“Since the first navy frogmen crawled onto the beaches of Normandy, no SEAL has ever surrendered,” writes Chuck Pfarrer. “No SEAL has ever been captured, and not one teammate or body has ever been left in the field. This legacy of valor is unmatched in modern warfare.”
Warrior Soul is a book about the warrior spirit, and it takes the reader all over the world. Former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer recounts some of his most dangerous assignments: On a clandestine reconnaissance mission on the Mosquito Coast, his recon team plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a Nicaraguan patrol boat. Cut off on the streets of Beirut, the author’s SEAL detachment must battle snipers on the Green Line. In the mid-Atlantic, Pfarrer’s unit attempts to retrieve—or destroy—the booster section of a Trident ballistic missile before it can be recovered by a Russian spy trawler. On a runway in Sicily, his assault element surrounds an Egyptian airliner carrying the Achille Lauro hijackers.
These are only a few of the riveting stories of combat patrol, reconnaissance missions, counter-terrorist operations, tragedies, and victories in Warrior Soul that illustrate the SEAL maxim “The person who will not be defeated cannot be defeated.”
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SEAL Target Geronimo, Inside the Mission to Kill Osama bin Laden Saint Martin's Press (November, 2011)
An Inconvenient Bit of History by Chuck Pfarrer
Operation Neptune's Spear, planned by SEAL Admiral Bill McRaven, was one of America's most brilliant special operations successes. Thirty-eight minutes on target, zero American casualties, and the terrorist mastermind of 9/11 sent to meet his maker. One for the history books... well, not quite.
In the six months since the mission, history, it seems, has been up for grabs. In the days and weeks after the raid the US Government floundered through a series of stories, corrections and walk backs regarding the operation. In the absence of definitive facts from the government, the story began to morph into an ugly tale of murder.
By August, the New Yorker magazine published a version of the raid that depicted the SEALS as hit men who blasted their way into the compound, firing indiscriminately, until they got to the third floor where they shot a woman and then murdered Osama bin Laden in cold blood. It is little wonder that the words Kill Mission tripped off the tongues of media pundits.
In order to write history, one needs access to the facts; the accounts of eyewitnesses, or, at the very least, access to people who know what actually happened. SEAL Target Geronimo goes to original sources, and I have no doubt that the operators and intelligence professionals who conducted this mission told me the truth.
But before I tell you what happened, let me tell you what did not. There was not a "45 minute firefight", or even a 20 minute one. There weren't enough bullet holes or broken glass to support this story-- and neither SEAL Team nor civilian casualties supported a tale of urban combat. Zero SEALs were killed or wounded, and only five civilians died, one slightly wounded. My research showed that only twelve bullets were fired during the entire mission.
The downed helicopter story was also suspect. Eye witnesses told me that the helicopter did not crash on insertion, but only after it had successfully landed assaulters on bin Laden's roof. Nor did the "crashed on insertion" story make tactical sense. If the lead helicopter went down approaching the target, why would its back up then divert outside the compound and deposit its load of shooters on the wrong side of a twenty-foot concrete wall? In addition, a close up inspection of the walls of the compound revealed no main rotor strike damage, and the tail rotor left behind was largely intact, and its blades undamaged, suggesting that it was not turning when it was thrown outside the walls.
Overhead video imagery confirms that assaulters were delivered successfully to the roof of the main building, and that the crash of the insertion helicopter came 12 to 18 minutes into the raid-- not at the outset. This live video feed was beamed into the White House. As the President and his entourage watched in horror, the helicopter was seen to lift off from the roof, turn tail and settle into the livestock pen next to the main residence. The cause of the crash is unknown, but may have to do with the catastrophic failure of two flight control systems. The stealth helicopter, now unflyable, was abandoned and blown up in place. Despite this accident, Admiral McRaven's SEALs completed their mission and returned to base without loss or injury. Bin Laden's corpse was flown to the carrier USS Carl Vinson where he was buried at sea.
The Administration's pushback started even before SEAL Target Geronimo hit its publication date. For the first time in history, the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) singled out a military history book for criticism-- calling SEAL Target Geronimo "a fabrication", and branding me, its author, "a liar". Those are serious accusations to a third generation naval officer, and I take exception to them. But lost in the government denunciation was a statement that may provide an explanation of why the book was such an annoyance, at least to politicians. An AP article quoted a SOCCOM spokesman as saying, that Admiral Bill McRaven "...was concerned that the book would lead Americans to doubt the Administration's version of the story."
You may count me as a doubter, and an early one.
When politics is mixed with military history, the result is not often pretty. One need only recall the press stories involving Specialist Jessica Lynch, Ranger Pat Tillman or "Mission Accomplished" to know what happens when politicians put their spin on battlefield facts.
Indeed, the Administration's handling of the narrative could not have been worse: a premature, politically driven announcement, followed by a contradictory story, crowned by a highly negative magazine account and a television dramatization that depicted the raid as a cold blooded hit. What might have been an important success for the United States in the "information space" was turned into an unmitigated disaster. Reaction to the New Yorker article was immediate-- flags started burning all over the Middle East, and US Special Operations Forces were seen as a gang of murderers and thugs.
But worse, much worse, by almost immediately confirming that the United States had conducted the operation, President Obama rendered worthless hundreds of items of actionable intelligence-- enough to put Al Qaeda out of business, forever. As news of the raid spread around the world, Al Qaeda operatives, including Ayman Zawahiri, bolted for cover. The intelligence gathered by the SEALs was squandered in an instant-- bartered for a bump in the polls.
When the administration and the military failed to disavow the scabrous New Yorker article, I was appalled. The brave SEALs who pulled off this mission deserved better, and history deserved the truth. I wrote SEAL Target Geronimo to correct the record, and I stand by every word.
I've found that the most strident attacks against the book (and me) have been made either anonymously, or by people who did not witness the raid. The mission was filmed, in its entirety, by an RQ-170 Sentinel drone. The people who watched the mission live included: President Barrack Obama, VP Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, Brigadier General Brad Webb, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor, White House Chief of Staff William M. Daley, Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President, Audrey Tomason, Director for Counterterrorism for the National Security Council, John O. Brennan, Chief Counterterrorism Advisor to the President, and James R. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence. These people saw the mission, and they saw it happen as I described it in the book.
Not one of these eye-witnesses has come forward to refute or even question what I have written.
I am certain that one, several, or perhaps all of these people will eventually write their memoirs, and it will be interesting to see what they say not only about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden-- but why they felt it wasn't necessary to come to the defense of an honest man who wrote the facts.
I have learned long ago to never be disappointed by people-- especially politicians.
The Navy SEALs who struck bin Laden's compound did so with the stealth and precision that has been the hallmark of Naval Special Warfare for more than 50 years. The facts of this operation are a vital part of our nation's history. The events at Abbottabad exemplify the professionalism and fighting spirit of the United States Navy. I have been honored to their story.
Chuck can take simple words and twist them into a visual image that needs no further input. Going from the mundane hurry up and wait mentality of typical military ops, he takes you from humorous bar scenes to the horrors of terrorism and the mayhem resulting from underestimating the enemy and complacency. Political correctness takes its toll in attitudes, men, and the morale of entire countries. This can be read between the lines. Chuck pulls no punches and lays it out for anybody to see. The men who do the fighting and the ones who create the need for these men to fight are not generally on the same sheet of music. Politics and appeasement are the enemies. WARRIOR SOUL is not just another 'SEAL' book in typical fashion. I DO NOT compare it to the other books by former SEALs. This one is in a class by itself. Thanks for a great book and thanks for your service to our nation. Grab a copy of WARRIOR SOUL and devour it.
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I picked up Warrior Soul while waiting for William Gibson to show up for a reading at Barnes & Noble and was so struck by it that I went back and bought it. Pfarrer is a better writer than most ex-military men, and his descriptions of the men he encountered and training he endured to become a SEAL stuck in my head. After getting the book home I devoured it in two days, and promptly read it again.
Pfarrer's excellent writing aside, I was struck by his tone: he neither romanticizes his military experience nor disdains it. He is as honest about it as one can be when writing about missions which were, at one point, classified. Instead of the gung ho, Rambo figures were are usually presented with when dealing with special forces soldiers, he shows us a group of highly dedicated, highly trained men who are willing to do some of the most dangerous jobs in the world. What comes though is their humanity and, for me, the most interesting thing about the book was the way in which the SEALs dealt with the unimaginable stresses under which they operate. The secrecy and tight bonding required for their job becomes, in many ways, their own worst enemy, as they are forced to live in a world apart from the rest of the military and far, far removed from any civilian life. No coming home and blowing off some steam with your wife or friends, if you have been able to hang onto them.
Pfarrer reached the pinnacle of then-current U.S. Special Forces (SEAL Team 6) and left the Navy, worn down, I think, by the intense emotional pressure of the job. I was left with a sense of awe at what these men are capable of, and compassion for the wounds they received, both physical and emotional.
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This review is from: Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal (Mass Market Paperback)
I finally read Chuck's book, and I only wish I had read it earlier. We were team mates in the early 1980s at UDT-21/ST-4, and in fact his platoon relieved mine in Beirut. I have probably read just about every book on the SEAL Teams written by actual frogs that is out there, and Warrior Soul is now up with the top 2 or 3 covering all eras for its military value. Covering the modern (post Viet Nam) era, there is no SEAL Team book close to Warrior Soul. Yes indeed, it's a terrific book on SEAL training and tactics, and is well worth reading for that reason alone.
But Warrior Soul goes much further beyond being a mere military autobiography. Chuck has laid his soul bare on the pages. I can't begin to think of another military autobiography (or any autobiography) which has come even close in terms of often merciless self-examination. (God knows I wouldn't have the guts to tread there!) This book tells it all, and I can't avoid a cliche here: the good, the bad, and the ugly. This book will move you, and you will not forget the story it tells of the Teams, and you will not forget Chuck Pfarrer the man.
But now I want to tell readers something which Chuck didn't (and couldn't) tell in his own story without sounding self-serving. In the Teams, Chuck was a 250 watt bulb that stood out among a very bright group of guys. He was literally the life of the party where ever he went. He told the funniest jokes, made up the best drinking and running songs, drew the most amazing frogman cartoons. He got everybody stoked, all the time!
Here is one example referenced in the book. The teeth drawn on his platoon's Seafox in Beirut? That was all Chuck. When I saw it, when his platoon arrived and we briefly had two Seafoxes on station in Beirut, I was so mad that none of us had thought of doing it! And it's a tribute to his then-platoon commander Frank (ahem) "Giffland" that he allowed their Seafox to be so decorated.
After Chuck got out of the Teams and went into writing movie screenplays, I was probably the least surprised person in the world. It seemed like a totally natural progression for him. You see, Chuck Pfarrer, when I knew him, was a force of nature, a lightning rod, a fountain of creativity and good humor. Even among that very exceptional group of men called Navy SEALs, Chuck stood out, and not only because of his height and red hair!
I wish him victory in meeting all of his challenges, good health, long life, happiness in everything, and continued success in the creative arts.
Matt Bracken
Author of "Enemies Foreign And Domestic" and "Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista."
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First Sentence:
IT WAS A FRIDAY NIGHT, and Gate 14 at Norfolk International was not crowded. Read the first pageKey Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
advanced operator training, poodle shooter, landing team headquarters, maritime sabotage, two boat crews, marine amphibious unit, shooting pairs, diving rigs, leading petty officer, tail ramp, naval special warfare, combat controller, motor section, escape trunk, senior chief, multinational peacekeeping force, combat shooting, assault element, combat search, amphibious base, assault group
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Green Beach, Team Six, Green Team, United States, Fifth Platoon, Achille Lauro, Team Four, Fairfax County, Puerto Lempira, Puerto Rico, Baby Zee, Marine Corps, Texas Pete, Hell Week, West Beirut, World War, Black Hats, Rancho Deluxe, Virginia Beach, Abu Abbas, Green Beret, Iwo Jima, Little Creek, Bob Gormly, Captain Gormly
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