Surviving Katyusha Rockets and ISIS Firefights: Joe Malone’s Deployment in Iraq | Ep. 250 | Pt. 2

Mike Drop

Mike Ritland

Society & Culture, Documentary, Politics, News

4.9 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 250, Part 2 of the Mike Drop Podcast, Joe Malone dives into gripping accounts from his 2016 deployment in Iraq, where he faced intense combat situations against ISIS. From witnessing Katyusha rocket attacks and mustard gas threats to observing a fierce gunfight near Mosul Dam, Joe shares the chaos and adrenaline of the battlefield. He recounts a particularly harrowing day involving heavy firefights, an ISIS armored vehicle breakthrough, and the tragic loss of SEAL Chuck Heaton. The episode also covers a daring amphibious assault across the Euphrates River in Syria, highlighting the strategic complexity and raw intensity of operations alongside Tier 1 units and the Syrian Defense Force. Tune in for a raw, unfiltered look at the challenges, sacrifices, and surreal moments of modern warfare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	How long were you in that area for?
0:02.0	Six months.
0:03.0	Six months?
0:04.0	Yeah.
0:05.0	Were there any significant operations or things that took place that you can share from that
0:11.0	that deployment?
0:12.0	Oh man, that was, there was a couple.
0:16.0	The first one I would say, I think it was March 3rd of 2016, something like that.
0:23.6	So I'm on watch all night long, that's fine.
0:26.6	We're doing a lot of handheld drone stuff.
0:28.6	Like that's what we're just starting to crack into is that whole realm of things.
0:32.6	And I'm on the post, front line, looking at Isis Town, making sure nobody's in the white space,
0:38.3	of course, like real fire watch, not no one's going to come and attack us, like legit.
0:44.3	You know, these guys were sneaking up in like trash bag gilly suits where they had like thermal
0:49.3	lining, so you couldn't even see them on the thermals.
0:52.3	It was pretty, pretty smart.
0:57.0	But all of a sudden, the morning time's coming, and there's the village, and there's this mountain behind the village,
1:00.0	and there's this just massive, thick fog.
1:05.0	It looks like a black smoke, just slowly engulfing the entire mountainside. And it's working its way down, and then it starts engulfing the entire mountainside.
1:14.5	And it's working its way down and then it starts engulfing the village.
1:17.1	And I'm kind of getting on high alert.
1:22.3	And it's not moving fast, but it's like, man, if this works its way over to us before the sun breaks it up,
	...

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