William Ostlund

This week in the studio a man with almost 4 decades of military service to this country. His dream started in the summer before his freshman year of high school when he finished reading a military based book about every three days. By doing this his mind was set on a life a service which began in 1983 when he was assigned to the 1st Battallion, 75th Rangers. He made colossal strides in his career by not only becoming a Ranger but also a Jumpmaster by the rank of Specialist. In 1987, as a then… Show more

This week in the studio a man with almost 4 decades of military service to this country. His dream started in the summer before his freshman year of high school when he finished reading a military based book about every three days. By doing this his mind was set on a life a service which began in 1983 when he was assigned to the 1st Battallion, 75th Rangers. He made colossal strides in his career by not only becoming a Ranger but also a Jumpmaster by the rank of Specialist. In 1987, as a then Staff Sergeant, he transitioned to the Nebraska National Guard and attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha. After receiving his bachelors degree he went back on active duty as a commissioned officer. He served six combat tours – he led a platoon in Desert Storm, parachuted into Iraq as an operations officer, commanded a battalion in Afghanistan – deemed the most decorated battalion in the Global War on Terror (earning a Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, over 400 individual valor awards that included 3 living Medal of Honor recipients); he twice commanded a large Counterterrorism Task Force in Afghanistan, and he commanded a Infantry Brigade in Afghanistan. He ended his illustrious career as the Director of Military Instruction at the United States Military Academy at West Point and he is here to tell how his warriors life has affected him, his immediate family, and his much larger adopted family (the soldiers under his command), and what he is doing with that second chapter of his life. Show less

Today we hear a special Combat Story of one of the military’s most revered leaders who many have never heard of (but should). This is the experience of retired Colonel Bill Ostlund, a beloved mentor and leader developer who served 35 years in the Army working his way up from a private and growing into combat command in some of the bloodiest fighting of any unit in the post-9/11 era.

Col. Chung sits down with Col. (R) William Ostlund, who is the former battalion commander of Task Force Rock, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. Task Force Rock was the most decorated unit in the war on terror. Six hours into a 425-day tour, in an area partially dubbed both the Valley of Death and the Valley of Fire, the battalion lost its first Soldier.

Retired colonel Bill Ostlund is a career infantry officer who commanded a battalion, two counterterrorism task forces, and a brigade combat team in Afghanistan, in addition to leading a platoon during Operation Desert Storm and serving as a brigade operations officer in Iraq. He also served as the Joint Special Operations Command liaison officer to the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, the executive officer for the commander of US Special Operations Command, and the… Show more

Retired colonel Bill Ostlund is a career infantry officer who commanded a battalion, two counterterrorism task forces, and a brigade combat team in Afghanistan, in addition to leading a platoon during Operation Desert Storm and serving as a brigade operations officer in Iraq. He also served as the Joint Special Operations Command liaison officer to the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, the executive officer for the commander of US Special Operations Command, and the director of the US Central Command Commander’s Action Group, providing unique strategic insight into the war in Afghanistan. He retired from the Army as the director of the Department of Military Instruction at West Point and holds a master’s degree in international relations with a focus on security studies from The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Show less

On August 1, 1990, Col. Bill Ostlund was a lieutenant arriving at his first unit as an Army officer. The next day, Saddam Hussein ordered his Iraqi forces to invade Kuwait. Within barely more than a week, his unit received a deployment order, and just a month after that they were en route to Saudi Arabia. While there, they trained. As a platoon leader, Ostlund was responsible for getting the platoon ready for the mission that would come in January 1991: a battalion air assault mission into Iraq.

n 2007, as commander of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment—part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade—he was deployed in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. In late July of that year, he got word that a soldier in an adjacent unit—Staff Sgt. Ryan Fritsche—was reported missing after a firefight with enemy forces. He volunteered to put together a force from his unit to recover the missing soldier.

Knowing that if you’re killed on the battlefield, your fellow soldiers will stop at… Show more

n 2007, as commander of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment—part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade—he was deployed in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan. In late July of that year, he got word that a soldier in an adjacent unit—Staff Sgt. Ryan Fritsche—was reported missing after a firefight with enemy forces. He volunteered to put together a force from his unit to recover the missing soldier.

Knowing that if you’re killed on the battlefield, your fellow soldiers will stop at nothing to get to you and bring you home is, as Col. Ostlund describes, an incredibly vital part of the Army’s ethos. The story you’ll hear in this episode is an example of that ethos in action. Show less

COL Bill Ostlund addresses the West Point class of 2021 in February 2019 - during their Yearling Winter Weekend dining out.

Mission command is fundamental to the way we, in the Army, fight. It is rooted deeply in our Army doctrine and it is how we expect commanders to command and lead. The first principle of mission command is “Build cohesive teams through mutual trust.”

On July 13, 2008, around 200 Taliban fighters attacked a group of US soldiers, along with a small contingent of Afghan soldiers, in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan. In the intense fight that followed—what would become known as the Battle of Wanat—nine Americans lost their lives, and more than two dozen were wounded. It remains one of the deadliest battles for US forces during our long war in Afghanistan.

An US Army Colonel’s unclassified lessons learned while serving as the commander for a conventional US Army Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) in Afghanistan. This brigade had a co-located US Navy SEAL platoon, routine US Army Special Forces support, and occasional Counterterrorism support. In addition, the IBCT provided “Uplift” support for Special Forces across Afghanistan.

An US Army Colonel’s lessons learned while twice serving as the commander for a large, joint, interagency, multi-national Counterterrorism Task Force in Afghanistan. This commander served with some of the most well-known commanders in the Global War on Terror and received their support in writing these unclassified lessons.

An US Army Airborne Battalion Commander’s lessons learned during a 15 month combat tour in the austere, contested mountainous Kunar Province of Afghanistan. This battalion is known as the most decorated battalion in the Global War.

A platoon leader’s view of training an US Army Air Assault platoon for and in the Gulf War and then leading the same platoon in the Gulf War.