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

meters down the street from where a U.S. Army battalion would
establish their newest combat outpost. Once again we were deep in the
heart of enemy territory. We covered the Soldiers as they moved into the
area on foot, accompanied by tanks and Bradleys.
Now the sun had risen and hundreds of U.S. Soldiers had arrived,
clearing through the surrounding buildings. Chris and other SEAL
snipers had already killed several enemy fighters maneuvering to attack
—just another day in South-Central Ramadi. After every engagement, I
relayed situational reports (or SITREPs) to the U.S. Army company in
charge of the new combat outpost—Team Warrior of the 1st Battalion,
36th Armored Regiment, assigned to Task Force Bandit.
The snipers did the bulk of the shooting. As an officer, my job wasn’t
to pull the trigger but to provide command and control and coordinate
with the friendly units in the area.
However, the report from Chris of a guy with a scoped weapon in a
second-story window raised some questions. U.S. Soldiers were clearing
buildings just beyond the direction he was looking, and we needed to be
absolutely clear as to what we were seeing. I crouched next to Chris and
kept fairly low to try and prevent my head getting shot off. He held his
sniper rifle steady and, through his high-power scope, carefully observed
the window where he had last seen the dark silhouette of the man with a
weapon.
“You still have eyes on?” I asked Chris, meaning did he still have a
visual on the potential target.
“Negative,” Chris responded without taking his eye from his
riflescope.
Looking down the street he was observing, I could see a few hundred
meters in that direction. The streets and alleyways were narrow and