On this episode of the Liberty Risk Podcast, the boys sit down with one of the oldest (but not old!) Teamguys we’ve had on the show - Dave Maynard.

Dave went through UDT/SEAL training in 1972 before BUD/S was even called BUD/S, back when the Teams were still figuring out what modern special operations would eventually become. From old-school training stories and early Team culture to Iraq, Blackwater, CIA work, and even the notorious Hurricane Katrina, this episode covers 50+ years of adventures & chaos behind the gun.

Dave shares what SEAL training looked like in the early ‘70s - when Hell Week was briefly shut down, instructors had zero interest in your feelings, and somehow the solution to almost every problem involved more running, colder water, or explosives.

The conversation eventually shifts into Dave’s time doing CIA GRS work in Iraq, including a massive firefight in Basra where his team got trapped in an ambush against a huge militia force. Shot up vehicles, malfunctioning weapons, taking a round in the helmet without realizing it, and a wild hero story at the end - the kind of story that sounds ridiculous until you remember these guys actually lived it.

We also get into:

• The origins of modern VBSS ship boarding tactics
• Hallucinations during Hell Week and demo accidents at San Clemente
• Blackwater operations during Hurricane Katrina
• The breakdown of New Orleans after the storm
• CIA contracting, leadership failures, and combat in Iraq
• Divorce, rebuilding life later in life, and starting over from nothing
• Veteran suicide, purpose after service, and staying connected

Same Liberty Risk format - engaging conversations, dark humor, nonstop side quests, and stories you usually only hear around last call after a long night with the boys, if ever.

This one feels less like an interview and more like sitting around hearing stories from a man who’s spent the last 50+ years doing things in real life that most people only hear about in books.