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

confusing. The maze of one-and two-story buildings blended together.
Our view was partially obstructed by low-hanging power lines and the
occasional palm tree or parked car.
In recent weeks, enemy snipers had wreaked havoc in this area,
killing a young Marine and an Army Soldier and critically wounding
more. Ryan Job had been shot only a couple of blocks down the street
from our position. Marc Lee had been killed just a few houses down
from the building we now occupied. Their loss was devastating and this
fight was extremely personal to us. We did our utmost to eliminate every
enemy fighter to ensure more of our teammates and our U.S. Army and
Marine Corps brothers-in-arms came home alive.
Killing an enemy sniper, who had likely killed our own, would exact
some measure of vengeance and protect American lives. But there were
friendlies—U.S. Soldiers—throughout this area so we had to be sure.
I got on the radio—the company communications net—and requested
Team Warrior’s company commander. He was a respected leader and an
outstanding Soldier I had come to admire in the months we had worked
together.
“Warrior, this is Red Bull,^2 I said, when he came up on the net. “We
saw a man with a scoped weapon in the second story of building 127.
Can you confirm you don’t have any personnel in that building?” I
listened as he contacted his platoon commander, responsible for the
buildings in that area, on the company net. The platoon commander soon
answered that they did not.
“Negative,” the company commander replied (via radio) to my
inquiry. “We don’t have anyone in that building.” His Soldiers had
cleared through that area an hour or so before.
“Request you engage,” said the company commander. His platoon