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

in our plan. Our goal was to maintain the element of surprise and hit the
bad guys before they even realized we were there. This would give us the
greatest chance to rescue the hostage alive and protect SEAL assaulters
from enemy threats. After the brief, each individual operator understood
the overall plan, his specific role, and what to do if things went wrong.
Then we quickly walked through the operation in rehearsal with full
gear. As a result, we were confident we could execute with proficiency.
We had addressed and mitigated every risk that we could through
planning. But every risk could not be controlled. This mission was
inherently dangerous. Whether or not we could rescue the hostage alive
would remain to be seen.
We loaded up our vehicles and launched on the operation, driving out
the gate and into the darknesss.
As we staged our vehicles some distance away, the assault force
dismounted and lined up in patrol formation. I listened for updates from
our sniper overwatch on my radio.
“No movement on target,” they reported. “All looks quiet.” Of course
that didn’t mean all was truly quiet, but only that they couldn’t see any
movement.
The night was dark as the assault force stepped off and swiftly but
silently made our way up to the target building. As the assault force
commander, I served as a double-check to my point man’s navigation to
ensure that we were in the right place. I kept my head on a swivel,
constantly looking around to keep an eye on the target building and on
the rest of the assault force.
As we crept closer, you could feel the tension rising. Once at the
target, EOD led the way scanning for IED threats. Our SEAL breach
team moved to the entry door and placed a big explosive breaching