514: Devastating Loss, and Everyday Combat in Ramadi. With Army Medic, Adam Anderson

This is Jocko Podcast number 514 with me, Jocko Willink. On 18 July 2006, Lieutenant Blackstone's platoon was conducting census operations in Tamim when they came under a sustained enemy attack. In the initial barrage of gunfire, a bullet ripped through Staff Sergeant Michael Muir's thighs. Pinned down behind a five foot wall surrounding the water tower in Tamim, the platoon laid down a furious gauntlet of suppressive fire. Lieutenant Blackstone and specialist Anderson realized that Sergeant Muir was unable to move and lying exposed in the street.

They ran out under the hail of enemy fire and pulled Mirror to safety. Next, Blackstone and his men attacked from their base of fire and aggressively assaulted the enemy occupied building that was the source of the hostile fire, only to have the enemy slip away. Such was the nature of the battle in Tamim against a lethal foe who knew the terrain and would not stay in fight. And that right there is a little excerpt from a book called Ramadio Unclassified, which was written by Colonel Anthony Dean and is one paragraph that from that book, and it's about a 400 page book and it gives one small example of the incredible heroism that was displayed by troops on the ground in Ramadi on a daily basis in 2006.

And that particular unit was Team Dealer, the Death Dealers, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry, 1st Armored Division. And this is a company who suffered immense losses during that battle. And yet they never hesitated, they never backed down, and they continually took the fight to the enemy. And we have had Colonel Dean on this podcast, number 452, and we talked about his book and his experiences as a battalion commander. We've also had heard from General McFarland on this podcast, number 439, and he was the brigade commander in the Battle of Ramadi.

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