Mike Sarraille was three feet away when Michael Monsoor jumped on a grenade on a rooftop in Ramadi and smothered the blast. Mike and another SEAL took the shrapnel Monsoor’s body couldn’t block. Monsoor didn’t survive. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
That day is the middle of the story, not the end of it. Mike dropped out of the University of Colorado to enlist as a Recon Marine. Boot camp, scout sniper school, a Force Recon guarantee, an officer package to Texas A&M. 9/11 hit three weeks after he finished OCS. He laterally transferred to the Navy, made it through BUD/S, and landed on SEAL Team 3 in time for the 2006 Battle of Ramadi. After Monsoor was killed, Mike switched his own name tag onto a departing platoon roster to force his way back into the fight, then survived the Battle of Sadr City against Iranian-backed militia. He was later selected for DEVGRU, did an exchange tour as a troop commander at Delta, and was on the ground in Afghanistan the night Adam Brown, of the book Fearless, was killed.
This week I sat down with Mike to talk about all of it: Ramadi, DEVGRU, the NCIS investigation that followed his own attempt to get his teammates recognized for valor, and what he’s building now as Chief Talent Officer of Overwatch Mission Critical, one of the largest labor providers to the data center industry. He’s also ranked the #3 leadership speaker in the world, behind only Simon Sinek, and his new book, Teams, comes out in January.
Follow Mike on Instagram: @mr.sarraille.
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Chapters
(00:00) Meet Mike Sarraille
(02:04) Admiring Dr. Jonny Kim
(03:06) Raising Kids Who Compete
(05:35) Speaking to the Boston Bruins
(07:01) Growing Up in the Bay Area
(09:00) Dropping Out of Colorado
(09:29) Meeting a Force Recon Marine
(11:29) Force Recon, Delta and the Tier One Units
(14:42) Marine Corps Boot Camp
(16:59) Sponsor Break ROKA
(17:15) The Melting Pot of Boot Camp
(19:12) The Recon Guarantee and Entrance Test
(24:19) Scout Sniper School and the Stalking Phase
(26:26) Texas A&M and the Officer Package
(28:16) 9/11 Changes the Plan
(29:34) Telling the Marine Corps He’s Leaving
(30:22) The Lateral Transfer to the Navy
(31:11) Mini BUDs and 100 Officers Competing
(33:02) Hell Week and a Friend’s Son at BUD/S Now
(36:29) Officers and Enlisted on the Same Crew
(37:38) Diving School and Almost Drowning
(40:07) Checking In and First Deployment to Ramadi
(43:38) The 2006 Battle of Ramadi and the Band of Brothers
(45:54) Sniper Overwatch for the Army
(48:17) The Last Mission Before Rotating Home
(49:39) 115 Degrees on the Rooftop
(53:31) Playing Through Injury
(58:15) The Grenade Hits the Roof
(59:39) Michael Monsoor Jumps on the Grenade
(01:04:13) Crawling for the Radio Under Fire
(01:06:41) Loaded Into the Bradley
(01:08:15) Saying Goodbye to Mikey
(01:09:45) Meeting Mikey’s Mother
(01:11:13) The Extent of His Injuries
(01:15:52) Switching Name Tags to Redeploy
(01:16:45) The Battle of Sadr City
(01:18:58) Applying for DEVGRU Selection
(01:20:58) The Psychology of DEVGRU Screening
(01:24:21) The Speed of DEVGRU CQB
(01:25:45) The Night Adam Brown Was Killed
(01:29:45) Carrying Adam’s Body Down the Mountain
(01:31:00) Why the Mission Comes Before Family
(01:32:19) Delta Versus DEVGRU
(01:33:36) Divorce and a Tour at Texas
(01:37:29) Retiring Without a Ceremony
(01:38:51) Becoming a Fox News Contributor
(01:45:30) Founding Talent War Group
(01:47:15) Selling the Company to Overwatch
(01:48:44) What Overwatch Mission Critical Does
(01:51:22) China and Data Center Misinformation
(01:54:15) The Truth About Water and Power
(01:59:41) The Cibolo Town Hall Bloodbath
(02:02:34) The Case for Small Modular Reactors
(02:03:25) How Triple Seven Started
(02:08:34) Should We Be in Iran
(02:14:45) The Maduro Raid in Venezuela
(02:16:14) Reacting to the Delta Force Raid
(02:18:27) Drone Warfare and Unit Economics
(02:22:56) Blue Collar Millionaires and Forge Now
(02:28:57) The Eddie Gallagher Case
(02:32:19) Investigated by NCIS
(02:39:14) Announcing His New Book Teams
(02:47:37) Host Outro and Subscribe
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