GRP 24- The U.S. service member killed near Irbil, Iraq, by ISIS gunfire was a Navy SEAL. The Associated Press later identified the casualty as Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) 1st Class Charlie Keating IV. From all of us at Global Recon, and Field Craft we want to extend our condolences to the Keating family during this difficult time. Fair winds, and Following Sea’s

Below is an excerpt from the episode from Special Forces operator Chuck Ritter:

“In the video you see me coming around the corner shot. So basically we under estimated the enemy force present in the area. Our partners were the Afghan Commando’s, and we had very few Americans on the ground. We came in at night, and it was clear all night. Then in the morning right when the sun came up the enemy actually closed to within 5 to 10 meters of our battle positions, and started throwing hand grenade’s over the wall, and were really lighting us up.

So we were going out trying to push these guys back off our perimeter. The fact that the terrain was very maze like allowed them the freedom of maneuverability to move on us. Aerial imagery, and everything else didn’t paint the right picture on the ground. An overhead drone spotted an ambush, and the operator was telling us that there was an enemy ambush set up a couple hundred meters away. We were trying to flank that ambush, but in reality the ambush was right there. We turned the corner, an Afghan Commando got shot took a round to the leg, and it blew off some fingers. A good majority of the rest of the Afghan Commando’s ran away.

It was me, my medic, and EOD guy. All of the fast movers moved off station, so the only thing I had overhead was Apache’s. So I started working fire to provide cover for this casualty.” If you have any questions about anything you heard on the podcast send an email to [email protected]