What Jumping on a Grenade for Your Fellow SEAL Says About Our Troops: Mike Sarraille | Navy SEAL DEVGRU | Marine Recon

Combat Story

Ryan Fugit

History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is the Podumentary with former guest Mike Sarraille, former Marine Recon and a SEAL Team leader who served 20 years in the special operations community, earning a Silver Star, multiple Bronze Stars with Valor, and more. He finished his career in the Teams with Naval Special Warfare Development Group (or DEVGRU).

Mike served in multiple leadership roles to include the Battles of Ramadi and Sadr City, to name just a few. Since retiring from service, Mike founded and is the CEO of Talent War Group, a specialized executive search firm and talent advisory; he’s co-author of ‘The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent’ and is the face of Men’s Journal’s ‘The Everyday Warrior.’

Mike and his team on Triple 7 broke several world records that included free fall jumps across the world while helping veterans.

Mike shares the story of losing his fellow SEAL Michael Mansoor - posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor - when he jumped on a grenade on a rooftop to save Mike’s life. Mike, his service, and his work today are an inspiration to so many and I’m proud to have spent some time with him. This is his story.

Find Mike Online:

Mike’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/msarraille

📸 Mike on Instagram @mr.sarraille https://www.instagram.com/mr.sarraille/

📸 ATTA Instagram @live_atta https://www.instagram.com/live_atta/

Talent War Group Instagram @talentwargroup https://www.instagram.com/talentwargroup/

Find Ryan Online:

🎙️ Ryan’s Linktree https://linktr.ee/combatstory

🔗Merch https://www.bonfire.com/store/combatstory/

🛒 Email [email protected]

📸 Instagram @combatstory https://www.instagram.com/combatstory

📘 Facebook @combatstoryofficial https://fb.me/combatstoryofficial

📖 Send us messages at https://m.me/combatstoryofficial

✔ Learn more about Ryan www.combatstory.com/aboutus

🎵 Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle

Find AJ Online:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajpasciuti/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelo-pasciuti/

Personal Website & Book Pre-Order (“Darkhorse”): https://www.ajpasciuti.com/

Combat Story Podcast (Part 1 – USMC Sniper & Force Recon in Fallujah):
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4aqnKAUUOCDmJZPWrMf9NZ

Combat Story Podcast (Part 2 – Sniper vs Sniper Battle):
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sniper-vs-sniper-battle-killing-the-enemys-most/id1537933985?i=1000633686192

Urban Valor Facebook Feature:
https://www.facebook.com/UrbanValor/posts/retired-marine-chief-warrant-officer-3-aj-pasciuti-recounts-being-in-the-middle-/602000529075284/

DVIDS Video on Infantry Marine Course:
https://www.nationalguard.mil/Leadership/Joint-Staff/Comptroller/Innovation/?dvpTag=imc&videoid=790758

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
01:06 Post-Retirement Ventures
01:51 Reflections on Military Service
02:33 Family Military History
03:40 Joining the Marine Corps
04:32 Experiences in Combat
07:56 Leadership and Transformation
10:27 Combat Stories and Reflections
16:59 Transitioning from Military to Civilian Life
18:42 Post-Traumatic Growth
31:27 Legacy and Future Generations
32:58 Fatherhood and Life Lessons

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	My name is Mike Sirelli.
0:13.0	Started out in the Marine Corps, enlisted as a recon Marine and a scout sniper,
0:18.0	and made the decision to join the SEAL teams as an officer after I earned my bachelor's degree.
0:24.6	I was with first Recon Battalion from 1998 until about 2001 and the Texas A&NROTC unit as a MESEP Marine from 2001 to 2003,
0:40.3	and then from 2004 to 2008, SEAL Team 3, and then 2009,
0:48.3	with Naval Special Warfare Development Group until 2015,
0:53.3	and then I finished out my career the last two years at the University of Texas and ROTC as an instructor.
1:01.0	What do I tell people I do today?
1:05.0	I'm still starting to figure that out.
1:07.0	I retired in March of 2018. I started a number of companies, Talent War Group, which does leadership development.
1:15.6	We come in and talk about leadership, help them create a leadership development platform.
1:19.6	We do experiential leadership development and also executive search and then founded
1:26.6	Legacy Expeditions, which is an extreme adventure company
1:31.0	where we do extreme expeditions to honor our fallen and raise money for very good nonprofits
1:36.2	and of course then i work for men's journal uh leading their everyday warrior initiative and
1:42.1	i've written some books i'm not about me, about the men and women I served with.
1:46.0	I will never do an autobiography. It's not my, not my style.
1:50.0	If I hadn't gone into the military, what would I have done as a job?
1:55.0	Honestly, man, I can't even imagine a life without being in the military.
1:59.0	I don't want to imagine a life without being in the military. I don't want to imagine a life without being in the
2:01.3	military. I loved it so much. Do I love the military? No. Did I love the mission in the sense of
2:07.9	tribe and homecoming and belonging? Yes. In combat, though horrible, you see the very best in man.
	...

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