The Spear

In this episode, Dr. Charlie Faint hosts Lieutenant Colonel Tiane Garner, commander of the Multi-Domain Effects Battalion (MDEB) in the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force, to discuss the Army's evolving approach to operations in the Indo-Pacific. Drawing on nearly two decades of service that began as a transportation officer running convoy security missions in Iraq before transitioning to military intelligence, Tiane explains how the MDEB integrates intelligence, cyber, electronic warfare, space, and unmanned systems to provide long-range reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting capabilities in support of the joint force. She also details lessons learned from Pacific Pathways exercises in the Philippines, the challenges of innovation and rapid acquisition, the battalion's upcoming transition into the newly established Multi-Domain Command–Pacific, and the importance of developing disciplined soldiers who can adapt to emerging technologies and changing battlefield conditions. Throughout the conversation, Tiane emphasizes that while technology continues to evolve, success in future conflicts will ultimately depend on leaders and soldiers who have mastered the fundamentals, remain committed to continuous learning, and are prepared to operate effectively in dispersed, complex environments.

In 2004, Tim Strabbing was a lieutenant and platoon commander in the Marine Corps, deployed to an area just outside Fallujah in Iraq's restive Anbar province. On his platoon's very first patrol, they were ambushed by enemy fighters, earning his Marines a baptism by fire and setting the tone for a difficult deployment ahead. He joins this episode to share the story of one particularly eventful 48-hour period.

In this episode of The Spear, retired Marine officer David Berke joins to share a story from 2006, when he was a forward air controller attached to an Army unit in Ramadi, Iraq. During a movement-to-contact patrol, they began to take fire, and his job became especially important. He declared the TIC—troops in contact—and two Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornets headed their way to provide close air support. Listen as he tells the story, explaining what it's like to work with the pilots in the air to engage the enemy in support of the ground force.

During the Vietnam War, the 1972 Easter Offensive was a major operation launched by North Vietnam to destabilize South Vietnam and strengthen its own hand in ongoing peace talks in Paris. The offensive was particularly noteworthy due to its duration and ferocity as well as the extensive use of tanks by North Vietnam, a rarity during the Vietnam War. In this episode, retired Colonel Rick Cassidy recounts a battle and his role in it during this pivotal period, which resulted in him receiving a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal for valor.

This episode of The Spear features a conversation with Josh Webster. A US Army officer, he previously served as a US Air Force pararescueman—a member of an elite part of the Air Force whose mission includes rescuing and providing medical treatment to wounded military personnel. He shares a story from 2010 in Afghanistan, when his team was called on to evacuate casualties thirteen times during a day of intense fighting.

This episode features a story from Joe Ritter, an Air Force officer and MQ-9 Reaper pilot. The MQ-9, the largest remotely piloted aircraft in the US military's inventory, has a wide range of the capabilities—from providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to conducting battle damage assessments to helping a ground element direct their fires to striking enemy targets with air-to-ground Hellfire missiles. Ritter and his sensor operator brought all of these capabilities to the fight during a single mission in Afghanistan in October 2018.

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.

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.