Constant Combat

Ramadi Podcast

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. 5d ago

    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

  2. Oct 9

    Put On The Full Armor of God - Jarred Monroe (part 1 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail Everything sounds simple until you’re the one in the turret. This time, we talk to Jarred Monroe about the long ramp from training to war, from call signs and gear choices to the moment Ramadi turns real. He walks us through near disasters, hard fixes, and the first major firefights where training takes over and memory comes back in snapshots.  • Monroe’s role as a heavy machine gunner  • How call signs, nicknames, and platoon culture shape trust  • Okinawa timing and the almost-Philippines mission  • Infantry optics training on night vision and thermal concealment  • The canceled Humvee course and the art of skating  • Workups at Bridgeport and mount training • March Air Force Base training frustrations  • A deployment flight and the decision to pray  • Kuwait preparation scavenging gear, gun lube, and welding mounts  • Arriving in Ramadi • Improvised weapon repairs • Early missions, IED sweeps, first casualties, and a friendly fire scare  • April 6 and April 7 firefights, RPG threats, ammo management, and breaking contact  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. Oct 9

    Put On The Full Armor of God - Jarred Monroe (part 2 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail Part 2 goes through Jarred Monroe’s most intense memories, from inspecting a Humvee that somehow comes back unmarked to the prayer-filled letter that makes that moment hit differently. We also confront a terrifying friendly fire near-miss, the mental toll that builds across deployments, and what faith, purpose, and time change 22 years later.   • inspecting the truck after heavy contact and finding no damage  • connecting that moment to Psalm 91 and a sister’s hours-long prayer  • describing night ambushes, and the gunner mindset • explaining a friendly fire near-miss • reflecting on leadership, unit transitions • memories from the hooch  • returning home with the combat switch still flipped on  • follow on deployment with constant IED strikes and mounting numbness  • going through early MARSOC selection and carrying the experience forward  ---------------------------------------------- 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. Oct 5

    Canvas Doors, Confidence, and Camaraderie - Marcel Williams (part 1 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail MAP3's Marcel Williams gives us the path from machine gun instructor to Weapons Company in 2/4, where early confidence collapses under a real ambush and the reality of unarmored convoy warfare. We walk through the April 6th thru 10th, the hard lesson to be mentally locked in, and the moments of courage and humanity that still don’t sit neatly in memory.  • Marcel’s background, MOS, and why he chose Weapons Company  • Whiplash between home life and rapid deployment • Kuwait sustainment training and the long convoy to Ramadi  • First contact on Route Nova • How combat mindset changes after the first firefight  • Early Ramadi missions, and the city’s rising violence  • The April 6 QRF, channelized streets, and the Easy Street assault  • Civilians moving through gunfire • PsyOps missions, palm grove shooters, and fighting around occupied homes  • A sucking chest wound, and the rescue 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

  5. Oct 5

    Canvas Doors, Confidence, and Camaraderie - Marcel Williams (part 2 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail Part 2 with Marcel Williams revisits the moments that still feel raw: an IED on Route Michigan, and the anger, guilt, and brotherhood that follow. He also talks honestly about how that deployment shapes a 28-year Marine Corps career, from leadership lessons to the feeling that history sometimes forgets the people who wrote the playbook.  • IED sweeps, observation posts, and rotating armored vehicles  • The immediate rage after losing Conde and what restraint prevents  • Guilt, second guessing, and learning to let go of blame in war  • Why Conde stands out as a genuine Marine and a true hero  • Saddam’s mosque firefight, and what “saving the day” costs  • Handoff, friction over TTPs, and the chaos at the end of a deployment  • Dark humor in the hooch, field improvisation, injuries, and survival routines  • Homecoming joy mixed with survivor guilt and grief  • Being left out of official narratives while influencing doctrine and SOPs  • No air, no indirect fire, constant comm issues, and being each other’s 911  ---------------------------------------------- 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. Sep 30

    Overwatch, Explosions, and Fast Humvees - Matt Kuroda (part 1 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail We talk with Matt Kuroda, known by most as KK, about what it really feels like to be a driver and 'Guardian Angel' overwatch in Ramadi, from night convoy chaos to the quiet pressure of making decisions with bad gear and incomplete plans. We trade the stories that still stand out, including a 21st birthday under fire, raids that blur together, and how IEDs turned every routine movement into a gamble.  • switching from Rainmaker to Sledgehammer • why combat driving in Ramadi breaks every stateside habit  • drivers and turret gunners as the overlooked backbone  • limited ACOGs, extra duties, and getting tasked with overwatch  • the stress of rooftop observation without comms  • early patrol problems like lost routes, weak radios, and maze streets  • Bridgeport, Oki carryover, and the Fuji “speak Japanese” fiasco  • the weird transition from SASO to heavy contact  • close calls on QRF runs and learning vehicle limits the hard way  • night raids, joint targets, and the moment Oliver North shows up  • detainee handling, improvised hoods, and the shortage of proper cuffs  • IED tactics, triggermen frustration, and the early injuries that changed everything  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

  7. Sep 30

    Overwatch, Explosions, and Fast Humvees - Matt Kuroda (part 2 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail We pick up part two with Matt Kuroda where an IED detonates, a friend is hit, and there’s no clean pause to process it. We’re right back into decisions, movement, and clearing buildings while trying to understand what just happened. From Ramadi firefights to mortar rounds on base, we talk through what sticks after 22 years and what it takes to ask for help later.  • Savage IED aftermath  • repeated IED exposure, overpressure, and what “not wounded” can still mean  • taking fire from buildings, rushing in, and finding only casings  • QRF work, shifting mission tempo, and the strange task of “keep contact”  • downtime on base, smoke pit life, improvised PT rules • indirect fire close calls and how shelling becomes normal • bridge post duty, exposed positions, civilians nearby, and the lack of clear SOPs  • end of deployment decompression classes, and fear of being labeled  • non-medical counseling options, what helped, and why getting support felt risky  ---------------------------------------------- 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. Sep 25

    Attention on Deck - Robert Weiler (Part 1 of 2)

    Send us Fan Mail General Rob Weiler talks through his view in Ramadi 2004 and why the hard, specific details still matter, from old after action reports to the leadership culture that kept young Marines steady. We trace how counterinsurgency forced constant adaptation, how April shattered assumptions, and what practical lessons still apply to urban combat and command.  • why Unremitting resonates beyond one unit and one time period  • how intimacy becomes a warfighting advantage  • rediscovered logbooks and after action reports as real operational history  • Weiler’s path from enlisted Marine to officer and the role of mentorship  • the urge to deploy before knowing the true cost of war  • action reaction counteraction as the engine of IED adaptation and enemy learning  • how intelligence shaped missions • predeployment training shifts • leading from the front, building culture, and making hard calls • urban survival lessons: dismounting, overwatch, reducing vehicle risk  • April’s turning point and why the fight did not “end” after major contact  • the failed handoff and the uncertainty at the heart of counterinsurgency  • readiness management under nonstop tasking and why squad patrols can be a trap  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

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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
    127
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Constant Combat
  • Show Website
    Constant Combat

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