And at that time I turned around, I was like right against my, we had max pros.

I was leading right against the max pro.

I turned around and the A&A soldier that passed earlier on the way points his weapon at the three

of us and it jams.

He looks at me again and he starts firing. He's probably standing maybe 10 feet away from the three of us. Hi and welcome 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.

Each episode includes a single one-on-one interview with a guest who walks us through a particular event and their role in it. A battle, a firefight, a mission. It's a first-person account of combat.

We chose the Spear as the name of the podcast to capture two ideas.

First, that combat is that unique experience that takes place at the tip of the spear.

And second, that in our modern wars, it isn't just combat forces that can find themselves

fighting.

Any part of the military, any part of the spear, combat or support can be forced by circumstances

to become that sharp fighting end.

For this episode, I sat down to talk to Captain Janelle along Diacabana.

On February 23rd, 2012, she was a military police platoon leader deployed to Nongahar province, Afghanistan.

That month, stories of U.S. service members burning copies of the Quran had spread,

fueling demonstrations, sometimes violent, all around the country.

As several hundred increasingly agitated Afghan civilians gathered outside their small base,

and as she and her soldiers prepared to respond as part of the designated quick reaction force,

an Afghan soldier appeared, took aim,

and fired on Captain Alang Diacabana and several of her soldiers. Before we hear her talk through

that difficult day, a couple quick notes. First, if you're listening to the Spear and have enjoyed

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