Special Operations Marine Tells Stories from Force Recon, Blackwater, and CIA!
6/15/20262 hr 45 min
Former Marine Force Recon veteran Kirk Spradely, call sign “Tadpole,” shares his powerful life story...from surviving a brutal childhood and orphanage violence, to becoming a Marine Force Recon operator, working for Blackwater in Iraq, serving in OGA special programs, flying Blackhawk and Apache helicopters, and later supporting the Kurdish military.
In this episode of Urban Valor, Kirk opens up about the day his teammate Tommy Jenner was killed by an enemy sniper in Ramadi. Kirk says the sniper was likely Juba, one of the most feared enemy snipers in Iraq. He describes watching Tommy fall beside him, hearing his teammate yell “sniper, get down,” and realizing a follow-up round had just cracked over his head.
Kirk also talks about Marine Force Recon training, combat diving, counter-narcotics operations, Blackwater convoy work, OGA special programs, the moment he met a Taliban-contracted assassin, flying medevac missions for wounded troops, and attempting to help build a Kurdish Air Force before the referendum fallout.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJosh· Host0:00
Hey everyone, this is Josh, host of the Urban Valor podcast. This week's episode features Marine Force Recon veteran Kirk Spradley. Kirk's story is one of the most unbelievable journeys we've ever featured on Urban Valor. After losing his mother in a tragic hit-and-run accident and his father shortly afterward, Kirk and his brother were thrust into a world of foster homes, orphanages, violence, and abuse, the kind of childhood that destroys most people. Yet somehow, against all odds, Kirk transformed that pain into purpose. He would go on to earn a place in Force Recon during the 1990s, serve as a Blackwater contractor during the Iraq War, spend more than a decade supporting CIA special programs, become both a Black Hawk and Apache pilot, deploy around the world, and help build aviation capabilities for Kurdish forces in the Middle East. But what makes Kirk's story remarkable isn't just the elite units, the combat deployments, or the extraordinary resume. It's how a young boy who seemingly had a reason to fail became a man who dedicated his life to serving others. In this episode, Kirk shares the darkest moments of his childhood, the lessons he learned in Force Recon, his experiences with Blackwater and the CIA, the realities of war, leadership, loss, resilience, and what it truly means to overcome impossible odds. If you enjoy this episode, go give us a five-star rating and leave a comment to help support our veterans. The bigger the community, the bigger the impact. If you'd like to contribute your story to Urban Valor and know anyone else who may, you can email me at josh at urbanvalor.com. Enjoy the show.