Surviving the Largest Naval Special Warfare Combat Operation | Mike Drop | Navy SEAL | Gifted K-9 Trainer | Warrior Dog Foundation - Mike Ritland
Combat Story
Ryan Fugit
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2023
⏱️ 83 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
🎙️ Today's Combat Story: Training Dogs for SEAL Teams and Founding the Warrior Dog Foundation🎙️
Today we have a cross over Combat Story with former Navy SEAL, NY Times Best-Selling Author, and Trikos Founder Mike Ritland who many will also know as the host of the Mike Drop podcast. I traveled out to Texas to interview Mike and then he returned the favor.
For those who don’t know Mike, he earned his Trident pre-9/11 and found himself on the largest operation in the history of Naval Special Warfare when SEAL Team 3 simultaneously took control of two oil terminals and a control facility on sea and land as the Iraq war kicked off.
Mike would contract an illness that would take him out of the door-kicking side of the teams but also allowed him to follow a passion training dogs for west coast SEAL teams. He followed this path to build a successful business in Trikos training working dogs for clients and founding the Warrior Dog Foundation, among other ventures.
Mike has done so much to find purpose and continue serving after hanging up the uniform in a way that will, undoubtedly, be motivating to people seeking their own purpose and next chapter. With that, please enjoy this episode with Mike Ritland.
👇 Show Notes:
00:00 - Introduction
01:04 - Guest Profile: Mike Ritland
02:05 - Start of Interview
03:05 - Settling in Texas
07:45 - Leaving the SEALs
11:20 - Transition to Dog Training
12:57 - Confidence and Success
23:25 - Siblings and Military Path
25:49 - Fighting During Youth
36:11 - Martial Arts Training
43:53 - Path to joining the Teams
47:00 - Ultra Competitive Nature
54:13 - Almost Quitting
59:26 - Largest Naval Special Warfare Op.
01:11:19 - Kicking off the Iraq War
01:19:37 - Listener Feedback
🔗 Find Ryan Online:
- Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory
- Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combats...
- Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory
- Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial
- Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial
- Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus
- Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
🔗 Find Mike Online:
- Warrior Dog Foundation https://warriordogfoundation.org/about-us/
- Navy SEAL Dogs: My Tale of Training Canines for Combat https://www.amazon.com/Navy-SEAL-Dogs-Training-Canines/dp/1250049695
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From a comm standpoint, we had to take down everything at the exact same time. |
| 0:06.0 | You know, when you're talking about at night, we had to take, you know, |
| 0:09.0 | mark fives for several hours and then transition over to ribs and then ribs to take it down |
| 0:15.0 | and, you know, while the other four platoons were taking down the manifold |
| 0:19.5 | metering station, we had a DPV, a desert patrol vehicle platoon in the mix with them as well. |
| 0:24.5 | And so it was this massive, you know, 250 special operators over the course of a 40-mile span |
| 0:30.5 | taking four targets down all at the same time. |
| 0:33.5 | And that's where the challenge came in and why it's the largest single special operations |
| 0:37.5 | mission in history is that we had our entire SEAL team with a couple of SDV platoons and Polish Grom. |
| 0:46.0 | Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fuget and I serve WarZone tours as an Army attack helicopter pilot |
| 0:51.0 | and CIA officer over a 15-year career. I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite and combat. |
| 0:57.0 | On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like on their front lines. |
| 1:03.0 | This is Combat Story. |
| 1:05.0 | Today we have the first of a two-part crossover combat story with former Navy SEAL, |
| 1:10.0 | New York Times best-selling author and trichos founder Mike Ritland, who many will know as the host of the Mike Drop podcast. |
| 1:16.0 | I traveled to Texas to interview Mike in person and then he returned the favor. |
| 1:20.0 | For those who don't know Mike, here in this trident, pre-9-11, found himself on the largest operation |
| 1:25.0 | in the history of a naval special warfare when SEAL team 3 simultaneously took control of two oil terminals |
| 1:31.0 | and a control facility on both sea and land as the Iraq war kicked off. |
| 1:36.0 | Part one of this interview focuses on that operation in addition to an amazing story of being attacked as a kid |
| 1:42.0 | and finding his way to discipline martial arts that set him on a course for the teams. |
| 1:47.0 | In part two, we dive into more combat experiences and how a unique illness forced Mike out of the teams, |
... |
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