015 Mike Ritland Q & A Part I
About this video
Mike Ritland hosts a Q&A episode covering diverse topics from his Navy SEAL career and personal life. He discusses coping with the loss of dogs, his scariest hazing experience (which was actually waiting to be hazed but never getting it), and shares that Valley fever in 2004 permanently damaged his lung capacity and prevented him from joining DEVGRU. Ritland also answers questions about training courses, favorite metal bands, tattoos, and reflects on what he misses about Iowa.
Key takeaways
- Ritland recommends coping with pet loss by focusing on the good times and positive impact the animal had, rather than dwelling on the loss itself.
- Ritland recounts that Valley fever cost him significant lung capacity in 2004, which he believes made him unable to perform at the level required for DEVGRU and ultimately led to his departure from the Navy.
- Ritland describes his scariest hazing moment as not being hazed at all—missing the initiation when other new guys were hazed, then spending ten days in fear waiting for it to happen.
- Ritland advocates for mandatory two-year national service (not exclusively military) to teach young people that life isn’t about them and to instill the value of serving others.
Episode details: published October 16, 2018 · 12K views · 1:01:27 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.
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