Leif Babin on the War on Terror

Leif Babin believed that friendly fire is something that happens to units that don't know how to plan. Until it happened to his platoon on their very first major combat engagement in Ramadi, Iraq. Discover the bloody lessons Babin learned about leadership from his time in the Middle East. What real ownership, humility, and command under pressure actually look like from someone who’s learned these lessons the hard way. The challenges and threats America’s military faces today. All this and more in our latest episode of The Larry Arnn Show, where Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn interviews Leif Babin, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer, co-author of NYT bestseller Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, and Co-founder of Echelon Front. This interview was conducted on April 1, 2026. Discover more at podcast.hillsdale.edu. ------------------------------ Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction 0:49 Who is Leif Babin? 1:42 What Is a Navy SEAL? Origins and Culture 8:40 Inside BUD/S: Hell Week and Why Most Quit 12:25 Intellect, Grit, and the Making of a SEAL 15:34 Why Warriors Must Study Military History 22:00 Lessons from the Battle of Ramadi 29:32 Defining Victory in Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace 37:38 Churchill and the Limits of War 48:41 Deterrence, American Strength, and the China Threat 57:04 Why America Wins the Wars It Has to Win 58:13 Roosevelt, Churchill, and the “Europe First” Strategy 1:04:16 What Makes a Nation Worth Fighting For 1:08:35 How Great Leaders Rise in Wartime 1:13:27 Humility: The Most Important Leadership Trait Support Hillsdale College: https://secured.hillsdale.edu/hillsda... Visit our website: http://hillsdale.edu Learn from our online courses: http://online.hillsdale.edu Read Imprimis: https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/ Undergraduate programs: https://www.hillsdale.edu/information... Graduate School of Statesmanship: https://www.hillsdale.edu/academics/g... Graduate School of Government: https://dc.hillsdale.edu/School-of-Go... Graduate School of Education: https://classicalgrad.hillsdale.edu/ Listen to the Hillsdale College Podcast Network: https://podcast.hillsdale.edu/ ------------------------------ Hillsdale College is an independent institution of higher learning founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from civil and religious liberty and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.” It pursues the stated object of the founders: “to furnish all persons who wish, irrespective of nation, color, or sex, a literary, scientific, [and] theological education” outstanding among American colleges “and to combine with this such moral and social instruction as will best develop the minds and improve the hearts of its pupils.” As a nonsectarian Christian institution, Hillsdale College maintains “by precept and example” the immemorial teachings and practices of the Christian faith. The College also considers itself a trustee of our Western philosophical and theological inheritance tracing to Athens and Jerusalem, a heritage finding its clearest expression in the American experiment of self-government under law. By training the young in the liberal arts, Hillsdale College prepares students to become leaders worthy of that legacy. By encouraging the scholarship of its faculty, it contributes to the preservation of that legacy for future generations. By publicly defending that legacy, it enlists the aid of other friends of free civilization and thus secures the conditions of its own survival and independence.