In 2003, Maj. John Spencer was a platoon leader in the 173rd Airborne. In this episode, he talks about the very first mission after his unit jumped in northern Iraq. He also described a complex ambush in which enemy forces targeted his platoon. Listen as he reflects on the experiences and what lessons he took from these experiences about combat, training, and fear.

In 2014, Master Sgt. Raymond Collazo was a platoon sergeant deployed to eastern Afghanistan. Just weeks into his unit's deployment, the platoon was on a mission that took them to a police compound. Insider attacks had been on the rise in the country for several years, and that day, the platoon would experience what it's like to have a presumed ally open fire on them.

In 2008, Maj. Emily Spencer was an EOD platoon leader in Iraq. In April, she and one of her teams accompanied a route clearance patrol that was planned to approach Sadr City, a notorious safe haven for militants. As the reached the edge of the dangerous neighborhood, IEDs began detonating and they began taking fire. Listen to Maj. Spencer talk through the fight.

This is the first episode in MWI's new podcast, "The Spear," which is aimed at providing a window into the combat experience. In this episode, Capt. Jake Miraldi walks us through the 2009 Battle of Barg-e Matal in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, and his role in it as a platoon leader.