My First Deployment to Ramadi With Chris Kyle

About this video

Ritland’s guest (a former SEAL Team 7 member, unnamed in this segment) recounts his first deployment to Iraq in 2005, operating in Ramadi and Habbaniyah. He describes the initial nervousness, rapid combat operations, and a life-changing IED strike three months in that severely injured his team. After recovering and returning for follow-on deployments to the Philippines and Iraq, he recalls how bureaucratic restrictions and political interference increasingly hindered operations, ultimately influencing his decision to leave the teams.

Key takeaways

• The guest describes his first combat deployment anxiety and the stark reality of operating in third-world conflict zones as a new SEAL
• Three months into his first deployment, the guest’s convoy was hit by an IED, resulting in severe injuries to the team (burns, shrapnel, broken bones) and a pivotal maturation moment for him as a young operator
• By his later deployments (2007-2009), the guest reports that increasing bureaucratic approval chains and political interference significantly reduced operational tempo and contributed to his exit from the teams

Episode details: published February 14, 2026 · 264.6K views · 23:46 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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