CS #66: Bill Ostlund and The Burden of Commanding the Most Decorated Unit Post-9/11 | 3 x MOH Recipients

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2022

⏱️ 139 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we hear a special Combat Story of one of the military’s most revered leaders who many have never heard of (but should). This is the experience of retired Colonel Bill Ostlund, a beloved mentor and leader developer who served 35 years in the Army working his way up from a private and growing into combat command in some of the bloodiest fighting of any unit in the post-9/11 era.
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Bill’s command in Kunar Province, recounted countless times in dozens of books including Sebastian Junger’s War and the documentary Restrepo, resulted in over 400 awards for valor and three Medals of Honor (all living honorees).
This episode is an embarrassment of riches for those who want to know what real leadership looks like; what the Burden of Command actually means; how you show up after losing a soldier six hours into a 15 month deployment; or leading joint SpecOps task forces with Delta, DEVGRU, 160th, and other Tier 1 elements over thousands of operations.
Bill Ostlund will remind so many listeners of Todd Opalski in how he cared for and treated his soldiers and explains why, so many years later, his soldiers and officers still seek his advice as they step into greater roles of responsibility in the military and their personal lives.
I’m honored to have had a chance to spend this time with what so many think of as the pinnacle of battlefield leadership and hope you enjoy this Combat Story on leadership as much as I did.

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Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Show Notes:

0:00 - Intro
0:40 - Guest introduction (Bill Ostlund)
1:31 - Interview begins
3:44 - The jump into Iraq in March 2003 with almost 1000 paratroopers
12:09 - Bill’s perspective on the current conflict in Ukraine
17:32 - Childhood and getting into the military
42:19 - Combat Story #1 - Lightning in the Storm Air Assault and leadership lessons learned
1:06:49 - Instilling expectation in his soldiers and his love of soldiers
1:26:57 - Combat Story #2 – Troops in Contact 6 hours into 15 month mission after just taking command
1:37:08 - Awards process and how combat provides a unique opportunity for leaning and growth
1:49:30 Combat Story #3 - Battle of Wanat
2:08:48 – Feeling about now having a son in the military
2:10:09 - What did you carry into combat/interrogations?
2:11:41 - Would you do it all again?
2:15:23 - Listener comments and shout outs

Transcript

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0:00.0	We killed a lot of enemy people, we killed some innocent people, some civilians that happened to be around the bad guys.
0:09.0	You can see the emotion of American soldiers when that happens.
0:12.0	You're just kind of focused on living and being the best version of yourself that you can be.
0:18.0	I think you learned a lot from combat.
0:21.0	Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fugid, and I serve WarZone Tourers as an Army attack helicopter pilot and CIA officer over a 15-year career.
0:29.0	I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite in combat.
0:32.0	On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines.
0:38.0	This is Combat Story.
0:40.0	Today we hear a special combat story of one of the military's most revered leaders who many have never heard of, but should.
0:46.0	This is the experience of retired Colonel Bill Oslin, a beloved mentor and leader developer who served 35 years in the Army,
0:54.0	working his way up from the private and growing into combat command in some of the bloodiest fighting of any unit in the post-911 era.
1:01.0	Bill's command in Kunar Province recounted countless times in dozens of books, including Sebastian Younger's War,
1:08.0	and the documentary Restrepo resulted in over 400 awards for Baller and three medals of honor, all living honorees.
1:17.0	This episode is an embarrassment of riches for those who want to know what real leadership looks like,
1:22.0	what the burden of command actually means, how you show up after losing a soldier six hours into a 15-month deployment,
1:29.0	or leading joint special ops task forces with Delta, DevGrew, 160-IT, and other Tier 1 elements over thousands of operations.
1:38.0	Bill Oslin will remind many listeners of Tato Palsky, and how he cared for and treated his soldiers,
1:44.0	and explains why so many years later, his soldiers and officers still seek his advice as they step into greater roles of responsibility in the military and their personal lives.
1:54.0	I'm honored to have had a chance to spend this time with what so many think of as the pinnacle of battlefield leadership,
2:01.0	and hope you enjoy this combat story as much as I did.
2:06.0	Bill, thanks for taking the time to share your story with us today.
2:10.0	Yeah, Ryan, this is a great opportunity.
	...

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