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

on the ground here, we (Charlie Platoon and our brethren in Delta
Platoon) activated our QRF more times than I could count.
The e-mail Jocko had just forwarded to me from our higher
headquarters asked a series of questions that our CO wanted to know
prior to approving our pending operation. One of the questions read,
“Did you coordinate an appropriate QRF?”
I found this question almost an insult. “Do they really think we
would do any type of operation whatsoever here without a significant
QRF package fully coordinated and on standby?” I asked. “We even set
up QRFs for ours administrative convoys. This is Ramadi. Going out
there without a QRF would be suicide.”
Jocko smiled. Over the previous weeks, he had vented similar
frustration to me, probably more so than he should have. We would
privately laugh at some of the questions that flowed from our higher
headquarters. On one recent operation Charlie Platoon had planned, we
were asked whether mortars were a danger for us. Mortars—with up to
twenty pounds of high-explosive cased in half-inch-thick steel—fell
from the sky and exploded with a tremendous concussion that threw
lethal shrapnel in all directions. Often, enemy fighters fired mortars with
impressive accuracy. Mortars were a danger for us on every operation,
even while sitting on base. We selected buildings with thicker concrete
walls that could provide some protection, and we tried never to be
predictable so the enemy could not anticipate our next move. Besides
that, mortars were a risk largely beyond our control. We had to focus our
planning efforts on the risks we could control.
Jocko had been every bit as frustrated with some of the questions and
shared that with me. But since that time, he had come to the realization
that the frustrations we had with our superiors were misguided. The CO