Timothy Heck
Modern War Institute
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Past articles by Timothy:
Podcast: The Spear – The Strategic Lieutenant
Many episodes of The Spear have focused on junior officers at the tactical level, whether it be commanding companies, dodging improvised explosive devices, or leading patrols. This episode, with Capt. […] → Read More
No Retreat? The Flaw in the US Military’s Preparation for Large-Scale Combat Operations
Battlefields are dynamic. In large-scale combat operations, opposing forces seek to gain control of terrain, to outmaneuver one another, and to employ combined arms to gain positional advantage. The objective, […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – The End of the War
In July 2021, Colonel Matt Hardman deployed on short notice to support 10th Mountain Division operations in Afghanistan. As the country started to fall to Taliban forces, he served as […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Saving the Interpreter
In 2006, Jeremy Fox was a platoon leader deployed in Iraq. His platoon conducted patrols in Salah al-Din province, where his soldiers encountered frequent pressure-plate improvised explosive devices and mortar […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Advising in El Salvador
In the early 1990s, Greg Banner was sent to El Salvador to assist ongoing counterinsurgency training and operations. As a Special Forces officer, Greg had previous experience in Latin America […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Enemy Inside the FOB
In 2010, Scott Haran took command of Company C, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment after the death of Capt. Dan Whitten. As the threat in Afghanistan shifted, Haran’s paratroopers […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – A Bad Day in the Arizona Territory
In 1962, during a year-long break from college, Barry Broman was first shot at in South Vietnam while working as a photographer for the Associated Press. Seven years later, he […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Walking the Beat in Baghdad
In the second episode in a two-part series, Misty Cantwell recounts the ongoing combat operations she conducted in Sadr City, Iraq, in 2003. A military police platoon leader, Cantwell found […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Reflections on Being the First In
We are now twenty-one years past the events of 9/11. America’s war in Afghanistan has come to an end yet the repercussions of that day and that war continue to impact foreign policy, strategic positioning, and the lives of those who were there. That makes now an important time to reflect on our Afghanistan experience. […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Patrolling the Seam
In 2012, Sean Marquis was an infantry platoon leader—deployed to Dehqobad, Afghanistan—in a Stryker brigade. The area was largely desolate, with village clusters along the Arghandab River. While not a focus of effort for the Taliban, the area around Sean’s company’s patrol base was a suspected transit route due—specifically, a space US forces called “the […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Joint SOF in Name Only
In the summer of 1993, Greg Banner was a newly appointed company commander in 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Simultaneously, halfway around the world, ethnic tensions were flaring in the former Yugoslavia. The Cold War had ended but the need for special operations forces (SOF) in Europe was made apparent as the nation disintegrated into […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Marine Platoon in Baghdad
In the previous episode of The Spear, Tim Heck was joined by Karl Blanke. In 2003, he was a platoon commander in Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. The story he shared featured a Marine in his platoon that he called Lance Corporal Jackson (a pseudonym). “Jackson” was a machine gunner in the platoon, and […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Platoon Leader in Vietnam
Few books have had the impact on generations of young soldiers as Jim McDonough’s Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat. It sits alongside World War II classics like Charles MacDonald’s Company Commander and George Wilson’s If You Survive and Phil Caputo’s Vietnam memoir A Rumor of War. First published in the mid-1980s, Platoon […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Attack at Hiep Hoa
A newly minted Special Forces officer in the spring of 1966, Mike Eiland landed in Vietnam and joined 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Mike and the team of Green Berets he led initially deployed to War Zone D, west of Saigon, before being sent to the Plain of Reeds. His team was tasked with reestablishing […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Leaving Afghanistan
In August 2021, Major Naqib Mirzada, an Afghan National Army Special Forces officer, and his family fled Afghanistan after the Taliban’s seizure of Kabul. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to escape Taliban rule—as a young boy in the 1990s, Naqib’s family fled to Iran after the group first took power. A lifetime of […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Taking the Wrong Trail
In 2012, Rich Kent was a platoon leader whose unit was deployed to Spin Boldak in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. It was an eventful deployment from the very beginning. On his first mission, his lead vehicle hit an IED—an improvised explosive device. Several more months of patrols and contact with enemy forces followed, before his unit […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – SAM Killer Above the No-Fly Zone
Russian aggression in Ukraine has brought the no-fly zone back into public discussion. In this episode of The Spear, retired US Air Force Colonel Mike “Starbaby” Pietrucha describes his experience as an electronic warfare officer flying in an F-15E Strike Eagle, enforcing the northern no-fly zone over Iraq in the 1990s. He brings listeners into […] → Read More
What Can We Learn about Amphibious Warfare from a Conflict That Has Had Very Little of It? A Lot
Why didn’t Russia include a large-scale amphibious landing in its invasion of Ukraine? Russia’s power in the Black Sea region seems to situate it well for just such an operation and Moscow has emphasized the development of its military capabilities in the Black Sea for years. The annexation of Crimea more than doubled its coastline […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Dilemma on Route Mariners
Before his NFL career, Alejandro Villanueva was a rifle platoon leader in the 10th Mountain Division, assigned to a restive sector just outside Kandahar, Afghanistan. Central in his area of operations was the Pir Mohammed School in the town of Senjaray, which became emblematic of both American efforts in the country and the challenges to […] → Read More
Podcast: The Spear – Training Civilians for War in Ukraine
As Ukrainian troops continue to fight against invading Russian forces, they are supported by a growing cadre of civilians. Many among this group, however, have no training or experience. Matt Gallagher, a former US Army officer and veteran of combat in Iraq, recently returned from training some of those civilians in Lviv, the largest city […] → Read More