In this episode, we discuss:
*What an infantry battalion operations officer does
*How Jordan’s experiences at 2nd LAR, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and 1/8 influenced how he fought the battalion prior to HKIA
*The 24th MEU's deployment prior to heading to HKIA
*The exercises done in preparation for HKIA
*The original plan to conduct the NEO
*Where Jordan thinks he could have done a better job of preparing the BLT for HKIA
*Communications challenges between the BLT and supporting units
*Leaving for HKIA
*What HKIA was like on the first day
*Jordan’s reading of the terrain around HKIA
*The organization of the joint operations center
*The fight for the airfield
*Learning the Taliban would assist with the evacuation
*Operations at the gates
*Sending rejected Afghan families back outside
*The 82nd Airborne Division at HKIA
*How 1/8 Marines used maneuver warfare concepts and tool
*Responding to the Abbey Gate bombing
*Returning to Kuwait, observations of the Marines, and coping in the aftermath
*Coming home to Camp Lejeune
*Command relationships at HKIA
*The presence and effect of cell phones and computers among 1/8 Marines at HKIA
*The most frustrating and rewarding aspects of the NEO
*What Jordan learned from the HKIA mission
*Using decision games as tools to prepare for a mission like HKIA
*The supposed animosity between members of 1/8 and 2/1
*The one thing Marines and other servicemembers should know about 1/8’s time at HKIA
Links
Escape from Kabul HBO Documentary
https://www.hbo.com/movies/escape-from-kabul
“U.S. Central Command Report on Fatal Afghanistan Airport Attack,” USNI News
https://news.usni.org/2022/02/08/u-s-central-command-report-on-fatal-afghanistan-airport-attack
