambushes, and his rare Javelin shot... and then recounts the long, messy work of coming home, sobriety, and leaning on people who answer the phone.  • VBIEDs and the life-saving impact of up-armored Humvees • The government center as a constant contact point • Hooch life with volleyball, golf, Xbox, and rom-coms • New joins... and close calls with power lines • A sanctioned Javelin strike on a VBIED • Lioness teams’ role in raids and sudden removal from missions • Ramadi’s escalation • The crash of homecoming, heavy drinking, VA struggles, and rehab • Brotherhood, marriage, and learning to ask for help If anyone reads this, we apologize; there is a mistake in this recording. There were 4 men killed in the March 31st convoy attack. Rest in Peace... we do remember Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Mike Teague.  ---------------------------------------------- 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

    39 min

  6. JAN 21

    Semper Familia - Jonathan Wade (part 1 of 2)

    Send us a text We catch up with Jon Wade from the 81mm mortars platoon. He details some sharp turns from the workup and flight over.... to the long, slow convoy into Iraq, where a medevac on the highway snaps everyone into a new reality. A reality that shaped how we fought and how he led in the future.  • joining 81s in Oki • Super Bowl bet, broken jet, snow PT in Jersey • acclimatizing in Kuwait • the long convoy, first medevac seen, stress and luck • living under daily mortars and calm under fire • Seabees welding, improvised armor, morale and protection • evolving IED threat, bad briefings, learning from craters • Warth’s evacuation • static crews, MAP tactics, and machine gunners’ impact • curfew stop with foreign nationals and command discipline • first sustained gunfight, rooftop shooter, controlled clearing 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

    54 min

  7. JAN 21

    Semper Familia - Jonathan Wade (part 2 of 2)

    Send us a text We revisit Ramadi 2004 with Jon Wade to trace how hard lessons learned became durable leadership in his later career as a senior NCO and Staff NCO. We end on brotherhood, nerves at the finish, and what it means to bring people home. • early raids blocked by chains, walls, missing tools • switch from textbook CQB... to shock and overwhelm • April 6–10 battle: motorbikes, shifting ROE • intel gaps and rare feedback on detainees • HVT hit with Delta and Oliver North present • corrupt cop raid with large caches and documents • unit culture built through a new family and trust, repetition • leadership lessons carried to Afghanistan • final weeks’ nerves, rituals, and an IED close call • reflection on ego, stewardship, and bringing everyone home ---------------------------------------------- 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

    48 min

  8. JAN 16

    From Boot to Battle - Daniel Ackles (part 1 of 2)

    Send us a text Dan Ackles brings us back to the moment he stepped off a van from SOI and into a deploying battalion bound for Ramadi. A rushed workup, 7 ton trucks with sandbags, April’s sudden violence, and the moral weight of changing ROE shape a raw, unvarnished account. This interview is blunt, darkly funny, and deeply humanizing via a lived record of how young Marines adapt fast.  • boot drop straight into 2/4 without a full workup • crash-course training at March Air Force Base and Kuwait • arrival and life at Hurricane Point • first convoys in highback HMMVs and early ambushes • April 6 firefights, reinforcements, and medevacs • rooftop clears with Sergeant Major Booker • frustrations with armored support and pinned-down claims • Xbox, dominoes, smoke pit building, and chow hall b******t • calls home, pricey phone cards, and care packages • ROE shifts from tight control to permissive guns free • ethical stress, restraint, and near-miss civilian encounters • unit humor, bond, and learning under fire 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

    52 min
See All (43)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 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
    43
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Constant Combat
  • Show Website
    Constant Combat

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