The End of the War

The Spear

John Amble

Government, News

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In July 2021, Colonel Matt Hardman deployed on short notice to support 10th Mountain Division operations in Afghanistan. As the country started to fall to Taliban forces, he served as chief of staff at United States Forces–Afghanistan while also commanding elements of his brigade. Having taken command during COVID-19 and shortly thereafter enduring two hurricanes, Hardman and his soldiers were no strangers to chaos and uncertainty. The rapid collapse of Afghanistan, however, was a challenge for them all. He shares the story in this second episode of a two-part series.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to The Spear, a podcast about the combat experience from the Modern War Institute at West Point.
0:09.8	More than 100 meters outside the village, you were definitely getting in a fire.
0:14.2	My first patrol I took, we had a fire ambush.
0:18.9	And then it was just a huge explosion.
0:23.0	The primary threat was RKG3 grenades,
0:25.9	like machine guns and AK-47s, that kind of thing.
0:28.4	Small arms, fire, RPG fire.
0:31.2	Explosively formed penetrators.
0:32.9	Suicide bombs.
0:35.5	And then that's about the time that the third IED went off.
0:37.8	And that's when another grenade comes spinning over the side of the wall.
0:41.8	And it's at that point the IED chain detonates.
0:46.8	There was enemy in the wire.
0:48.0	There was all these Humvees on fire.
0:50.0	It was truly bullets flying from every angle that you could see.
0:54.5	I opened the door and look outside and all I see is muzzle flashes.
0:59.0	There's a guy on top with a 240.
1:02.0	In the rounds passed right past his head.
1:03.5	At that point, our instincts kicked in.
1:05.0	One pilot on the controls, the other pilot was using his M4 to engage single-man targets on the ground.
1:10.5	You're shooting at everything.
1:16.7	It was a fight.
	...

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