Words of Wisdom

As this situation has unfolded thousands of miles away, we have all been riveted on media reports, many of them false, and have tried to reconstruct the events of the past week. This week has been a difficult one for the Naval Special Warfare community, and undoubtedly these events will be scrutinized within the Teams and elsewhere. The identity and “story” of the SEAL that was recovered today will probably never become public knowledge, and that’s the way it has to be. I have asked a very close friend who is currently on active duty in the SEAL Teams with 17 years of service to write something from the perspective of an operator who has deployed both to Afghanistan and Iraq. His message is simple and the purity of it will be apparent.


I have been asked to comment on the events that are taking place currently in Afghanistan. I will state categorically that I have no advanced or secret information concerning these events this is intentional, and that in no way do I write for Naval Special Warfare or any of the component commands of Naval Special Warfare.

There has been a significant amount of speculation concerning the actions that took place, the amount of people involved, and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) for conducting special reconnaissance and recovery operations. I would ask you all now to stop. Stop speculating and pray. Stop reading this and pray. Pray for the families of the confirmed dead and for the men that are still listed as missing. This is your job as the American public, as it is my job as a frogman.

I have been deeply touched by the sentiments expressed by all of you concerning these matters. This is a significant and positive change in public opinion pertaining to the military. I am truly thankful to you. But I must remind you that you were not there on the ground with these men. I was not there with them. Sitting around trying to figure out what happened without the facts can do nothing but harm. These facts, when known, will come from the men that were there, not from me or the media.

I have learned many things in my years in the Teams, and I will share two with you. First, if you were not there, and I mean actually on site, you have no right to judge the actions of the troops in the field. The worst thing that can happen to a military man is to have his tactical decisions be questioned after the fact by people who simply were not there. When this takes place it will inevitably lead to finger pointing and remove any possibility of learning from what happened. And if we, as military men, do not learn from events both positive and negative, then we might as well draw swords and have us a good old fashioned knife fight.

Secondly, sometimes enough is enough. Even though I have no knowledge of what has taken place and what I assume is still taking place other than what I have read in the news, I can guarantee you that everything that can be done to effect a positive outcome is being done. It is still fashionable to mock the level of intelligence of military men and women, but this is simply not correct. We know our trade, we live our trade, and we damn sure look after our own. So, with that said, back to my first statement; Stop reading this and pray for the families of the confirmed dead and for the men that are still listed as missing. That is what I am doing.


Coming from a SEAL Chief Petty Officer, I’d say that was an order!

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UPDATE: I would like to add something to what my friend has written. It's something we discussed but he did not cover in his letter. These men who died in an effort to save their comrades are not victims, they are warriors. It is easy to say that since they went down in a helo crash that this was some kind of tragedy like a traditional civilian aircraft accident. This is a war people. They jumped on that bird knowing that they were going to be engaging the enemy, and unfortunately, the enemy engaged them before they got the chance. I wanted to spell this out so that no one makes the mistake of treating this terrible situation like an episode of Law and Order. Sh*t happens in war, and there's nothing anyone can do to prevent it. Sure, we can learn from every experience, and we will, but I will not allow people who are not a party to the actions described here to start pointing fingers and assigning blame. People who want to know and understand the Teams and SOF community come here for information and analysis, people that want to start concocting their fantasy scenarios about who should have done what should go elsewhere.

Froggy OUT

UPDATE 2: THERE IS A LOT OF ERRONEOUS REPORTING OCCURRING ABOUT THIS SITUATION RIGHT NOW. I REFUSE TO PRINT RUMORS, INNUENDO, AND BS MEDIA REPORTS. I AM SHUTTING DOWN COMMENTS ON THIS THREAD FOR THE TIME BEING. WHEN I FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT SOMETHING OFFICIAL AND DEFINITIVE HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED, I WILL POST IT. UNTIL THEN, HANG TIGHT, AND HAVE A BEER.