Page 124 - JSOM Summer 2023

The Operator

Firing the Shots That Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior

O’Neill, Robert. The Operator: Firing the Shots That Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior. New
York, NY: Scribner, Publisher: 2018. 368 pages. ISBN-10: 1501145037/ISBN-13: 977-1-5011-4503-2
Review by Scott P. Graverson, PhD

ull up a stool, grab a beer, and prepare for a book full of “There mountain near the Afghan village where Luttrell was located. The
I Was” war stories from one of the U.S. Navy SEALs’ most rec- commanders decided the best extract was to helicopter in a platoon
Pognized warriors. Chief Robert O’Neill, the Operator credited of U.S. Army Rangers and grab Luttrell. Rob’s SEAL team served as
with killing Osama bin Laden, regales us with tales from the more “mission redundancy” in case the helicopter came under fire or had
exciting operations he took part in. The story begins in Butte, Mon- to abort the mission for any reason.
tana, with Robert, a jilted teenager, making an impulsive decision to
enlist in the Navy to graduate Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Rob was also part of the mission to rescue Richard Phillips, Captain
(BUD/S). Growing up in the Rocky Mountains and living the fron- of the merchant ship Maersk Alabama when Somali pirates seized
the boat off the coast of Somalia. While Rob was not
tier life gave Robert certain advantages—the outdoor one of the snipers involved in the takedown of the pi-
lifestyle kept him fit, his love for hunting honed his
acumen with firearms, and his father’s engagement in rates, he learned a valuable lesson regarding when a
sports (specifically, basketball) instilled him with the unit member is in the public spotlight: too much atten-
tion to warriors who operate in the shadows can have a
discipline necessary to complete the world’s most rig- deleterious effect on individual and unit morale.
orous military training. The only thing lacking on his
resume was the thing SEALs do most: swim. Rob took The book concludes with several chapters dedicated
this challenge head-on and went to the pool at the to the book’s tagline: the demise of the world’s most
local university every day. He was fortunate enough wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, architect of the
to enlist the help of a high-school friend who swam 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Penta-
for the University of Notre Dame. He learned some gon. The book describes the weeks of training the team
basic techniques and worked hard to master them. underwent to prepare for the mission in a mock com-
For 6 months, he did nothing but run, swim, and do pound in North Carolina through the mission’s execu-
pull-ups. tion. Like the sniper who pulled the trigger to liberate
Captain Phillips from the Somali pirates, Rob received unwanted
Growing up, Rob and his dad played one-on-one basketball; games attention. In addition to dealing with the celebrity status and calls
concluded with a free-throw competition. Once they made 20 free
throws in a row, they would treat themselves to a steak dinner. Once for interviews, rumors floated about book deals, movie rights, and
it became easy to accomplish the 20 free throws, they upped the goal the like, which caused a lot of tension in the unit and eventually
forced Rob to decide to leave the Navy after 15 years of service, 5
to 40, then 70 free throws. During high school, an active-duty SEAL years short of retirement eligibility.
hired Robert as a hunting guide. His performance across the rocky
terrain earned him high marks from his employer, who suggested Ultimately, Rob completed 400 combat missions, earned two Silver
he might be fit to serve on one of the teams. This initial seed gave Stars, four Bronze Stars with Valor, a Joint Service Commendation
him the confidence to try out for the elite teams, and the free-throw Medal with Valor, three Presidential Unit Citations, and a Navy/
competitions with his dad gave him the tenacity to never give up, Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor. He also had a
even when he thought he would drown. mortgage, no job, no pension, and no degree. This begs the question,
“What does a former Special Forces Operator do when he leaves
Rob details many of his more exciting deployments with the SEAL
team—at least as much as he can, given the sensitive nature of the the service?” Of all the skills acquired during the extensive training,
team’s work and the potential that the stories may contain classified not many of them translate well to a corporate job. Rob realized
he was not the only Operator needing direction; hundreds of Army
information. The author redacted parts of the book to comply with Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Air Force Pararescuemen retire or leave
the DoD Prepublication and Security Reviews; however, some redac-
tions are clumsily done. “At the time, the only two SEAL teams were the service every year. Rob now uses his SEAL training to focus his
One and Two, so [SEAL founder Richard] Marcinko and the other energy on motivational speaking and assisting Operators to transi-
tion to civilian life. Rob supports the Special Operators Transition
planners settled on the name SEAL Team *** to confuse the Soviets Foundation (formerly Your Grateful Nation).
and make them wonder where Teams Three, Four, and Five were (p.
26).” The reader can quickly ascertain the redacted information with If you like swapping war stories with your combat buddies or sim-
a few inferences or a quick Google search. ply hearing the tales regaled by the warriors who lived them, this
These redactions were a minor distraction compared to the tales book is for you. The authors wrote this book for military veterans
of adventure woven in this book. Most interesting to this reader and civilians alike. Rob takes the time to explain the military jar-
gon to the civilians so that it is not an annoyance to the veteran. A
was the intersection of operations told in other books, such as the word of warning, though: this book contains a fair amount of coarse
search for Marcus Luttrell in “Lone Survivor.” Rob was on the SEAL
operation to recover Luttrell. They went on foot to the top of the “team room” language, so be ready to look behind that curtain.

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