The Shawn Ryan Show #298 Jason Magnavice - SEAL Team 6 Red Squadron Operator
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Apr 23, 2026 Jason Magnavice, a retired Navy SEAL and now professional pilot, shares how a strict Jehovah’s Witness childhood and First Blood fueled his path to the teams. He gets into brutal Team 2 hazing, Green Team as 9/11 unfolded, the hunt for bin Laden, Operation Anaconda, near-miss missions in Afghanistan, nonstop Iraq raids, and his shift from Red Squadron operator to cockpit life.
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His First Afghanistan Combat Was Roberts Ridge
- On his first Afghanistan deployment, Jason's team spent months moving with backpacks and MREs while hunting bin Laden's network.
- During Operation Anaconda he called in B-52 strikes on DShK positions from a mountain OP after Neil Roberts was killed.
A Zawahiri Ambush Nearly Killed The Wrong Man
- Jason describes an L-shaped helicopter ambush on a convoy believed to include Ayman al-Zawahiri and bodyguards outside Gardez.
- Afterward he stopped a man advancing with hands hidden by firing three warning shots at his feet, and the suspect turned out to be a farmer.
Iraq Became The Relentless War SEALs Expected
- Jason says Iraq delivered the nightly operational tempo SEALs imagined, from quick planning to multiple hits per night with constant target changes.
- He recalls one rooftop overwatch mission that turned into a firefight and a 300-yard SR-25 engagement under night vision.
