Mike Drop Podcast (Mike Ritland) · July 2026
Meet The Real Jack Ryan: PJ Turned CIA Spy
Nic McKinley joins Mike Ritland - retired Navy SEAL and host of Mike Drop - to walk through the full arc: Air Force Pararescue, the CIA, and building DeliverFund. A direct conversation on what it takes to operate in high-stakes environments and why the next war is being fought online.
Watch on YouTubeHosted by Mike Ritland
Key Takeaways
- The path from Air Force Pararescue to the CIA is not a straight line - it requires being selected twice and rebuilding after the first attempt.
- What the CIA actually looks for in candidates from special operations backgrounds, and what gets people cut.
- How the same operational mindset that keeps a combat team alive under fire translates directly to running a counter-trafficking intelligence operation.
- Why the Jack Ryan framing misses the point - the real tradecraft is less dramatic and more methodical than fiction suggests.
Special OperationsCIADeliverFundAir Force PJ