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 talking about ambushing us, they're

talking about us moving 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 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 Spear is our platform to explore the combat experience.

This is a special episode, because for the first time, my guest is not an American.

Will Meddings is an officer in the British Army, and in 2008, he was part of a team deployed

in Helmand province Afghanistan, tasked with partnering with, mentoring, and training Afghan

forces. Now, that job brings with, mentoring, and training Afghan forces.

Now, that job brings with it a host of 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 in July.

In the conversation you're about to hear, Will tells a 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.

If you're enjoying it, we would really love it if you could take just a few seconds

and give it a rating or leave a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you

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