Holding the Line in Mosul: A 10-Hour Urban Battle with Blackhawk Co.
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 129 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Combat Story, Joe Troutman takes us inside one of the most intense and least-documented firefights of the Iraq War — a 10-hour urban fight in Mosul where Blackhawk Company, 1-23 Infantry, held ground without air support, under sustained RPG, machine-gun, and IED attacks.
Joe served 18 years on active duty in the U.S. Army as a 13F Fire Support Specialist and Forward Observer, deploying multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan. From the early days after 9/11, through the birth of the Stryker Brigade, to the brutal street fighting that followed, Joe's story captures what combat actually looks like at ground level — confusion, exhaustion, courage, and decisions made under fire.
Much of this conversation centers on the events chronicled in Joe's book, Gods of War: The Legend of Blackhawk Company 1-23 Infantry, including:
- The first combat casualties in Stryker Brigade history
- A catastrophic vehicle rollover on Blackhawk Company's first patrol
- The August 4, 2004 Battle of Mosul, where insurgents launched a coordinated, city-wide ambush designed specifically to destroy Stryker forces
- Holding key terrain "at all costs" while outnumbered, undersupplied, and cut off
- Leadership, brotherhood, and survival when everything goes sideways
This episode isn't about politics or strategy on paper — it's about what it feels like to fight in an urban environment, to lose teammates before your first firefight, and to keep moving when fear, chaos, and responsibility collide. If you're interested in modern warfare, infantry leadership, combat decision-making, or true war stories told by the people who lived them, this is an episode you won't want to miss.
🎙️ Guest Information — Joe Troutman | Gods of War: The Legend of Blackhawk Company 1-23 Infantry Joe Troutman, a U.S. Army combat veteran with 18 years of service and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He's the author of Gods of War: The Legend of Blackhawk Company 1-23 Infantry, a firsthand account of combat and brotherhood from the streets of Mosul.
📘 Facebook (Personal): @joetroutmanauthor
📖 Facebook (Book): @Godsofwarbco123
📸 Instagram: @joetroutman_author
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joetroutmanauthor
🐦 X (Twitter): @JoeTroutman2
🎙️ Host Information — AJ Pasciuti | Combat Story AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans share honest, unfiltered stories of service, leadership, and life after combat.
🔗 Find AJ Online:
📕 Book (Darkhorse): https://www.amazon.com/Darkhorse-Harnessing-Hidden-Potential-Life/dp/1400254973
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/
📘 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/
🔗 Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/
🎧 Featured Combat Story Episodes with AJ
👉 Combat Story Podcast – Part 1 (USMC Sniper & Force Recon) - Battle of Fallujah | Shooting w/ Chris Kyle | American Sniper | AJ Pasciuti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4QI-5sNeCs
👉 Combat Story Podcast – Part 2 (Sniper vs Sniper Battle) - Killing the Enemy's Most Lethal Sniper | Force Recon | AJ Pasciuti https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Ggly1TGAU
📺 Additional Features & Media 👉 Urban Valor Podcast Feature: https://urbanvalor.com/episode/marine-snipers-eliminate-enemy-sniper-reclaim-stolen-us-sniper-rifle/
👉 DVIDS – Infantry Marine Course Feature: https://www.nationalguard.mil/Leadership/Joint-Staff/Comptroller/Innovation/?dvpTag=imc&videoid=790758
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | We were told by battalion to secure these hat sites at all costs. This is our mission. We're going to stay out here. But they didn't send anybody. Nobody else came out to help. We didn't have any air support that day. Me, Armistead Hussein, make this mad dash to the bank. Now, I didn't even know where the bank was exactly. I just was like, I heard Thorpeatoon getting into contact. So I was like, it's probably up there somewhere. Armistead's in the corner like saving private Ryan like can't believe we just survived. Because when we dropped down, bullets and RPGs were flying all over. I don't know how anything didn't hit us. It was nuts, dude. He looks at me and he's like, I can't believe we did that. And I looked at him and I was like, do you know what the fucked up part is? |
| 0:38.7 | I was like, we got to go back. |
| 0:43.1 | Welcome to combat story. |
| 0:44.9 | I'm AJ Peschuti, a retired Marine, force recon, scout sniper, and Marine gunner with 21 years of service, |
| 0:51.1 | multiple combat tours, and a lifetime of lessons learned in the arena itself. |
| 0:55.3 | On this show, I sit down with warriors from every front line to uncover what combat truly |
| 1:00.0 | feels like and how it shapes the way we see life, each other, and ourselves. |
| 1:04.9 | This is combat story. |
| 1:07.8 | Today on Combat Story, we're joined by Joe Troutman. |
| 1:11.5 | Joe served 18 years on active duty in the United States Army as a 13 Fox fire support |
| 1:16.4 | specialist and forward observer, with multiple combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| 1:21.9 | He's also the author of Gods of War, the Legend of Black Hawk Company 123 Infantry, a memoir drawn from his time in Blackcock Company |
| 1:29.4 | where he served at the unit's fire support NCO from 2001 to 2005. |
| 1:35.0 | A big part of what Joe covers is the early Iraq fight with 123 infantry, including a grueling |
| 1:40.7 | 10-hour battle in the city of Mosul that turned into a grinding close quarters day |
| 1:45.1 | of problem-solving under fire, holding positions, working comms, calling for and adjusting support, |
| 1:51.2 | and keeping people moving when everything was going sideways. And how infantry grit and |
| 1:56.0 | calm under pressure could be the difference between making it out or not. This is combat story. Welcome back to the show, |
| 2:03.5 | everyone. My name is AJ Peschutie, and I have the distinct pleasure of sitting today with a retired |
| 2:08.0 | army staff sergeant author Joe Troutman, who's author of the book Gods of War, the legend of Black Hawk |
| 2:14.7 | Company, 123 Infantry. And so with that, I'd love to welcome you to the show, Joe. |
| 2:20.7 | Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me on, AJ. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ryan Fugit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ryan Fugit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.