Mike Drop Podcast Episode 47: Jason and Iris Gardner - Back to the Basics

About this video

Mike Ritland interviews Jason and Iris Gardner, a Navy SEAL veteran and his wife who now homestead in Washington State. The conversation covers their marriage, Jason’s 30-year SEAL career including nine deployments, the challenges of reintegration after combat (particularly Jason’s 2009 Afghanistan deployment), and their current lifestyle focused on healthy eating, outdoor living, and raising their children off-grid. They discuss post-deployment struggles, military mental health support, and their philosophy on whole foods and gut health.

Key takeaways

• According to Jason, the military’s third-location decompression (stopping in another country for two days with psych evaluations) helps service members transition home, though reintegration challenges like heightened anger responses can persist
• Iris recounts that Jason returned from his 2009 Afghanistan deployment with noticeable changes—standing guard at night with a weapon, anger over minor issues, and relying on alcohol and Ambien to sleep—prompting her to encourage him to see a psychologist
• The Gardners attribute their marriage success to mutual respect and willingness to challenge each other’s beliefs, and they prioritize a homesteading lifestyle with whole foods, foraging, gut health focus (fermented foods, bone broth, organ meats), and minimal processed foods

Episode details: published October 25, 2019 · 53.9K views · 3:45:57 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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