Hey, welcome to another episode of 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.

I'm really excited about the two guests that we have today.

MWI's major Jake Morali sits down for a conversation with two company commanders who took

part in the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS.

I'm Captain Marks-Wordsdes, the Alpha Company 2325 Commander.

In West Mosul I was partnered with the 9th Iraqi Armored Division and specifically the 37th Armored Brigade.

Our focus was advising, assisting and enabling them through the sort of conventional maneuver fight.

And I'm Captain Brett Riker. I was the Bravo Company Commander of 2325, and I was an advisor to the Counterterrorism Service in West Mosul.

Predominant role is striking in support of and working by with and through the CTS,

block by block in what was probably the most violent urban battlefield since World War II.

Now, as regular listeners will notice, there's something unique about this episode.

Most of the stories we feature represent a very direct experience of combat.

Stories from people who, at least in that moment, during that fight, are at the sharpest end of the spear.

But what about when we decide to fight a war differently?

To use the phrase the U.S. military has adopted by, with, and through a partner force.

What does combat look like from that perspective?

That's what you'll hear about in this episode.

Captain Zwergst us and Captain Reichert share a number of stories from their time working with Iraqi forces.

Together, they paint a very vivid

picture of things like the remarkable complexity of an urban battlefield, for example. They also

point to some elements of warfare that, frankly, we haven't experienced all that much over the past

...