Combat from Echo in Ramadi | Marine Commander Takes Us Inside the Deadliest City in Iraq Scott Huesing

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2025

⏱️ 94 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we have a great interview with 24 year retired Marine and best selling author of Echo in Ramadi, Scott Huesing. Scott led the “magnificent bastards” of 2/4 Marines during one of the most brutal periods of the post-9/11 war from 2006 into 2007 during the Surge.

Scott went from self-described terrible high school student to enlisted Marine to Mustang (a Marine Officer who was formerly Enlisted), serving on 10 deployments in multiple countries.

In this episode, Scott takes into an intense fight to extract several pinned down Marines that included bringing M1A1s along to losing his first casualty just weeks into the deployment.

Since leaving the service, Scott wrote the best selling book Echo in Ramadi, has helped others write their own books, run non-profits, and more. With that, please enjoy this wide ranging conversation with someone who made it through some of the hardest fighting in the war.

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🎵 Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

00:33 Introduction to Combat Story

00:52 Interview with Scott Houston

01:08 Scott's Early Life and Military Career

03:17 Bob Hamer's Undercover Work

07:36 Scott's High School Days and Joining the Marines

12:57 Marine Corps Brotherhood and Relationships

15:17 James Livingston and the Magnificent Bastards

21:30 Desert Shield and Desert Storm

26:37 9/11 and Its Impact

33:50 Preparing for Ramadi

42:12 The Surge Strategy and Urban Combat

43:48 Daily Firefights and Enemy Encounters

44:13 Super Bowl of Combat: Metrics of Success

44:57 Army vs. Marines: Different Approaches

46:08 Commanders and Combat Strategies

48:43 Living and Fighting in Ramadi

54:29 First Casualty: Corporal Dustin Libby

59:36 Compartmentalizing and Continuing the Fight

01:04:42 Challenges of Urban Warfare

01:08:18 The Bond Among Marines

01:15:31 Writing and Reliving the Stories

01:20:54 Celebrity Softball Classic and Philanthropy

01:26:34 Final Reflections and Encouragement to Serve

Transcript

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0:54.8	Just go to Indeed.com slash show right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
1:02.4	Indeed.com slash show. Terms and conditions apply.
1:07.9	This was the beginning of one of the most complex coordinated attacks ever to happen in the city of Vermont.
1:16.6	As we run out of the CP, there is tracer fire in the sky, like a Fourth of July firework show.
1:25.6	There are rounds impacting the camp,
1:28.3	snapping off the walls as I'm leaving the door of the command center.
1:32.3	I mean, you're just walking through random bullets,
1:35.3	smacking walls as you're coming out of the front door of your house.
1:39.3	Welcome to Combat Story.
1:41.3	I'm Ryan Fuget and I serve Warzone Tours as an as an army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer over a 15-year career.
1:48.0	I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.
1:51.0	On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines.
1:57.0	This is Combat Story.
1:59.0	Today we have a great interview with 24-year retired Marine and best-selling author of Echo and Ramadi, Scott Houston.
	...

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