Combat Surgery in Afghanistan
From The Spear by Modern War Institute at West Point
November 19, 2025 · 48 min
About this episode
Fred Lough shares his experiences as a surgeon in Afghanistan and discusses various military topics.
Fred Lough began his Army career as an engineer officer before deciding to leave military service to attend medical school and become a surgeon. After rejoining the Army to support the Global War on Terror, Fred later served two combat tours in Afghanistan, where he was part of a mobile forward surgical team. In this episode of The Spear, Fred speaks with MWI's Charlie Faint about his experiences in Afghanistan at FOB Shank and Herat, as well as his thoughts about Ranger School, the Haqqani Network, and damage-control combat medicine.
People in this episode
Host: Charlie Faint
Guest: Fred Lough
Topics covered
- combat surgery
- Afghanistan
- military medicine
- Ranger School
- Global War on Terror
- mobile surgical teams
Keywords
- combat surgery
- Afghanistan
- Fred Lough
- Ranger School
- Haqqani Network
- military medicine
- FOB Shank
- Herat
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Army, Global War on Terror, Haqqani Network
Places: Afghanistan, FOB Shank, Herat
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- Ranger Missions in Iraq and Afghanistan · March 10, 2026 · 1h 2m
- Combat Interpreter in Iraq · February 10, 2026 · 1h 6m
- Route Clearance and Counterbattery in Iraq · January 16, 2026 · 56 min
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