So we're patrolling along and we start to get the chatter over the icon, you know, listening

into the Taliban using their radios.

And the Afghan commander is saying, hey look, they're, you know, they're talking about ambushing us,

they're talking about us moving forward, they can see us.

I'm going forward to speak to, I sort of have a quick stop, speak to all of the guys in the team, tell them what's going on,

move forward to speak to the Afghan commander.

And it's at that point the IED chain, tell them what's going on, move forward to speak to the Afghan commander.

And it's at that point the IED chain detonates.

Hey, welcome back to The Spear, a podcast by the Modern War Institute at West Point.

I'm John Amble editorial director at MWI, and the Speer is our platform to explore the combat experience. For this episode, I had the chance to sit down for a

conversation with Will Meddings. He is an officer in the British Army and in 2008 he was part of a team

deployed in Afghanistan's Helmand Province whose mission was to partner with, mentor, and train

Afghan forces. Now, that job brings with it a host of very unique challenges, and many of

those challenges really come to the fore when things go badly, like they did for Will and his team

on one particular day during that deployment. In the conversation you're about to hear, Will tells the story of what happened that day

and reflects on some of the really important leadership lessons the story holds.

Before we hear from him really quickly, just a couple notes.

First, thank you so much for listening to The Spear.

We have some incredible episodes lined up to release over the next few months. So if you aren't already subscribed, find The Spear. We have some incredible episodes lined up to release over the next few

months. So if you aren't already subscribed, find The Spear on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your

favorite podcast app. And if you're enjoying it, we would really love it if you could take a second

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