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

less a self-inflicted distinct disadvantage? I didn’t believe that this
mission made sense. I didn’t believe it was smart. I didn’t believe it
would be successful. To imagine a firefight alongside Iraqi soldiers with
such inferior training and questionable loyalty seemed outrageous,
perhaps even suicidal. But as Task Unit Bruiser’s commander, I knew
my actions and mind-set carried great weight among my troops. These
were my orders, and for me to lead, I had to believe. So I kept my doubts
to myself as I asked the simple question: Why?
Why would the U.S. military leadership on the ground in Iraq and
back in America—from Baghdad to the Pentagon to the White House—
task Navy SEALs, other Special Operations, and U.S. Army and Marine
Corps units with such a high-risk mission? I had seen how difficult
combat could be with the best people by my side. Why make it harder?
I knew I had to adjust my perspective, to mentally step back from the
immediate fight just outside the wire and think about this question from
a strategic level, as if I were one of those generals in Baghdad or back at
the Pentagon. Sure, they were far from the front lines, but certainly, they
had the same goal we did: to win.
That led to another question: What was winning? It certainly wasn’t
winning in the traditional military sense of the word. There would be no
surrender from this enemy we fought against. There would be no peace
treaty signed. Winning here meant only that Iraq would become a
relatively secure and stable country.
So I asked myself: How can we prepare the Iraqi soldiers to handle
security in their own country? They needed to start somewhere. If there
wasn’t time to train Iraqi soldiers off the battlefield in a secure
environment on base, then they would have to learn by doing, through
OJT (on the job training). If the Iraqis never reached a level of skill at