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

under pressure. Amid the noise, mayhem, and uncertainty of the
outcome, we had practiced the ability to remain calm, step back from the
situation mentally, assess the scenario, decide what had to be done, and
make a call. We had learned to Prioritize and Execute. This process was
not intuitive to most people but could be learned, built upon, and greatly
enhanced through many iterations of training.
Here, I recognized our highest priority, and I gave the broad guidance
to execute on that priority with a simple command: “Set security!”
Though I, like everyone else in our platoon, wanted desperately to help
our wounded man lying in the street below, the best way for us to do that
was by occupying the strongest tactical position to defend ourselves.
With threats all around and above us, we needed SEAL shooters in
covering positions with weapons ready to engage any enemy threat to the
men on the exposed rooftop, those SEALs and others still exiting the
building, and the wounded man lying helpless in the street below.
Chief immediately stepped in and started directing shooters flowing
through the hole in the wall and onto the rooftop. “Give me some guns
over here!” he shouted.
Within moments, we had weapons, and in particular machine
gunners, in key covering positions and had security set.
Second, the next priority: find a way down to get everyone off the
exposed rooftop and get to our wounded man. To accomplish this, the
SEALs up front needed a SEAL breacher to break through the locked
iron gate to a stairwell that led down to the street. All the training had
imparted the instinct of Prioritize and Execute on the whole platoon. The
entire team would simultaneously assess problems, figure out which one
was most important with minimal direction from me, and handle it
before moving on to the next priority problem. And the SEALs up front