22 Meters From a 500-Pound Bomb: Behind Enemy Lines in Afghanistan

About this video

A guest recounts a 2016 mission in Baghlan province, Afghanistan, where his team attempted to clear Taliban-controlled villages. The operation began with him surviving a 500-pound bomb dropped just 22 meters from his position while pinned down in an orchard, then evolved into a 10-hour firefight involving ambushes, mortars, and casualties. The guest describes recovering fallen Afghan partners under fire and the chaotic effort to account for all personnel, an action for which he received a Silver Star.

Key takeaways

• The guest survived a 500-pound bomb that struck 22 meters from his position during an ambush in an orchard, causing ruptured eardrums and leaving him disoriented but continuing the mission
• The guest and his team discovered the village heavily rigged with IEDs—he personally destroyed 17 and Afghan partners destroyed over 50—before being ambushed during their withdrawal
• The guest participated in recovering fallen Afghan partners, including running behind an Apache gun run to retrieve a friend named Abe from a ditch 500 meters up a road under sporadic fire

Episode details: published April 13, 2026 · 4.9K views · 30:08 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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