Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

would help mitigate the risk of enemy attack. I watched closely the
attitude of the troops getting ready to head out. It wasn’t real for them
yet. Finally, I walked up to the young SEAL leader, looked him in the
eye, and said, “You are going to get contacted out there. It will happen
quick. Stay sharp. Understand?”
My serious tone impacted the young SEAL lieutenant, who nodded
slowly and confirmed, “Got it, Sir. Will do.”
With that, I stepped back and watched the patrol head out the gate of
COP Falcon and into enemy territory. Curious as to how long it might
take for enemy fighters to attack, I pressed START on my stopwatch as the
patrol stepped off. This was the first overt presence patrol into this
section of South-Central Ramadi by Coalition Soldiers in months,
perhaps years. Task Unit Bruiser’s Delta Platoon, working in an adjacent
sector across the city, had for the past two months been attacked by
enemy fighters on almost every single patrol.
I monitored the radio at COP Falcon, tracking the patrol’s progress.
Suddenly, gunfire rang out, echoing across the city blocks.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da, sounded an enemy AK-47 in the near
distance.
Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu, a SEAL machine gunner
answered. It was immediately joined by dozens of other weapons that let
loose a hellacious barrage of fire, which confirmed to me that these were
my SEALs in contact. There was no other unit that unleashed such fury
when the shooting started. I looked at my watch. It had been twelve
minutes since the patrol stepped off from COP Falcon.
From my position at the COP, I listened to the radio calls. They were
broken and jumbled, weakened by the thick concrete walls of city
buildings that radio waves could not always penetrate. The shooting