Navy SEAL Reveals What French Foreign Legion Jungle Raids Were Really Like

About this video

Ritland’s guest, a former US Navy SEAL who joined the French Foreign Legion, recounts his deployments to French Guiana and Estonia. He describes four-month jungle operations destroying illegal gold mines and drug operations, living on remote outposts with minimal resources, and later participating in NATO operations on the Russian border. The guest shares details about Legion life including poor food quality, vacation policies, COVID restrictions, and his unsuccessful attempt to join an elite mountain commando unit before ultimately deciding not to reenlist.

Key takeaways

• The guest describes jungle operations in French Guiana involving destruction of illegal mining operations, including diving into mercury-contaminated lakes and working with French gendarmes on 14-day patrols
• French Foreign Legion soldiers receive approximately two months vacation per year (double US military standards) but are paid significantly less and receive notably poor quality food compared to American forces
• After failing the selection for an elite mountain commando unit at age 37, the guest declined to reenlist for another five years, having completed deployments to French Guiana, domestic operations in France, and NATO operations in Estonia

Episode details: published September 26, 2026 · 220.8K views · 22:12 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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