Mike Drop Podcast: Episode 58 - Will Chesney

About this video

Mike Ritland interviews Will Chesney, former Navy SEAL and handler of Cairo, the military working dog on the bin Laden raid. Chesney recounts his path from Southeast Texas to SEAL Team Four (three Iraq deployments) and eventually DEVGRU, where he partnered with Cairo. He discusses his dog handling experiences, Cairo’s temperament and capabilities, combat operations as a sniper in Baghdad (2006-2007), and the lasting impact of losing teammate Clark Schwedel. Chesney also shares his post-service struggles with weight gain, self-medication, and memory issues.

Key takeaways

• Chesney attributes Cairo’s exceptional performance to the dog’s rare ability to ’turn off’ aggression when not working—remaining calm around civilians and children even after retirement, unlike many military working dogs.
• As a young SEAL sniper in Baghdad (2006-2007), Chesney conducted dozens of sniper operations and reflects that while he doesn’t regret the kills, he takes no pleasure in them—viewing it as a necessary job someone had to do.
• The loss of SEAL Team Four teammate Clark Schwedel (shot in the neck during an operation) had a profound impact on Chesney, illustrating the risks of the profession and the difficulty of missing fallen brothers’ funerals due to operational tempo.

Episode details: published April 27, 2020 · 907.9K views · 3:10:20 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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