Nine soldiers in a hilltop position. Rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire from every direction. Seven killed. One man left on the radio, calling for help that was not coming. That is where this episode begins. In this Memorial Day special of The Hard Way, Joe De Sena sits down with four men who faced the most extreme physical and mental breaking points a human being can endure.
- Medal of Honor recipient Ryan Pitts fought alone and was wounded at a remote observation post in Afghanistan after losing seven teammates around him.
- Navy SEAL leader Leif Babin breaks down how extreme ownership and the refusal to quit create an advantage when everyone else is suffering.
- Navy pilot Keegan Gill was ejected from a fighter jet at 695 miles per hour, shattered nearly every major bone in his body, and spent two hours drowning in the Atlantic.
- Green Beret Nick Lavery lost his leg to machine gun fire in Afghanistan, then fought his way back to become the first above-knee amputee to return to active duty special operations.
Each story delivers a concrete lesson in endurance under fire, ownership of outcomes, and the decision to keep going when quitting is the logical choice.
Things You Will Learn:
- Why the person who hangs on one minute longer is the one who wins.
- What extreme ownership looks like in combat and why it builds lasting toughness in any environment.
- Why asking for help is not a weakness, and why the toughest operators on the planet treat mental health the same as a broken ankle.
Tools & Frameworks Covered:
- Outlast the Field: You do not need to be the best. You need to be the last one still moving when everyone else stops.
- Extreme Ownership: Own every failure. Share every lesson. The ego hit is temporary. The growth is permanent.
- Burn the Boats Standard: No Plan B. Meet the standard or die trying. Gray area does not exist at the highest level.
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Guests Bios:
Ryan Pitts: Medal of Honor recipient. On July 13, 2008, at a remote observation post in Wanat, Afghanistan, Pitts was wounded in the opening seconds of a massive enemy assault that killed seven of his fellow soldiers. Alone and bleeding, he continued fighting and called for reinforcements on the radio, holding his position until help arrived. He was 22 years old. Pitts spent a year recovering at Walter Reed and has since dedicated himself to sharing the stories of the men who fought beside him and the importance of seeking help when the fight follows you home.
Leif Babin: Former Navy SEAL officer and co-author of Extreme Ownership. Babin led SEAL operations in Ramadi, Iraq, during some of the most intense urban combat of the war. He lost teammates in action and carried those lessons into leadership consulting, teaching that owning your failures — not hiding them — is the foundation of real toughness and lasting performance.
Keegan Gill: Former Navy fighter pilot. During a training exercise over the Atlantic, a system malfunction sent his jet into an unrecoverable dive. He ejected at 695 miles per hour, two seconds from impact. The force shattered both arms, both legs, broke his neck, and caused a traumatic brain injury. His parachute release malfunctioned, and he spent two hours being drowned by his own chute in freezing water before rescue. He woke up two weeks later in a trauma center.
Nick Lavery: Green Beret and the first above-knee amputee to return to active duty special operations. On his third deployment to Afghanistan, machine gun fire destroyed his right leg. From his hospital bed, he committed to returning to his team with no backup plan. After two years of rehabilitation and 14 weeks of assessment, he returned to the same team that was with him when he was wounded and deployed back to Afghanistan seven weeks later. He served 20 years total.
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The Hard Way Podcast With Joe De Sena, Hosted by Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan, this podcast delves into the principles of resilience, discipline, and the Spartan mindset. De Sena's journey from building a multimillion-dollar pool cleaning business in his teens to establishing a successful Wall Street trading firm showcases his entrepreneurial spirit. In 2001, he transitioned from finance to operate an organic farm in Pittsfield, Vermont, where his passion for endurance events like ultramarathons and adventure races flourished. This led to the creation of Spartan, aiming to inspire individuals to embrace challenges and push their limits.
