Force Recon After SOCOM: The Marines They Left Out of Special Operations

About this video

Ritland’s guest recounts his journey from a Marine Corps infantry sniper to Force Recon, spanning 1987 to post-9/11 Afghanistan. The guest describes preparing throughout high school for military service, nearly drowning during his first recon screening due to poor swimming ability, eventually becoming a sniper platoon sergeant, attending Ranger School, and finally making it into Force Recon in 1993. He details pre-9/11 training deployments, working alongside SEAL platoons, and being deployed to Australia when 9/11 happened, leading to immediate deployment to Afghanistan by November 2001.

Key takeaways

• The guest attributes his success to proactive preparation starting at age 13-14, spending all of high school training physically and mentally for Marine Corps service—a self-motivation Ritland identifies as a key predictor of success in special operations
• The guest nearly failed his first Force Recon screening in 1987 by passing out in the pool due to inability to swim, was told to learn swimming and return, and successfully made it into Force Recon six years later in 1993 after serving as a sniper and attending Ranger School
• The guest describes being in Australia on a routine six-month MEU deployment when 9/11 occurred, with his unit recalled to ships overnight and steaming directly to establish a foothold in Pakistan before entering Afghanistan by November 2001

Episode details: published May 13, 2026 · 42.8K views · 21:29 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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