From SEAL Team 10 to DEVGRU - Cole Fackler Speaks Out

About this video

Mike Ritland interviews a former SEAL Team 10 operator and DEVGRU member about his combat deployments and career progression. The guest recounts his first firefight engagement at Team 10, describes working with military working dogs during operations in Iraq, and details his experience going through Green Team selection and joining DEVGRU. He discusses the cultural and operational differences between regular SEAL teams and Development Group, including the significantly higher mental stress of selection and the robust support infrastructure at the command.

Key takeaways

• The guest attributes his first combat engagement to skeet shooting experience his father taught him, emphasizing how training transfers to real-world scenarios
• Military working dogs became integral to operations by 2007-2009, proving valuable for both explosive detection and apprehension, though handlers learned they required careful tactical employment to avoid misuse
• Green Team selection has approximately 80% attrition and is described as mentally exhausting beyond BUD/S, with candidates evaluated not just on performance standards but on character traits like ownership of mistakes and team contribution

Episode details: published July 13, 2026 · 54.4K views · 25:32 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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