War on the Home Front

The Spear

John Amble

Government, News

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2002, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division deployed to Kuwait from its home at Fort Stewart, Georgia ahead of the invasion of Iraq. When that invasion began, the unit would gain honors and fame for its rapid thrust toward Baghdad—what became known as the Thunder Run. The brigade's accomplishments were reported on widely, with observers around the world able to follow the unit's progress nearly in real time. But when a missile strike hit its tactical operations center and two soldiers were killed, that news spread rapidly, as well, all the way back to Fort Stewart—quicker than the formal casualty notification process. Ginger Perkins and Cindy Wesley were both leaders of the brigade's family readiness group. They join this episode to share the challenges they faced during that deployment, describing the invasion from a unique and often forgotten vantage point on the home front.

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. 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.
1:03.0	At that point, our instincts kicked in.
1:05.0	One pilot on the controls, the other pilot was using his M4
1:08.0	to engage single-man targets on the ground. You're shooting at everything.
1:16.7	It was a fight.
1:18.8	Welcome to the Spear, the podcast about the combat experience, brought to you by the Modern
	...

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