Brad Colbert (born July 25, 1974) is a former active duty

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

, whose platoon's role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was featured in a series of articles in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' by

Evan Wright Evan Alan Wright (born ) is an American writer, known for his extensive reporting on subcultures for ''Rolling Stone'' and '' Vanity Fair''. He is best known for his book on the Iraq War, '' Generation Kill'' (2004). He also wrote an exposé abo ...

. Wright was an embedded reporter who rode in the backseat of Colbert's vehicle during this time until his departure on May 4, 2003. Wright later expanded these articles into the book '' Generation Kill'' which was turned into a HBO miniseries of the same name in which Colbert was portrayed by

Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in t ...

Career

A U.S. Reconnaissance Marine, Colbert was nicknamed the "Iceman" by his colleagues, for his ability to stay calm in battle and his overall military competency. During the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

, he was awarded the

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

for valor for his role in taking out an enemy missile battery.Wright (2004), p.22 In the Iraq War, his platoon, the 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company of the

1st Reconnaissance Battalion 1st Reconnaissance Battalion (abbreviated as 1st Recon Bn) is a reconnaissance battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It is a stand-alone battalion with no parent regiment. Instead, it falls directly under the command of the 1st Marine ...

led by Lieutenant

Nathaniel Fick Nathaniel C. Fick (born June 23, 1977) is an American diplomat, technology executive, author, and former United States Marine Corps officer. He was the CEO of cybersecurity software company Endgame, Inc., then worked for Elastic NV after it acqu ...

, was often at the spearhead of the initial invasion, with his team, of which he was team leader, often on point. For his efforts during the Iraq War, Colbert received a combat meritorious promotion to

Staff Sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supe ...

and went on to serve two years with the

Royal Marine Commandos The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marines ...

as part of an exchange program.Wright (2004), p. 351 He was later promoted again to Gunnery Sergeant and served as the Company Gunnery Sergeant of H&S Company of 1st Recon. He served two additional tours in Iraq and left the Reconnaissance community in 2010. In October 2012, Colbert was a special skills operations chief at the U.S. Army's

airborne school The United States Army Airborne School – widely known as Jump School – conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachutist) training for the United States Armed Forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Infantry, Unit ...

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

. He was responsible for making sure that Marines who attend the program receive the necessary skills and meet their requirements. He regularly leapt from C-130s to reinforce proper jump techniques. '' Military.com'' reported that in July 2016, Colbert was still on active duty as a project officer for Raids and Amphibious Reconnaissance at

Marine Corps Systems Command Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) is the acquisition command of the United States Marine Corps, made up of Marines, sailors, civilians and contractors. As the only systems command in the Marine Corps, MCSC serves as Head of Contracting Authorit ...

. Colbert retired from the Marine Corps as a master sergeant on October 24, 2016.

Personal life

Colbert was

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. He has been a speaker on combat related

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

issues for the Heroes and Healthy Families organization. Colbert has 3 children.

In popular culture

* In

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

adaptation of

's book, '' Generation Kill'' (2004), Colbert is portrayed by the Swedish actor

References

External links

''Generation Kill'': Sgt. Brad "Iceman" Colbert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colbert, Brad 1974 births Living people United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War Jewish American military personnel United States Marines

Career

Personal life

In popular culture

References

Further reading

External links