The Spear

Modern War Institute at West Point
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The Spear

The Spear is a podcast from the Modern War Institute at West Point. It sets out to explore the combat experience, with each episode featuring a guest who tells a detailed and personal story, describing the events and exploring topics like decision-making under stress and what it feels like to be in combat.

  1. JAN 7

    Green Beret, Silver Star

    Sergeant Major Chuck Ritter overcame a series of bad decisions in his youth—as well as a rough start to his Army career—to become a highly successful Special Forces senior noncommissioned officer. In this episode, Chuck joins MWI's Charlie Faint for a discussion about resilience, personal responsibility, motivation, good leadership, and the circumstances that led to Chuck receiving the Purple Heart three times, as well as the Bronze Star and Silver Star medals for valor in combat. He also offers his perspectives about critical thinking, the utility of storytelling, and the dangers of hubris.

    1h 5m

  2. JAN 2

    Last Soldier in Afghanistan

    On August 30, 2021, General Chris Donahue stepped onto the ramp of the last American C-17 in Afghanistan and into the pages of history. At the time, he was a major general commanding the 82nd Airborne Division, leading his paratroopers as the United States withdrew from Afghanistan after almost twenty years of combat. He would go on to serve as a corps commander and, since December 2024, the commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa. Donahue joins this episode of The Spear to describe the evolving and complex mission on the ground during the 2021 deployment to Afghanistan, during which he relied on trust and relationships to lead his troops and oversee the evacuation of more than 120,000 Afghans. He also reflects on his career and the leadership lessons he learned along the way, sharing advice for junior and aspiring leaders.

    31 min

  3. 12/12/2024

    Valor in Sadr City

    Long before his selection as the fifteenth sergeant major of the Army, Dan Dailey served multiple combat deployments in Iraq, first during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and then in Operation Iraqi Freedom more than a decade later. In this episode of The Spear, he joins MWI's Charlie Faint to reflect on those deployments—describing in particular one deployment's operations in Baghdad's Sadr City, where he receiving the Bronze Star Medal for valor. He also discusses lessons he learned over a career that began when he signed his enlistment paperwork as a sixteen-year-old and culminated in his service as the most senior enlisted soldier in the Army. And he shares his thoughts, refined after working alongside officers at every rank, from platoon leaders to the chief of staff of the Army, on the vital relationship between officers and noncommissioned officers.

    57 min

  4. 12/05/2024

    The A-10 At War

    In this episode, retired US Air Force Col. Kim Campbell joins to share a story from 2003. A career A-10 pilot, her squadron was deployed to the Middle East at the beginning of the war in Iraq. During a mission, she and her flight lead in another A-10 responded to a call for air support from a US unit engaged with Iraqi troops. On her last rocket pass, she felt and heard an explosion—and knew immediately that she had been hit. Listen as she explains what happened that day and how she responded when she suddenly found herself flying a heavily damaged aircraft.

    48 min

  5. 11/22/2024

    A Fight Inside the Wire

    In this episode of The Spear, MWI's John Amble is joined by Major Tyson Walsh. In 2013, during a deployment in Afghanistan, he was working out alone late at night on the heavily fortified Bagram Airfield, the largest US and coalition base in the country. It's the last place he expected to end up in a fight—he didn't even have his weapon with him. But that's exactly what happened. Listen as he tells one of the most intense stories we have featured.

    1h 1m

  6. 11/06/2024

    Leadership in the Ranger Regiment and 4ID

    Command Sergeant Major Alex Kupratty enlisted in the Army after a year at the Virginia Military Institute and was immediately assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, where he spent most of the next twenty years of his military career, culminating in the position of command sergeant major of the Second Ranger Battalion. He is now the command sergeant major of the Fourth Infantry Division, and he joined the podcast on the eve of the recent Army–Air Force Football game. In this episode, Command Sergeant Major Kupratty discusses the value of interoperability, partnerships, innovation, and the officer-NCO relationship to the modern combat experience.

    41 min

  7. 10/18/2024

    Military Cross in Afghanistan

    For his service with the Household Cavalry during a deployment to Afghanistan in 2013, British Army Major Al Pickthall was ultimately awarded the Military Cross, a decoration presented by the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries for acts of "exemplary gallantry” in combat. In this episode, Al recounts the details of that deployment and the actions for which he was awarded the Military Cross, as well as his education at Sandhurst and Yale University and his thoughts about topics such as leadership, military writing, and his recent visit to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

    55 min

  8. 10/11/2024

    Emergency Deployment with the Ranger Regiment

    While serving as a company executive officer with the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment in 2016, Ryan Crayne and his company were training at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center when they received emergency overseas deployment orders. Just days later, and after a herculean logistical effort, Ryan and his fellow Rangers were in Afghanistan and engaged in a major clearing operation against ISIS. He joins this episode to share the story of that operation, explaining how high-performing units leverage leadership principles such as mutual trust, disciplined initiative, and prudent risk to enable extraordinary accomplishments in training and on the battlefield.

    1h 29m
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Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
602 Ratings

About

The Spear is a podcast from the Modern War Institute at West Point. It sets out to explore the combat experience, with each episode featuring a guest who tells a detailed and personal story, describing the events and exploring topics like decision-making under stress and what it feels like to be in combat.

Information

  • Creator
    Modern War Institute at West Point
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2025
  • Episodes
    196
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2019
  • Show Website
    The Spear

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