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

could have had deadly and devastating consequences. The guy with a
scoped weapon Chris had seen in the window was not an enemy sniper. It
was a U.S. Soldier standing back from the window with a Trijicon ACOG
scope on his U.S. military issued M16 rifle.
Thank God, I thought, literally thanking God. I was grateful for
Chris’s initial judgment—an exceptional call not to take a shot he
couldn’t clearly identify. He had done exactly as he should have and
notified me to ask for guidance. Others with less experience might have
rushed decisions and pulled that trigger. I was thankful I had held my
ground and ultimately made the right decision.
Even still, it scared the hell out of me, to think just how close we had
come to shooting a U.S. Soldier. Had we succumbed to the pressure,
Chris would have put a large caliber round into an American soldier,
almost certainly killing him. As the leader in charge, regardless of who
pulled the trigger, the responsibility would have been mine. Living with
such a thing on my conscience would have been hell. For me, the war
would have been over. There would be no choice but to turn in my
Trident (our SEAL warfare insignia) and hang up my combat boots. For
Charlie Platoon and Task Unit Bruiser, it would have undone all the
great work we accomplished, the many U.S. Soldiers and Marines we
had saved. All that would be meaningless had I given the order and Chris
pulled the trigger.
I keyed up my radio on Warrior’s company net and explained what
had happened to the company commander. He too understood how easily
a building misidentification could happen. It happened all the time. He
too breathed a huge sigh of relief that we hadn’t engaged.
“I’m glad you didn’t listen to me,” he admitted.
In the uncertainly and chaos of the battlefield, despite the pressure to