Navy SEAL Kevin Kent on Seizing Saddam’s Dam in Iraq

About this video

Navy SEAL Kevin Kent recounts his first deployment to Iraq in 2003, describing his platoon’s mission to seize the Mukdadiyah hydroelectric dam near the Iranian border. Kent describes operational challenges with DPV vehicles, discovering 15 hidden anti-aircraft guns that intelligence had missed, and the surreal experience of Iraqi workers returning to the dam the next day. He also details subsequent operations in Baghdad including target raids, escorting agency personnel, and investigating radioactive material sites in the western desert.

Key takeaways

• Kent’s team seized a hydroelectric dam near the Iranian border in 2003, discovering 15 anti-aircraft guns that intelligence had failed to identify, which could have destroyed their helicopters
• Kent describes the DPV vehicles as technologically outdated (1980s VW Bug engines) and operationally problematic, requiring momentum rather than traction and failing frequently under load
• Kent recounts investigating radioactive cesium-137 silos in the western desert that he claims Saddam Hussein had used to expose his own troops to radiation poisoning for experimental purposes

Episode details: published September 10, 2025 · 9.3K views · 21:30 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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