Left TOP GUN to Fight w/ Jocko Willink's SEALs in Ramadi

About this video

A former Marine fighter pilot and Top Gun instructor recounts leaving his aviation career to serve as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) with SEAL Team Task Unit Bruiser in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006. He describes feeling overwhelmed operating on the ground, his initial intimidation meeting Jocko Willink, and developing a close working relationship with Leif Babin’s Charlie Platoon. The guest details specific combat operations, including the mission where SEAL Marc Lee was killed, and reflects on losing one of his own Marines during the deployment.

Key takeaways

• The guest voluntarily left his position as senior instructor at Top Gun to become a FAC, eventually deploying to Ramadi where he embedded with Jocko Willink’s Task Unit Bruiser for seven months
• The guest describes his unique value to the SEALs: as a former Hornet pilot, he could communicate with pilots and understand their perspective from 15,000 feet, compressing coordination time in critical combat situations
• The guest recounts that on August 2nd, 2006, when Marc Lee was killed, he controlled a Cobra helicopter that placed a thermobaric Hellfire missile through a second-story window to help extract the SEAL team
• The guest explains he didn’t fully grasp the strategic impact of their work in Ramadi until years later, as he was focused entirely on tactical execution and bringing his Marines home; he lost Marine Chris Leon during the deployment and named his son after him

Episode details: published March 13, 2026 · 11.7K views · 29:09 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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