This is Jocko podcast number 444 with echo Charles and me jock a welling good evening echo good evening

Before I knew it we were heading down route six getting ready to extract casualties the back of the warrior as always was hot, dark, sticky,

uncomfortable. Stick was giving me Taylor and JC constant updates what we were going to do when we got there when boom out of

nowhere the vehicles hit by overwhelming firepower the armor of a warrior is thick, but as I knew from previous engagements, it is not impenetrable.

The vehicle skidded to a halt as the ambush continued rocking from the ratatat-tat-tat-of-gunfire and the boom of

RPGs's. Jesus stick! I could hear Jean-Claude Fowler, the gunner shout,

contact, wait, out. Stick issued a fire control order, then

JC started to return fire engaging the malicious stronghold.

We'd been shot so many times over the previous weeks.

The fact that someone was firing at us didn't phase me.

What was difficult and what made me more concerned was where we were being fired at from.

It was normal for someone to take a pot shot from a window or a rooftop. It felt unusual

for it to happen in the middle of nowhere. Where the fuck were we? The only

info I had was that we were going to extract two casualties, but this firefight

was nowhere near our rendezvous. It was all a bit mixed up and confusing.

Stick and JC continued communicating with each other while they tried to

work out what was going on and how many enemy positions there were.

All I could do was sit there,

listening to this to the rounds,

spraying up against the vehicle.

With a clunk, I could hear the chain gun failing to fire

a fuck from JC, and a grab for his

...