I'm Ken Harbaugh, host of Warriors in Their Own Words. In partnership with the

Honor Project, we've brought this podcast back at a time when our nation needs

these stories more than ever. Warriors, in their own words, is our attempt to present an

unvarnished, unsanitized truth of what we have asked of those who defend this nation.

Thank you for listening, and by doing so honoring those who have served.

Today, we'll hear from Lieutenant Colonel Neil Rickner.

Rickner served in the U.S. Marine Corps, completing a total of three tours in Iraq between 2003 and

2007. He first deployed as an FAA-18 pilot and later became a forward air controller.

As a forward air controller, he toured with an infantry battalion

tasked with coordinating air support based on the needs of the battalion.

My name is Neil Rickner.

I was an F-18 pilot in the Marine Corps,

and I got out as a lieutenant colonel.

I was put on a plane when I was five years old to fly to St. Louis.

I don't want to date myself, but it was TWA and was picked up on the other side by friends to spend a week in St. Louis and just fell in love

of airplanes. So from five to about, say, 12, I was just an airplane geek. I collected toys

and played with airplanes of various sizes, just model airplanes and stuff. And then at 12, I might have been 13.

I did one of those sort of junior high school trips to Washington, D.C.

And it was on that trip where I found myself in a museum.

And I always get this quote wrong, but the quote is something to the effect of the only thing needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.

And it was just like, I don't know, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I just, I had to be part of the national defense.

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