Controversy & Clarity

*The challenges of getting Weapons Co, 1/8, to HKIA *Weapons’ initial taskings and missions *The challenges of operating North and East Gates *Operating in support of the LAR company at East Gate *Frustrations working with allied and partner forces *Gunnery Sergeant Zachary Kapinus interacting with the Taliban at East Gate *The famous picture of Gunny Kapinus lifting a baby over a barbed-wire wall *The ethical and moral challenges of extricating people from the crowd without creating more chaos *Creative ways to extricate American citizens from the crowd *The desperation of Afghan civilians *Watching Marines kick out civilians who did not have the proper paperwork *The frustration of many Marines toward Afghan men who chose to escape instead of fight *How Jon supported Weapons Company with his presence and by inserting himself wherever he could help *An example of commander’s intent at East Gate *How Jon and his key leaders created an atmosphere of expected behaviors, professionalism, and toughness during pre-deployment training *Command and control at HKIA, including personal cells as the primary way to communicate *Jon’s experiences on the night of 27 August *The ramp ceremony of the 13 KIA servicemembers *The benefit of allowing Marines to use their cell phones *1/8 in Kuwait at HKIA *Coming home to Camp Lejeune *Working with other units and nations’ forces  The most frustrating and rewarding aspects of the HKIA experience *Where Jon excelled as a commander and where he could have done better *Lessons learned from HKIA *The one thing Jon wants other servicemembers to know about Weapons Company'S actions at HKIA

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Jon’s experiences as a weapons platoon commander with 3/7 in Afghanistan.   *His mindset and training approach for Weapons Company for the 24th MEU workup   *Building trust as a weapons company commander with the battalion commander and operations officer *Building trust within his company   *The company’s operations and training before HKIA   *Indications and warnings that Weapons Company would deploy to HKIA   *Getting the news that the company would go to HKIA   *Jon’s fire support planning for HKIA   *His understanding of the situation at HKIA before arriving   *His first two days on the ground   *Tactical foraging and requisitioning   *The fall of Kabul   *The breaching of the airport and the clearing of the runway   *Being a commander without troops during the clearing   *Jon’s reaction to the news that Coalition forces would work with the Taliban

In this episode, we discuss: *The timeline of major events of the Battle for the Irpin *Three occasions where the Russians nearly won the battle   *The role of Ukrainian volunteers and civilians   *The role of small unit leaders   *The artillery fight    *The challenges of researching and writing operational military history   *James and Ben’s research approach  *The lack of government support in the US and UK for on-the-ground conflict research   *The value of stories to the military profession   *How the battle study can be used for training and educational Links "The Battle of Irpin River" by James Sladden, Liam Collins, and Ben Connable https://chacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/BAR-187-compressed.pdf "Battle Studies: The Need for Primary Source Research" by Ben Connable and James Sladden https://chacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CHACR-Briefing-Ukraine.pdf "On the Ground: Field Research in Ukraine" by James Sladden https://issuu.com/chacr_camberley/docs/idb-ukraine

In this episode, we discuss the following topics.   *What a combat engineer platoon does as part of a battalion landing team   *What it was like joining BLT 1/8   *Building trust between Everett’s platoon and BLT 1/8   *Everett’s advice to platoon commanders looking to build trust between units   *His platoon’s training plan for the 24th MEU workup   *Responding to complaints from Marines about a high-tempo schedule   *The platoon’s experiences on the 24th MEU prior to heading to HKIA   *When the possibility of deploying to HKIA first came on Everett’s radar   *His reaction and his Marines’ reactions to learning they would go to HKIA    *Being labeled “the lead combat engineer for HKIA”   *The tough decision to leave Marines behind on ship   *The value of crossing training   *The first few days on the ground at HKIA   *Reactions to the news that the Taliban would cooperate with the Coalition   *Working at Abbey, East, and North Gates   *The last phase of the withdrawal   *Creativity and problem-solving at HKIA   *Radio communications during the NEO   *Everett’s advice for lieutenants who may find themselves in situations like at HKIA   *The training he received at Marine Corps Engineer School   *Enemy contact at HKIA   *Dismantling several of HKIA’s guard towers   *Command and control at HKIA   *Maneuver warfare concepts applied at HKIA   *What Everett was doing the day of the Abbey Gate Bombing   *Talking to his platoon about the Marine losses at HKIA   *What Everett observed in his Marines after the NEO   *Returning to Camp Lejeune   *Everett’s advice on talking to people who have experienced a mission as harrowing as HKIA   *The value of professional reading   *The role and value of mental health checks and mental health services   *The role of cell phones at HKIA   *Cleaning up various parts of HKIA   *The role of discipline    *The most frustrating and rewarding aspects of the HKIA mission   *Everett’s pride in the performance of his Marines *The most challenging decision he made at HKIA   *Where Everett excelled as a commander and decision-maker and where he could have done better   *The lessons he took away from HKIA, particularly as they apply to FD 2030 and the future Marine Corps   *The role and value of decision games to train and educate Marines for missions like HKIA

In this episode, we discuss the following topics. *Josh’s joining 1/8   *Differences in morale and culture between units in the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions   *The current culture and unit pride in 1/8   *Recent controversies involving Third Battalion, Sixth Marines   *The challenges and benefits of leading HKIA vets in his squad   *Winning the 2nd Marine Division Annual Rifle Squad Competition and Marine Corps-Wide Rifle Squad Competition   *How winning the competition affirmed Josh’s identity as an infantryman   *Struggling with imposter syndrome   *Josh’s experiences during his deployment to Haiti in support of Continuing Promise 2022   *What makes an ideal squad leader   *Josh’s use of military simulators like Squad and Arma 3 for training purposes   *Josh’s expectations for his: Junior Marines Fire team leaders Fellow squad leaders Platoon commander Company commander   *The one thing he’d like current and future squad leaders to take away from this podcast