Combat Story

"I joined the Marine Corps because all my friends joined. I had zero clue what I was doing." Rob Blanton enlisted in 1993 on an open contract, missed his first Force Recon indoc, went back, passed, and spent nearly ten years at 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. He retired a master sergeant and a Silver Star recipient, and he tells the whole path here in order. Rob grew up in Santa Rosa, California, and joined as an infantryman. Over 21 years he deployed to Somalia and to Iraq three times: in 2003 with Fifth Platoon, 1st Force Reconnaissance Company; in 2005 with the Maritime Special Purpose Force; and in 2008 as a platoon sergeant with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. On August 10, 2008, in Iraq's Al Jazeera Desert, he directed a vehicle through the wall of a house where insurgents were fighting, then led a team inside to reach a wounded Marine. Today he runs Warfighter Made, a nonprofit that gives wounded and struggling veterans a team and something to build together. In this conversation, Rob starts at the beginning: a Santa Rosa childhood that taught him to look after himself, the friends and recruiter behind his open contract, a Corporals Course that introduced him to the Marine he would marry, and the Force Recon indoc he passed on the second try. Then First Force: the team leaders who taught him tact and the one who taught him to say it plainly, a scout sniper school stalk he nearly lost, September 11th in Hawaii, and Iraq in 2003, from Safwan Hill as the ground war began to hunter-killer patrols for General Mattis and the lessons of Baghdad. He also looks hard at the team leader he was, a mirror moment in Okinawa, and the platoon he built at 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion before the 2008 deployment. Rob also covers what came after: Recon Training Company, the moment he recognized he needed help with post-traumatic stress and TBI, the treatments that did not work for him, the one that did, and the year his wife, a Marine herself, deployed to Afghanistan while he ran the house. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 03:07 Growing Up in Santa Rosa 21:26 Joining the Marine Corps Because His Friends Did 38:29 Boot Camp, Drill Instructors, and an Open Contract 55:02 First Unit: 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines 1:07:07 Wanting Recon, and Somalia in 1995 1:17:25 Corporals Course and Meeting His Wife 1:34:31 The Force Recon Indoc: Fail, Return, Pass 1:57:29 Checking In to First Force and BRC 2:04:43 The Mail Room, the Pool, and a Jump School Mix-Up 2:18:02 Fourth Platoon: Tact and Accountability 2:30:15 Speaking Up, Snipers, and Scout Sniper School 2:51:29 September 11th in Hawaii 3:03:31 Joining Fifth Platoon for the Iraq Invasion 3:09:14 Safwan Hill as the Ground War Begins 3:28:57 Hunter-Killer Missions for General Mattis 3:36:48 Into Baghdad and Single-Source Reporting 3:50:16 Babylon, General Conway, and the Trip Home 4:02:46 Team Leader at First Force, and What He Got Wrong 4:12:46 Iraq 2005: FOB Falcon and the Mission He Argued For 4:35:02 Orders to Okinawa and Third SOTG 4:43:41 Building a Platoon at 3rd Recon 5:06:44 Deploying to Fallujah, 2008 5:17:10 Contact Near Lake Tharthar 5:41:03 After the Fight: What He Told His Platoon 5:57:09 Recon Training Company 6:08:19 The Breaking Point and Asking for Help 6:15:44 What Treatment Got Wrong, and What Worked 6:22:37 The Hardest Mission Was at Home 6:28:48 Closing Thoughts GUEST INFORMATION Rob Blanton is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Sergeant who served 21 years, from open-contract infantryman to Force Reconnaissance Marine, with four combat deployments from Somalia to Iraq. As a platoon sergeant with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, he earned the Silver Star in 2008. After retiring in 2014, he co-founded and now runs Warfighter Made, a veteran-led nonprofit in Temecula, California. Find Rob Online:  Warfighter Made: https://www.warfightermade.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warfighter_actual/  HOST INFORMATION AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, survival, leadership, and life after adversity. Find AJ online: Darkhorse: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/ SPONSORS IN THIS EPISODE Amazon: Visit amazon.com/movember. For every eligible product sold in November, up to $2 is donated to the Movember Foundation to support men's health. https://www.amazon.com/b?node=223476965011&ref_=MOV26_pod Incogni: Go to incogni.com/combatstory and use code combatstory at checkout for 60% off annual plans. https://incogni.com/combatstory BUBS Naturals: Live Better Longer with BUBS Naturals. For a limited time, get 20% off your entire order with code COMBAT at bubsnaturals.com

"Afghanistan is like the puzzle of puzzles." Army intelligence officer John Garvin spent a deployment in Kandahar unable to explain why the fighting was so bad. Years later, he started solving it on Google Earth, and he brought that map to Combat Story. John served as an Army intelligence officer with the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, out of Fort Lewis. His brigade trained for Baghdad, sent soldiers to Arabic school, then learned at the National Training Center that the mission had changed to southern Afghanistan. John deployed to Kandahar in 2009, returned to Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014, and left the Army in 2015. By 2017 he was rebuilding the war on a map, layering terrain, ethnic lines, and a timestamped record of roughly 90,000 combat events. In a new format for the show, John briefs AJ the way he once briefed senior leaders, walking through his maps as he talks. He moves from his Stryker brigade's first weeks in the Arghandab to Alexander the Great, the Soviet invasion, the warlords of the 1990s, and the tribal politics that rebuilt the Taliban. He also lays AJ's own Fallujah and Now Zad missions onto the map. Along the way, AJ and John compare Iraq with Afghanistan, and John explains why Afghanistan was a different war. John's maps are on screen throughout this conversation. Watch the full video on YouTube or in the Spotify app. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 04:26 A Stryker Brigade Trained for Iraq Goes to Afghanistan 21:43 First Contact in Kandahar 26:19 Discovering Google Earth on the Secret Network 31:46 Mapping Fallujah 37:16 Afghanistan's Ethnic Map and the Durand Line 47:28 The Arghandab: Orchards, IEDs, and the Stryker's Limits 49:05 Putting Names and Faces on the Map 1:02:00 Why John Keeps Mapping 1:05:34 Alexander the Great and the Geography of Afghanistan 1:11:56 Soviets, Warlords, and the Rise of the Taliban 1:25:00 Pakistan, Partition, and Proxy Forces 1:35:47 Tora Bora, Kunar, and Restrepo 1:49:23 How Tribal Politics Rebuilt the Taliban 2:00:44 Training an Afghan Army in Our Image 2:11:56 AJ Revisits Now Zad on the Map 2:40:33 What Went Wrong, and What Comes Next 2:44:52 "Dad, You Won the War, Right?" 2:54:05 Closing Thoughts Guest Information John Garvin is a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and military historian who served two tours in Afghanistan, in 2009 and 2013 to 2014, with the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, before leaving the Army in 2015. He now builds detailed maps of wars and the history behind them in Google Earth and ArcGIS Earth, bringing geography, tribal dynamics, and military history together in one picture. Host Information AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, survival, leadership, and life after adversity. Find AJ online: Darkhorse: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/ Sponsors Go to https://truewerk.com/combatstory and use code combatstory to get 15% off your first order. TRUEWERK, Built Like It Matters. Benchmade knives are built to last and designed to work. Shop now at https://benchmade.com #ad Head to https://superpower.com and use code COMBAT at checkout for $50 off your membership. Get 150+ biomarkers tested every year across two tests, plus a personalized health plan and on-demand care team. Detect early signs of 1,000+ conditions. #superpowerpod Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/sf3mmy2l #CashAppPartner Terms apply. Bitcoin services by Block, Inc. See the Bitcoin disclosures at cash.app/legal/podcast.

Graham Paul Roberts was 15 meters from a building in Syria when a man leaned around the corner. They saw each other and froze. The man stepped back, came out again, and raised his weapon. Graham fired first. Later, in a wood by the Menai Strait, while searching for his son, Graham saw that same man lean around a tree. Graham Paul Roberts, author of Echoes in the Silence, sat down with Combat Story to tell what came before that moment and what came after it. Graham was born in Wales in 1976, six weeks early and weighing two pounds, and doctors told his parents he would not live past 16. He spent 19 years in the Welsh Guards, from sentry duty at Buckingham Palace to patrols in Northern Ireland, instructing at Pirbright and Sandhurst, and a tour in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2012. After leaving the Army he worked close protection in Iraq and became project manager for a team of about 100. In 2015 he took a private military contractor job in Syria, mentoring a special battalion of Syrian fighters in the fight against ISIS. In this conversation, Graham takes us through a childhood in a special educational needs unit and the bullying that came with it. He tells the story of a decision in Kenya, when he had a young soldier bury a grenade and a belt of ammunition to protect his company's name, and the rank it cost him. In Syria, he describes living in a mountain bunker, building a replica trench to train his battalion, first contact at 15 meters, a day pinned down in an olive grove, and a sniper's round from roughly 1,000 meters away that tore the rifle from his hand. He explains the moment he accepted he was going to die and the peace that came with it. Then he follows the story home: the nightmares, the drinking, the face he began to see in every room, the loss of his sister and his mother, the point where he planned to end his life, and the day he asked for help. He talks about the diagnosis of complex PTSD, the way he learned to face his memories, the work he does now with children who have special needs, and the book he wrote hoping it reaches the right reader. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open and introduction 3:29 Born at two pounds 6:58 Joining the Welsh Guards 16:50 9/11 and Northern Ireland 22:00 Pirbright, covert surveillance, and Sandhurst 34:29 Kenya: burying the ammunition 40:00 Afghanistan and Bastion 47:35 Close protection in Iraq 51:21 The call that led to Syria 1:01:11 Crossing into Syria 1:14:27 First contact at 15 meters 1:21:12 Pinned down and the sniper 1:28:02 The moment he accepted death 1:31:09 Beirut, an IED, and a destroyed town 1:41:48 Fighting ISIS 1:48:52 Coming home 1:53:35 The woods and asking for help 2:00:14 Finding purpose and writing the book 2:05:00 Living with the echoes Find Graham: Echoes in the Silence (US): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/echoes-in-the-silence-graham-paul-roberts/1150973652?ean=9781972688755 Echoes in the Silence (UK): https://www.waterstones.com/book/echoes-in-the-silence/graham-paul-roberts/9781972688748 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roberts0902/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@grahampaulroberts X: https://x.com/robbo76bng Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graham.roberts0809 AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, survival, leadership, and life after adversity. Find AJ online: Darkhorse: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/Darkhorse Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/ If you are a veteran in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 and press 1 (U.S. Veterans Crisis Line). In the UK, call Samaritans at 116 123.

On December 13, 2003, a battalion commander's six-month intelligence hunt ended in a spider hole outside Tikrit, and the man hiding in it was Saddam Hussein. Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, U.S. Army (Ret.), led that hunt, and he sat down with Combat Story to tell it from the inside. Steve Russell spent 21 years as an Army infantry officer, with deployments to Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In the spring of 2003 he took command of 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, and spent the following months building the intelligence network that led to the raid that found Saddam Hussein hiding on a farm near ad-Dawr. The capture was a combined effort, Russell's soldiers working alongside Task Force 121, and it was Ambassador Paul Bremer who told the world "we got him" the next day. That line became the title of Russell's memoir, We Got Him!: A Memoir of the Hunt and Capture of Saddam Hussein. After retiring in 2006, Russell went on to serve in the Oklahoma State Senate and then the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Oklahoma's 5th district from 2015 to 2019. In this conversation, Steve takes us through becoming an infantry officer, the deployments before Iraq, the grind of a manhunt that ran for months before it produced a break, the night it came together outside Tikrit, and what it was like to watch that moment become a headline and then a book title. We also get into his second act: the jump from battalion commander to state senator to U.S. Congressman, and where his sense of service has taken him since.   Guest:  Steve Russell is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who served 21 years, deploying to Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In 2003 he commanded 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, whose intelligence-driven manhunt near Tikrit led to the raid that found Saddam Hussein. He later served in the Oklahoma State Senate and as the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 5th district from 2015 to 2019. He is the author of We Got Him!: A Memoir of the Hunt and Capture of Saddam Hussein, available wherever books are sold. Find Steve online: Book: https://www.amazon.com/We-Got-Him-Capture-Hussein/dp/B0F5RNSBN4/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteveRussellOK/  Host:  AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, survival, leadership, and life after adversity. Find AJ online: Book: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/Darkhorse Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/

The Cold War was fought long before the first shots of Vietnam captured America's attention. By 1966, more than 400,000 U.S. troops were committed to the war, Marine Corps Captain James "Jim" Steele among them, on his first trip back to Vietnam since advising South Vietnamese forces in 1961. The war had escalated fast: an August 1964 attack on a U.S. Navy ship in the Gulf of Tonkin, and a second reported attack that later analysis showed never happened, pushed President Lyndon Johnson to commit American combat troops to the fight. This time, Steele was there to fight, and he would need every bit of his reconnaissance training to survive what came next. Episode 3 opens with Steele trading his assigned radio call sign, "Lavender Lace," for one he chose himself: Evil Eye. From there, we follow him through a training exercise in the Philippines that turned into a night spent tied to palm trees waiting for a tsunami that never arrived, and through the hard lessons of a second combat tour: picking up the remains of a Marine after a mine strike, discovering a fellow Marine killed by recoilless rifle backblast, and confining a Marine who fragged a fellow officer to an improvised cell until Division could take him away. The episode also tracks two of the tour's defining threats: a defective batch of M16s that jammed in the field and got Marines killed before the Marine Corps traced the problem to the wrong gunpowder, and a night ambush in which Steele's experience in nighttime combat pistol matches let him take out four infiltrating enemy soldiers by instinct, in the dark, before they reached his position. It builds to late April 1967, when a machine gun round passed through both of Steele's legs, narrowly missing the bone and a main artery. His rifle jammed. He dodged a grenade thrown at him, threw two of his own, and made his own tourniquets while his corporal was killed running to his aid. Wounded and bleeding, Steele talked his own medevac helicopter down to his position by radio. What followed, a mixed-up Red Cross telegram that told his wife Marlene he'd been shot in four places he hadn't been, an experimental surgical technique to save his legs from infection, and Steele altering his own service record to get back to the war before a doctor ever signed off on him, reveals a Marine who had trained himself, by his own account, to feel almost invincible. Reconnaissance Man is more than the story of one Marine. It is the story of reconnaissance itself, told through the career of one of its pioneers. In this episode: The Gulf of Tonkin incident and the road to a 400,000-troop war Getting the call sign "Evil Eye" A near-tsunami during training in the Philippines Toughening up: picking up the pieces after a mine strike Fragging in the ranks and Private Washington The M16's deadly jamming problem in the field Volley grenades, pistol tactics, and calling in fire support A night ambush: taking out four infiltrators with a pistol Wounded: shot through both legs in late April 1967 Losing a corporal, and talking down his own medevac A telegram mix-up and an experimental surgery in Guam Rewriting his own paperwork to get back to the war If you enjoyed Episode 2, Episode 3 follows Steele into the war he'd only advised on before, and the night that nearly ended his life. Chapters: 0:00 The Road Back to Vietnam 4:00 Tied to a Tree: The Philippines Tsunami Scare 6:45 Turning Hard: Picking Up the Pieces of War 10:35 Fragging in the Ranks: Private Washington 13:01 The M16's Deadly Jamming Problem 17:19 Grenades, Mortars, and Calling In Air Support 22:51 Night Ambush: Four VC in the Dark 27:14 Wounded: Shot Through Both Legs 33:15 Talking Down His Own Medevac 36:10 A Telegram and an Experimental Surgery in Guam 45:34 Getting Back to Vietnam Before His Legs Had Healed Created by investigative journalist Ashly McGlone in collaboration with the Marine Reconnaissance Foundation (MRF), and visually brought to life by Combat Story, Reconnaissance Man is a nine-part limited series following Steele's extraordinary 30-year military career through Vietnam, the Cold War, and beyond. 🎙️ Guest — James Lyle Steele James Lyle Steele is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel whose 30-year career carried him through Vietnam, the Cold War, and beyond. A member of the original generation of Marine reconnaissance men, Steele's story offers a rare firsthand look at war, survival, and service across decades of American military history. Ashly McGlone is an investigative journalist and the creator of Reconnaissance Man. As Steele's granddaughter, she pairs reporting, narration, and historical context with family connection to bring his extraordinary story to life with depth and care. Find Reconnaissance Man and Ashly McGlone Online: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reconnaissanceman/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashlyreports/ X: https://x.com/ReconManPod X: https://x.com/AshlyReports 🎙️ Host — AJ Pasciuti AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, survival, leadership, and life after adversity. Find AJ Online: Book (Darkhorse): https://www.ajpasciuti.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/ 🔔 Watch. Listen. Follow If you value real stories and honest perspectives from those who lived it, follow Combat Story wherever you get your podcasts.

Four career Marine scout snipers packed into one room, no script, no agenda — and what comes out of it is some of the funniest, most specific war stories you'll hear all year, sitting right next to a dead-serious reckoning with what their own community did to itself. AJ Pasciuti sits down with three of his closest friends from the sniper and reconnaissance world — Mic Skinta, Roland LeBlanc, and Dagan Van Oosten — four storied careers in one conversation. Combined, this is decades in the Marine Corps sniper community: schoolhouses, deployments, instructor duty, and the fight to keep the program alive. As AJ puts it going in: some of it gets serious, most of it doesn't, and it's a solid few hours of the guys doing what they're actually best at. That means this one runs the full range. Stories that only make sense to the four people who lived them — getting "hugged" in the sniper school stalking lanes, a prank war that turned an officers' briefing upside down, a care package of garage-sale He-Man toys that became a running joke on an FOB in Afghanistan for weeks. And then, without ever losing the room's energy, a real conversation about the three-star ultimatum that nearly ended Marine Corps sniper school, why they saved it, why it got cut anyway, and why they see the same pattern playing out with the Corps's scout program today. It closes on the case all four of them actually believe: invest in the person holding the rifle, not just the gear in their hands. Chapters: 0:00      Cold open 1:01      Meet the Four Horsemen 2:26      Pig hugging: sniper school stories begin 29:46     A He-Man care package to Afghanistan 35:28     The BRC prank wars 44:16     The three-star ultimatum that could've killed sniper school 52:09     Rebuilding the course — and winning it back 59:30     What stalking never actually tested 1:06:44   How the sniper community wrote its own ending 1:35:28   Building the Infantry Marine Course 1:39:06   The refrigerator that said everything 1:45:29   Budget, standards, and the Ranger comparison 2:02:09   Today's fight: GRC, ARC, and a fear for recon's future 2:19:18   Invest in the human, not just the gear 2:20:07   Train smarter, not harder 2:28:26   Have we lost yet? 2:31:41   Closing thoughts Guest Information — Dagan Van Oosten Dagan "Hoot" Van Oosten is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Reconnaissance Marine, and former Scout Sniper who deployed to Iraq before spending more than a decade in federal contracting supporting U.S. government operations overseas, including as a contractor for the CIA. Today he's an entrepreneur and co-founder of Nomadic Research, where he also hosts the Nomadic Research Podcast. Find Dagan online: Nomadic Research: https://nomadicresearch.com/ Nomadic Research Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@nomadic-research-podcast Nomadic Research Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomadic_research_podcast/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dagan_van_oosten/  Guest Information — Mic Skinta Mic Skinta enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1995 and spent nearly three decades in the scout sniper community — sniper team leader, platoon sergeant, platoon commander, and instructor at Scout Sniper Instructor School and Scout Sniper School Kaneohe Bay — before being selected for the Marine Gunner Program and commissioning as an Infantry Weapons Officer. He deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Inherent Resolve (Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Kuwait), closing out his career as Regimental Gunner at School of Infantry West before retiring in 2022. His decorations include the Legion of Merit and the Combat Action Ribbon with two stars. He's now Senior Business Development Manager, military division, at Ultimate Training Munitions. Guest Information — Roland LeBlanc Roland LeBlanc served 20 years in the Marine Corps as a Reconnaissance Marine and Scout Sniper, including a stretch with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company as a Point Man and Scout Sniper. During a 2010 deployment to Afghanistan he was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with "V" for valor. He went on to instruct at Recon Training Company and I MEF Special Operations Training Group, serve as a Platoon Sergeant with 2nd Force Reconnaissance Battalion, and work overseas as a senior advisor to Dutch special operations forces, earning the Meritorious Service Medal. He retired as a Master Sergeant in 2026 and is now in outside sales at MATBOCK. Host Information — AJ Pasciuti AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, survival, leadership, and life after adversity. Find AJ online: Darkhorse: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/

Andrew Sullivan led an Army infantry platoon through two tours in Iraq and commanded a company in Afghanistan — and says his own interpreter carried more risk, and more of the war, than he ever did. Today Andrew runs No One Left Behind, fighting to get America's wartime allies home before it's too late. Andrew commissioned as an infantry officer out of Virginia Military Institute and served over nine years in the U.S. Army, deploying twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, with a later posting to Latvia as tensions rose with Russia. He led a rifle platoon through a leadership crisis in Iraq's Mesan Province, ran the drawdown at Al Assad Air Base, and commanded a company working alongside the Afghan National Army in Zabul Province — where he grew close with his interpreter, Amodi, and first learned what the Special Immigrant Visa program actually promises the people who serve beside American troops. He's been fighting for that promise ever since: first as legislative director at With Honor Action, now as executive director of No One Left Behind. The conversation covers Andrew's path to service after 9/11, Ranger School and where Army and Marine Corps training genuinely differ, the leadership mistake he says he still hasn't forgiven himself for, two deployments to Iraq — including the unglamorous work of shutting down a forward operating base — and a company command in Afghanistan defined by firefights, IEDs, and a 250-lb bomb that landed in the middle of six Afghan soldiers without detonating. It closes on the work he does now: what the SIV program actually requires, why it's stalled, and what's at stake for the tens of thousands of interpreters and soldiers still waiting on America's word. Learn more or support the mission:  Website: Nooneleft.org Donate:  https://give.nooneleft.org/CombatStory    Guest Information — Andrew Sullivan Andrew Sullivan served over nine years as a U.S. Army Infantry Officer, deploying twice to Iraq and once each to Afghanistan and Latvia. After leaving active duty, he became Executive Director of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit fighting to get Special Immigrant Visas issued to the Afghan and Iraqi interpreters and allies who risked their lives serving alongside U.S. forces. Under his leadership, NOLB has helped drive an approved backlog of more than 30,000 allies forward while operating almost entirely on private funding — the program currently receives $0 in direct government support. Sullivan continues to push for the visas, resettlement support, and follow-through the U.S. promised the people who fought beside it. Find Andrew online: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-sullivan-a2a97755/ NOLB LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/no-one-left-behind NOLB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoOneLeftBehindUS NOLB Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nooneleftbehindus/ NOLB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGYfopN1o2D79z2xsWeyKnA/videos   Host Information — AJ Pasciuti AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner) with 21 years of service and multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life and the host and creator of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans share honest, unfiltered stories of service, leadership, combat experience, and life after war. Through Combat Story, AJ's mission is to capture the real moments that shaped warriors—not invented drama, but the specific incidents and choices that define character—and to honor the lineage and lessons of military service. Find AJ online: Book (Darkhorse): https://ajpasciuti.com/darkhorse Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com Instagram: @ajpasciuti Chapters: 0:00 – Cold open 1:52 – Introduction 3:54 – What called him to service, and 9/11 18:49 – Virginia Military Institute 23:16 – Commissioning and infantry training 27:40 – Ranger School 50:04 – First duty station and a last-minute orders swap 58:43 – First Iraq deployment begins 1:00:00 – A platoon's entire leadership gets fired 1:14:00 – The "manifesto" email — and the lesson that followed 1:27:00 – Second Iraq deployment: shutting down Al Assad Air Base 1:36:00 – Coming home 1:44:00 – Afghanistan: company command in Zabul Province 2:08:00 – The JDAM that didn't go off 2:25:00 – Meeting Amodi and what he learned about real sacrifice 2:30:00 – Inside the Special Immigrant Visa program 2:54:00 – How to help No One Left Behind     Download Cash App today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/sf3mmy2l #CashAppPartner Terms apply. Bitcoin services by Block, Inc. See the Bitcoin disclosures at cash.app/legal/podcast.

Gunnery Sergeant Timothy Colomer was a decorated EOD technician in Iraq when a daisy-chain IED detonated directly beneath his truck. The blast broke his helmet in half. It should have sent him home. Instead, he made a choice that defined his character—he stayed deployed to lead his team. But the war wasn't over when the deployment ended. Back home, Timothy faced something harder than combat: uncontrollable rage, traumatic brain injury, and the struggle to find purpose. Then, unexpectedly, he picked up a paintbrush. In this episode, AJ sits down with Timothy to explore his unlikely journey from bombs to canvas—and how a single painting of a female warrior reconnected a suicidal Marine with her daughter, leading her to therapy, recovery, and reconnection with her family. Timothy shares how his art went viral on cruise ships, how his work will be etched into marble at the Marine Corps EOD Monument at Quantico, and what it means when the tools that kept you alive in war become tools that destroy you in peace. This is a story about transformation, the power of vulnerability, and finding a new way to serve. Guest Information — Timothy Colomer Gunnery Sergeant Timothy Colomer is a retired U.S. Marine EOD Technician who served multiple deployments including one combat deployment in Iraq. On December 11, 2006, he sustained severe blast injuries from a daisy-chain IED that fractured his helmet and caused traumatic brain injury—yet chose to remain deployed to lead his team. After leaving active duty, Colomer transitioned to professional artist, using his work to process trauma and support fellow veterans. His paintings have reconnected suicidal Marines with their families, gone viral globally, and will be permanently etched into marble on the EOD Obelisk at the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia (unveiling May 2027). Find Timothy online: Art Portfolio: www.littledogartstudios.com  Instagram: @littledogartstudioshouston  Host Information — AJ Pasciuti AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner) with 21 years of service and multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life and the host and creator of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans share honest, unfiltered stories of service, leadership, combat experience, and life after war. Through Combat Story, AJ's mission is to capture the real moments that shaped warriors—not invented drama, but the specific incidents and choices that define character—and to honor the lineage and lessons of military service. Find AJ online: Book (Darkhorse): https://ajpasciuti.com/darkhorse Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com Instagram: @ajpasciuti LinkedIn: /angelo-pasciuti Combat Story Podcast: https://combatstory.com

Alex Lemons survived the Battle of An Najaf without a scratch from the enemy — and nearly died from friendly fire instead, when a young Marine mistook him for an insurgent and put six rounds past him from fifteen yards away. This is Part 2 with Alex Lemons, a former Marine Scout Sniper, Iraq War veteran, and co-author of Warbody with environmental historian Joshua Howe. We pick up in Najaf and Fallujah in 2004, follow Alex through two more deployments including a year advising Iraqi and Polish forces under General Petraeus, and then get into why he and Josh wrote the book: the case that concussions, PTSD, and toxic exposure — lead, burn pits, contaminated water at Camp Lejeune — compound on each other in ways the military has never fully accounted for, and what that means for how we treat veterans of every generation who've served since. This one's long, and it's worth sitting with. Especially if you've served, or you're close to someone who has. Subscribe and follow Combat Story wherever you listen. Guest Information — Alexander Lemons Alexander Lemons is a former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper and Bronze Star recipient who served multiple combat deployments during the Iraq War, including Nasiriyah and Fallujah. He is the co-author of War Body: A Marine Sniper and the Hidden Violence of Modern Warfare, a powerful look at the hidden physical and psychological costs of combat and what war leaves behind long after the shooting stops. War Body: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324066330 Featured Article: https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-2/a-veteran-transforms-a-legacy-of-violence-into-a-campaign-for-restoration/ Host Information — AJ Pasciuti AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans share honest, unfiltered stories of service, leadership, and life after combat. Find AJ online: Book (Darkhorse): https://ajpasciuti.com/darkhorse Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/ Chapters 0:00 – One round, twelve inches from his face 2:37 – Chasing a flyer into the sniper platoon 13:14 – A guerrilla war nobody upstairs would admit to 17:29 – Sniper school, and the partner he lost before he ever deployed 48:38 – Into the Battle of An Najaf 58:36 – The 1,600-yard shot, and the tank he had to call in 1:12:17 – Losing Sergeant Rochas — then almost losing himself to his own side 1:22:45 – Two stories through a roof: the injury that started the clock 1:26:16 – A second deployment, and leadership that nearly got them killed 1:41:19 – Walking away from the Corps to advise generals in Iraq 1:50:26 – Coming home to a Marine Corps — and a body — that didn't fit anymore 2:00:24 – The anorexia, and the lead he didn't know he was wearing 2:44:37 – Three forces: concussions, PTSD, and toxicants 3:19:47 – "The war is continuing in everybody's body"

He thought he was accepting a routine IT contract. Instead, Peter Moore disappeared into captivity for 946 days. In 2007, British IT consultant Peter Moore traveled to Baghdad believing he would be helping rebuild Iraq's Ministry of Finance from the safety of the Green Zone. Days after arriving, he and four British security contractors were kidnapped by an Iranian-backed militia. Peter would spend the next 946 days as a hostage. For more than two and a half years, he endured isolation, psychological torture, repeated mock executions, and the daily uncertainty of whether he would ever see his family again. The four men kidnapped alongside him never made it home. This is Peter Moore's only long-form interview about his captivity. In this extraordinary conversation, Peter shares the full story—from accepting what he thought was a routine overseas contract to surviving one of the longest hostage ordeals of the Iraq War. He reflects on the mindset that carried him through captivity, the routines that kept him alive, the power of hope and humor in the darkest moments, and what it means to rebuild a life after unimaginable trauma. This isn't simply a story about being held hostage. It's a conversation about resilience, perspective, and the extraordinary strength of the human spirit. CHAPTERS 00:00 Peter Realizes He's Been Kidnapped 02:00 Introduction 03:02 Peter Moore's Background 10:14 The IT Contract That Changed Everything 15:11 Why He Accepted a Job in Baghdad 25:52 Arriving in Iraq 32:39 Day One in the Green Zone 40:28 The Kidnapping Begins 53:37 Life as a Hostage 1:06:58 The Mock Execution That Changed Everything 1:15:47 Deciding to Survive 1:27:41 Building Routines to Stay Alive 1:44:26 The Interrogations 1:58:11 Humor as a Survival Tool 2:10:54 Learning the Fate of the Other Hostages 2:24:37 The Day He Was Released 2:39:15 Returning Home After 946 Days 2:46:22 The British Embassy & The First Taste of Freedom 2:52:18 Life After Captivity 3:00:46 Final Reflections on Survival & Resilience Guest — Peter Moore Peter Moore is a British IT consultant who traveled to Iraq in 2007 to support reconstruction efforts following the Iraq War. Just days after arriving in Baghdad, he and four British security contractors were kidnapped by an Iranian-backed militia. Peter spent 946 days in captivity before being released in December 2009, making him one of the longest-held Western civilian hostages of the Iraq War. Today, he speaks about resilience, survival, and the mindset that carried him through one of the most extraordinary hostage experiences of the 21st century. Host — AJ Pasciuti AJ Pasciuti is a retired Marine Force Recon Scout Sniper and Infantry Weapons Officer (Marine Gunner), author of Darkhorse: Harnessing Hidden Potential in War and Life, and host of the Combat Story Podcast, where veterans and extraordinary individuals share honest, unfiltered stories of combat, leadership, resilience, and life after adversity. Find AJ Online: Darkhorse: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/ Website: https://www.ajpasciuti.com/ About Combat Story Combat Story is a podcast featuring authentic, long-form conversations with veterans, intelligence professionals, first responders, and remarkable individuals whose experiences offer lessons in leadership, resilience, and service. Every episode goes beyond the headlines to explore the human stories behind extraordinary events. Follow Combat Story wherever you listen to podcasts, and join us every other Sunday for conversations that preserve history, inspire leadership, and remind us what people are truly capable of when everything is on the line.