Overview of #332 Alex West - SEAL Team 6 Operator on Crashing a Black Hawk Into Bin Laden's Backyard
This episode is a wide-ranging, deeply personal conversation with retired Navy SEAL Alex West about his extraordinary path from childhood in Africa to SEAL Team 3, DEVGRU’s Red Squadron, and Operation Neptune Spear. Beyond the combat stories, the interview focuses heavily on trauma, grief, alcoholism, healing, and how West transformed his own pain into service through therapy, surf therapy nonprofit work, and advocacy for ibogaine as a treatment for veterans and others struggling with PTSD and addiction.
Alex West’s Background and Early Life
Childhood in Africa
- West was born in South Africa and raised mostly in Lesotho and later Cairo, Egypt, before moving to Kansas City as a preteen.
- His upbringing exposed him early to:
- political violence and instability,
- armed guards and security walls,
- riots, gunfire, and dangerous checkpoints,
- living among multiple languages and cultures.
Family Influence
- His father was a Vietnam veteran and TACP who carried deep PTSD, alcoholism, and war trauma into the home.
- West describes growing up with a father whose war never really ended, which shaped:
- his own emotional development,
- his early experience with crisis hotlines,
- and his long-term interest in mental health.
Why He Joined the SEALs
- He joined partly to prove his worth, partly to make his father proud, and partly to escape the pain and instability at home.
- He was inspired by:
- the movie Navy SEALs,
- Rogue Warrior by Dick Marcinko,
- and watching his cousin Pete Scobell’s BUD/S graduation.
SEAL Training and Early Military Career
BUD/S and First Assignments
- West joined the Navy in 1998, went through Radioman A School, and started BUD/S at 18.
- He describes BUD/S as brutally hard, but says the simplest advice helped him survive:
- “Make it to the next meal.”
- If needed, reduce the goal to the next hour or next five minutes.
SEAL Team 3
- He was assigned to SEAL Team 3, where he first experienced real-world deployments.
- Pre-9/11, he trained and deployed to places like:
- Hawaii,
- Guam,
- Australia,
- Bahrain,
- and later Afghanistan.
DEVGRU / Red Squadron Selection
- A mentor, Todd Scharbutt, pushed him to screen for DEVGRU much earlier than typical.
- West was selected unusually young, around 23, becoming one of the youngest guys to go through Green Team at the time.
- He says that decision helped create a new pathway for younger, highly capable operators to get to the unit sooner.
Combat, Loss, and the Psychological Cost of War
Iraq and Afghanistan
- West recounts deployments across the early GWOT era, including:
- Afghanistan after 9/11,
- the Iraq invasion,
- and repeated combat rotations through some of the most intense years of the wars.
First Kill and Escalating Combat Trauma
- He describes his first confirmed kill in Iraq during a close-range night operation, where a military working dog, Spike, helped expose an armed man hiding in bushes.
- He explains that repeated combat, close-quarters killing, and survivor’s guilt gradually changed his nervous system and mindset.
Death of Bob Horrigan and Mike McNulty
- One of the most emotional parts of the interview is the ambush in Al-Qaim where DEVGRU teammates Bob Horrigan and Mike McNulty were killed.
- West says Bob repeatedly signaled him to move back before the breach, which he later came to believe may have saved his life.
- He still carries guilt over surviving when Bob did not, and says Bob continues to appear to him in plant-medicine experiences and meditation as a guide telling him to keep helping others.
Suicide Ideation and Breaking Point
- West says his mental health deteriorated over years of combat, loss, and moral injury.
- He reached a point in Afghanistan where he was sitting with his rifle, considering suicide, when the base came under Taliban attack.
- He describes that attack as, in effect, interrupting and saving his life.
Operation Neptune Spear
How It Came Together
- West says the Abbottabad mission was briefed as a highly classified target set, with only a small group of operators involved.
- They initially thought the operation might be related to Libya, but later learned it was Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
- He highlights the tension of:
- operating deep inside Pakistan,
- the risk of F-16 interception,
- the fuel/time limit,
- and the possibility of being killed or becoming political prisoners.
The Raid
- West’s team’s role was to fast-rope into the compound and clear the main floor.
- The mission immediately went sideways when the helicopter lost stability and crashed into the compound wall.
- Despite the crash, West and the team pushed forward, cleared the compound, and ultimately helped kill bin Laden.
- He describes:
- killing a courier in the compound,
- a tragic moment involving a pregnant woman and a young girl,
- the emotional weight of seeing the aftermath,
- and the immediate transition back into mission mode.
Aftermath
- They extracted bin Laden’s body and intelligence materials, flew back through a refueling point, and were prepared for the possibility of Pakistani fighters intercepting them.
- Once back in Afghanistan, the intelligence community debriefed them, and later West watched President Obama announce to the nation that bin Laden had been killed.
- He emphasizes that the mission was a national effort, not just the work of the 23 operators.
Healing, Therapy, and One More Wave
Becoming a Therapist
- After years of trauma, West transitioned into mental health work and became an associate therapist in Nashville.
- He says therapy helped him understand himself, and that his own healing journey made him better at helping others.
- He works with:
- veterans,
- first responders,
- and general population clients, while carefully limiting the number of trauma-heavy clients because of countertransference.
One More Wave
- West founded One More Wave, a nonprofit that provides:
- adaptive surfboards,
- surf therapy,
- and a community for wounded and injured veterans.
- The idea started when he saw that standard surfboards and wetsuits weren’t adapted for amputees and other injured service members.
- He learned that surfing gave wounded vets something powerful:
- freedom from being stared at,
- temporary relief from pain,
- and a sense of community and joy.
- The organization grew far beyond what he initially imagined and now supports veterans nationwide.
Why Surfing Helps
- West explains surfing as a form of flow state:
- anxiety lives in the future,
- depression lives in the past,
- but surfing forces you into the present.
- He argues any healing practice that creates presence and connection can help:
- surfing,
- music,
- fishing,
- biking,
- or other community-based activities.
Ibogaine Advocacy and Current Mission
From Personal Recovery to Public Advocacy
- West stopped drinking after a close friend confronted him about his drinking and deteriorating mental health.
- He later underwent ibogaine treatment and says it dramatically reduced his alcohol cravings and helped stabilize him.
- He is now an advocate for clinical trials and legal access to ibogaine, especially for:
- addiction,
- PTSD,
- traumatic brain injury,
- and possibly other neurological conditions.
Politics and Policy
- He discusses efforts in Tennessee to support ibogaine-related legislation and notes that the work is about helping not just elite veterans, but any ordinary person struggling with addiction or trauma.
Key Takeaways and Advice
For kids dealing with a traumatized parent
- West’s advice:
- You are not alone.
- Help exists.
- It’s okay to cry and ask for help.
- Exercise, community, and healthy habits matter.
- Avoid alcohol and self-destructive coping if possible.
For combat veterans and operators
- His warning is clear:
- Do not feed into “bloodlust.”
- If a war is morally compromised or senseless, the psychological cost can be devastating.
- The sooner someone seeks mental health support, the better.
Broader message
- Healing is not weakness.
- Community matters more than isolation.
- The experiences that broke him also gave him the ability to help others heal.
Notable Themes
- War’s long shadow: PTSD, moral injury, and survivor’s guilt remain long after deployments end.
- Service as identity: West’s life moved from combat service to healing service.
- Community over isolation: From surf therapy to therapy offices, connection is the antidote he returns to repeatedly.
- Redemption through purpose: His nonprofit and advocacy work are framed as a continuation of his mission, not a departure from it.