Exploring history's greatest soldiers, warriors, and armies throughout the ages. The Dead Warrior Society uses contemporary accounts of what actually happene…
52:5364K views · 2w ago · 52:53
I served on an ODA during the 2012-2013 campaign against the Taliban, and I came away feeling we were playing checkers while Task Force 714 was playing 4D chess against Al Qaeda in Iraq. In this episode, I break down how Stanley McChrystal and TF 714 built a counterinsurgency war machine, and why it worked.
1:00:23114K views · 1mo ago · 1:00:23
Guest: Unconventional Failure
In this episode of The Dead Warrior Society, we take an uncompromising look at the structural, cultural, and institutional drift inside the Special Forces community. Despite decades of legendary history and the unmatched dedication of individual operators, Green Berets find themselves trapped in an organization no longer designed to execute its core mission: Unconventional Warfare.
44:3531K views · 2mo ago · 44:35
Guest: Operation Dingo
Operation Dingo was one of the most ambitious and audacious cross-border operations of the Rhodesian Bush War. In this episode of Dead Warrior Society, we continue the story of Operation Dingo as nearly 200 Rhodesian soldiers and airmen launch a massive airborne assault against ZANLA’s Chimoio complex in Mozambique.
49:1642K views · 3mo ago · 49:16
In this episode of the Dead Warrior Society, we dive headfirst into the Rhodesian SAS and the insane buildup to Operation Dingo: one of the most daring cross-border strikes in modern military history. We break down how a tiny force facing 44-to-1 odds planned a daylight air and ground assault right into the heart of ZANLA’s primary nerve center at Chimoio, Mozambique.
1:00:2159K views · 3mo ago · 1:00:21
In this episode of the Dead Warrior Society podcast, we dive deep into the brutal and terrifyingly efficient world of Fireforce, the unique heliborne and airborne tactic engineered by the elite Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) during the Bush War. Confronting a highly elusive, communist-backed insurgency, this small, resource-starved nation couldn't rely on massive bureaucratic budgets or high-tech equipment.
21:5115K views · 4mo ago · 21:51
Before the first shots of the Rhodesian Bush War were ever fired, the structural gears of a catastrophic regional explosion were already locked in motion. Most histories drop you straight into the firefights of the 1970s. But to understand the tactical doctrine and the sheer desperation of the conflict, you have to understand the architectural collapse that preceded it.
56:4814K views · 5mo ago · 56:48
Before the Bush Wars of the 1970s changed the face of modern unconventional warfare, an empire had to be carved out of the African interior. But the architect of that empire wasn't a battlefield general or a decorated military strategist—he was an asthmatic, Oxford-educated diamond tycoon operating with the cold, calculating ruthlessness of a Wall Street robber baron.
43:063.5K views · 6mo ago · 43:06
Did Montezuma actually surrender to Cortés, or has one of history’s most consequential encounters been fundamentally misunderstood? In this episode of Dead Warrior Society, we dive deep into the first meeting between Moctezuma II and Hernán Cortés and confront one of the hottest debates in conquest historiography. Was Montezuma a coward, a brilliant but trapped ruler, or a man operating within a sacred-political framework that was collapsing in real time?
42:253.6K views · 6mo ago · 42:25
In this episode of the Dead Warrior Society, we dive into the brutal clash between the Spaniards and the Tlaxcalans and challenge one of the most persistent myths in the history of Mesoamerican warfare. You’ve heard it before: that native armies fought to capture, not kill. That their goal was ritual, not destruction. But what if that’s wrong?
59:273.6K views · 6mo ago · 59:27
When Hernán Cortés landed on the Mexican coast, he wasn't just leading a band of explorers—he was launching one of history’s most effective Unconventional Warfare (UW) campaigns. While Spanish steel and gunpowder were formidable, the true "force multiplier" was the ability to leverage indigenous resistance.
Topics: The Aztec God of Human Sacrifice and His Disciple · Cortes is Welcomed with Open Arms by the Cempoallan peoples · The Expedition Explore Other Towns and Arrest the Aztec · Cortes Leads Army of Spanish and Natives against the Aztec Garrison · Cortes Demands Submission from the Totonacs · Spanish Mutiny and the “Burning of the Ships”
44:514.1K views · 7mo ago · 44:51
The moment Hernán Cortés set foot on the shores of Mexico, history didn’t just change, it fractured. Was Montezuma a calculating ruler playing a dangerous diplomatic game... or a man confronting something far more terrifying? In this episode of the Dead Warrior Society, we dive deep into one of the most controversial debates in history: did the Aztecs really believe the Spaniards were gods?
Topics: Cortes and his Men arrive in San Juan de Ulúa and Meet an Aztec Ambassador · Did Cortes Always Plan for an Invasion and Conquest? · Why did the Spaniards Insist on the Adoption of Christianity? · Montezuma’s Reaction to the Arrival of the Spaniards · Did Montezuma Believe the Spaniards were Gods? · Montezuma Sends Vast Amouns of Treasure, Gold, and Weapons to the Spaniards
47:364.4K views · 7mo ago · 47:36
In this episode of Dead Warrior Society, we dive into one of the most mysterious and eerie preludes to the conquest of Mexico, the Aztec omens of doom that supposedly foretold the destruction of the Mexica world. Years before the arrival of the Spaniards, strange and terrifying signs were said to appear across the Aztec Empire: blazing comets in the sky, temples bursting into flames, lakes boiling, and ghostly voices crying out in the night.
Topics: The Historicity of the Conquest of Mexico · Aztec Omens of the End Days · Cortes’ Expedition Launches · The Spaniards Arrive at Cozumel · The Conquistadors Invade the Yucatan · The Maya Attack
51:1210K views · 7mo ago · 51:12
Before the fall of the Aztec Empire... before the march on Tenochtitlán... there was a much smaller, messier beginning. In this episode of Dead Warrior Society, we rewind to the earliest phase of the Spanish presence in the Americas when the conquistadors were still figuring out what exactly they had stumbled into.
Topics: Admin Note · Conquistadors Arrive and Raise Hell in the Indies · Why were the Conquistadors so Violent · Hypocrisy of Historians · Diego Velazquez Arrives and Conquers Cuba · Velazques Deploys Cordoba to Explore Mysterious Island to the West
45:414.6K views · 8mo ago · 45:41
What made the Aztec army one of the deadliest military forces in history and how did an empire this powerful ultimately fall? In this episode of Dead Warrior Society, we go inside the Mexica Army and break down the training, organization, tactics, and ideology that allowed them to dominate Mesoamerica for nearly a century. This wasn’t a loose collection of tribal fighters.
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