Welcome back to the Spear, a production of the Modern War Institute at West Point.

I'm Dr. Charlie Feint, your host, and I'm thrilled to bring you two important updates about this podcast.

First, it's my pleasure to announce that the West Point class of 1984 is now sponsoring the Spear.

We greatly appreciate their generous support, as well as the support of the West Point Association of Graduates.

Second, we're adjusting the podcast format. For almost a decade, the Spear has always been about the live reality of war, the story of the combat experience, told by those who experienced it.

But over time, we've come to realize that the lessons that help us learn to win tomorrow's wars today are not confined to the battlefield.

Across the globe, military leaders are learning important lessons in situations that may never become wars, but will shape the ones that do.

These new and expanded experiences, shaped by things like forward presence, advisory missions, and strategic signaling,

are redefining how wars are prevented, prepared for, and, if necessary, fought.

And as the character of war evolves, so too must the stories we tell.

The Spear is therefore evolving to capture this new operational reality, moving from the story of the

combat experience to the story of the profession of arms.

While lessons learned and the crucible of combat will continue to be an important part

of this podcast series, the Speer's new focus allows us to capture the full spectrum of military

operations from the battlefield to the spaces short of

combat where many of today's most consequential lessons occur. That is

because understanding war means more than just understanding combat. It means

understanding how militaries compete, adapt, and operate in the shadow of

conflict where strategic competition unfolds every day.

This is the Spear, the story of the profession of arms, a production of the Modern War Institute at West Point, brought to you by the West Point class of 1984.

Welcome back to the Spear. I'm Dr. Charlie Feint, your host, and today's guest is Lieutenant Colonel Ben Blaine. Ben, welcome to the show.

Thanks for the invite. It's great to be back here. In this episode, we're discussing the way indirect fires are evolving on the modern battlefield, with greater ranges, increased precision, and more possibilities for cross-domain effects than at any time in the history of artillery. I invited Ben to the show because of his deep experience of these areas, which includes being the first commander of the Army's first ever Long Range Fire's Battalion. But before we go into all that, Ben, can you please give our audience a little bit about your background, such as why you decided to join the Army and what your career has consisted of so far yeah so i grew up

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