I went into Hill 1696, so 1,6 meters elevation, so close to 6,000 feet.

It was a point of high ground that I could dominate, make communications as you said, really call for fire

in the proximate location of Sergeant Fritchie, what his last known location was.

We'll risk an awful lot to recover an American.

We did risk him.

We recovered him.

So, you know, over three decades of service, I believe this was the most honorable mission that I've been on.

Hey, welcome back to The Spear, a podcast by the Modern War Institute at West Point.

I'm John Amble, editorial director at MWI, and in this episode, MWI's Major Jake Moraldi talks to Colonel Bill Osland.

Recording this podcast was actually one of the last things Colonel Osland did before retiring from the Army recently,

and bringing to a close a career that spanned more than 35 years. That career earned him a wealth of experience

and as such regular listeners to the Spear will remember him from two previous episodes.

But in this episode, he talks through what he describes as the most honorable mission he ever took part in.

In 2007, Colonel Austin was deployed in Afghanistan and in command of 2nd Battalion 503rd Infantry Regiment in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

In late July of that year, he got word that a soldier in an adjacent unit was reported missing after a firefight with enemy

forces. He volunteered to put together a force from his unit to recover the missing soldier.

Knowing that if you're killed on the battlefield, your fellow soldiers will stop at nothing

to get to you and bring you home is, as Colonel Austin describes, an incredibly vital part of the army's ethos.

The story you're about to hear is an example of that ethos in action.

Before we get to it, though, just a couple notes.

First, if you're not yet subscribed to the spear, you can do so on iTunes, Stitcher,

or wherever you get your podcast.

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