Irish vs American Special Forces: Which One Is Harder?

About this video

Ritland interviews a guest who recounts his military career path from the Irish Army and special forces through private security contracting in Somalia to eventually joining the U.S. Army Special Forces. The guest describes differences between Irish and American selection processes, explains why he left the Irish military to start a survival training business, and details his dangerous work as a security contractor in post-Black Hawk Down Mogadishu in 1994.

Key takeaways

• The guest describes Irish special forces selection as having an extremely high attrition rate (88 started, only 4-5 selected in his class) and being physically grueling, though he found it harder partly because he was younger and less experienced
• According to the guest, elite operators across Western nations are remarkably similar in mindset and bearing, regardless of country of origin
• The guest recounts working as a freelance security contractor in Mogadishu in early 1994, immediately after Black Hawk Down, describing it as the most dangerous work of his career due to the lack of support infrastructure and constant threat of militia and bandit attacks

Episode details: published September 3, 2025 · 172.5K views · 17:36 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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