The Special Operator

Rye Barcott enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2000 while attending the University of North Carolina. He was commissioned as a Marine officer upon his graduation in 2001. While enrolled at UNC, Barcott co-founded CFK Africa with Salim Mohamed and the late Tabitha Atieno Festo, an international nonprofit that empowers youth in Kenya’s informal settlements through community-based health services, education, and leadership development. Barcott served five years in the Marine Corps, where he was deployed to Bosnia, the Horn of Africa, and Iraq. In 2017, Barcott co-founded With Honor with David Gergen and Peter Dixon, a cross-partisan organization supporting veterans in public service. Barcott is the author of the recent book Courage Can Save Us, profiling leaders who serve in elected office on both sides of the aisle.  I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Dan Ephron produced this episode. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

Alistair Carns enlisted in the U.K. Royal Marines in 1999 at the age of 19. He worked his way up to the rank of colonel and did four tours in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Military Cross in 2011. In 2024, Carns was elected as the Labour member of Parliament for Birmingham Selly Oak. He served as the minister for veterans and people at the Defence Ministry from 2024 to 2025 and minister for the armed forces from 2025 to June 2026. In 2025, Carns and a team of three other former British special forces soldiers summited Mount Everest in just seven days.  Carns is one of the most decorated veterans to serve as a member of the U.K. Parliament since World War II.  I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Laura Rosbrow-Telem produced this episode. For more stories of heroism, check out Courage Can Save Us, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

Charles Bolden graduated from the Naval Academy in 1968 and went on to fly more than 100 combat missions during the Vietnam War as a member of the Marine Corps. Selected as a space shuttle astronaut in 1980, Bolden traveled to orbit four times between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions and piloting two others. In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Bolden as the 12th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He served in this role until retiring from NASA in 2017. I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Dan Ephron produced this episode. For more stories of heroism, check out Courage Can Save Us, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

​​Nadja West spent more than 40 years in the U.S. Army, rising to become the Army's first Black surgeon general and the highest-ranking woman ever to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She retired in 2019 with the rank of lieutenant general. In 1990, West was deployed to Operation Desert Shield with the 197th Infantry Brigade, providing care for troops at a time when women were still barred from serving in direct ground combat roles. I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Rob Sachs produced this episode. For more stories of heroism, check out Courage Can Save Us, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

Maj. James Capers Jr. served as a U.S. Marine Corps reconnaissance officer during the Vietnam War. He led Team Broadminded, a specialized group of Force Recon Marines that conducted some of the most dangerous and clandestine missions in Vietnam.   Capers received multiple decorations related to his Vietnam service, including three Purple Hearts. This June, U.S. President Donald Trump awarded Capers with the Medal of Honor.  More from Capers:  Faith Through the Storm: Memoirs of Major James Capers, Jr. Major Capers: The Legend of Team Broadminded I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Rob Sachs produced this episode. For more stories of heroism, check out Courage Can Save Us, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

Kayla Williams served in the U.S. Army as an Arabic linguist for five years. She was deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2004.  Officially, women at the time were barred from direct ground combat, based on a 1994 Defense Department ruling. But because there were so few Arabic speakers in the military, Williams ended up joining her male colleagues on patrol in Baghdad. More from Williams: Love My Rifle More Than You Plenty of Time When We Get Home I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Rosie Julin produced this episode. For more stories of heroism, check out Courage Can Save Us, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

H.R. McMaster spent 34 years as a U.S. Army officer, with tours of duty in the first Gulf War, Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq.  In 1991, his cavalry troop destroyed an Iraqi Republican Guard armored brigade in 23 minutes at the Battle of 73 Easting—one of the most decisive engagements in modern U.S. military history. He came home with a Silver Star.  And in 2017, McMaster was appointed national security advisor by U.S. President Donald Trump. More from McMaster: At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Dan Ephron produced this episode. For more stories of heroism, check out Courage Can Save Us, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, click here.

Elliot Ackerman spent eight years as a U.S. Marine and CIA paramilitary officer, serving five tours of duty across Iraq and Afghanistan, including some of the heaviest urban combat of the post-9/11 wars. In 2004, he fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah and came home with a Silver Star.  More from Ackerman: 2034 Red Dress in Black and White Waiting for Eden I Serve is a production from Foreign Policy and With Honor. Rob Sachs produced this episode. For more great stories of heroism, ⁠check out Courage Can Save Us⁠, a new book from With Honor CEO and co-founder Rye Barcott, available now. And for more information on the Robert Irvine Foundation, ⁠click here⁠.

Every service member has a story worth telling. On I Serve, a new eight-episode podcast from Foreign Policy and With Honor, men and women from the U.S. and allied armed forces tell those stories in their own words. From tank battles in the Persian Gulf to helicopter extractions under fire in Vietnam, I Serve goes deep into the defining moments and enduring values of the people who wore the uniform. Hosted by U.K. Royal Navy veteran Robert Irvine, each episode follows one service member through a mission that tested their limits—and through the standards that they carried long after leaving the field. I Serve is produced by Foreign Policy and With Honor and brought to you by the same team behind the hit show I Spy. The first episode premieres June 9. Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts.