Inside SEAL Team Six(58)

At ST-6, we thought more out of the box, which suited me just fine.





Chapter Ten





ST-6/Divorce




Blame it or praise it, there is no denying the wild horse in us.

—Virginia Woolf





At ST-6, when we were recalled for training or for real-world ops, we had an hour to get ourselves assembled in the team room to receive the warning order. The warning order gave us basic information about the upcoming mission. It started with a brief, concise statement: This will be a jump op. Boat crew three will conduct a raid on this building, which is located at this position, at this time and date.

The warning order included the topography of the land we were going into, the enemy forces we’d be going up against, the location of the nearest friendly forces, and the location and number of civilians in the area of operation.

Once we started planning, the amount of detail and specificity depended on the amount of time available. In Grenada, the guys used street maps and tourist maps because they had had little time to plan.

Typically, we started our discussion with preliminaries—who is on the op, what are the jobs, what gear is required. Then we analyzed the specifics of the situation on the ground.

Part of the warning order was a general outline broken down into phases. Phase one might be how we would insert (boats or helicopters, and what types), followed by the infill, including primary and secondary insertion.

The general outline also included information about the recon team, where we would meet up with them, and what info they had provided so far.

Depending on the operation, the commanding officer, executive officer, operations officer, or assault team officer would then talk briefly about what was going to happen during each one of the phases. In most instances, he concentrated on the insertion, infiltration, and actions at the objective, which were usually the most critical components of an op.

The officer also provided specific information about what was required from each operator on the team.

The warning order covered all the basics. Following the warning order, after we had some time to sort out the gear for the op, a patrol leader’s order (PLO) was prepared with the help of every member on the team.

All of the above topics covered in the warning order—infiltration, insertion, position, weapons, concealment, deception, ROE—were now broken down and discussed in detail.

Specific tactics were always determined by the team or element entering the engagement. Each assault team on ST-6 had a different standard operating procedure based on the skills and experience of its individual operators.

Once the entire team was present and we had a full muster, we’d synchronize all of our watches. Then the PLO was presented by various leaders of the team. They’d brief us on the weather forecast, moonrise, moonset, phase of the moon, sunrise, sunset, tides, currents, how deep the water was, natural boundaries, vegetation, landmarks, and so on.

The PLO provided specific detailed instructions to every assault team member on the op. Regardless of whether the mission required movement through jungle, desert, mountains, or urban areas, if the insertion or extraction was from sea, air, or land, it indicated all responsibilities and all fire positions—who covered right, who covered left, and who carried the grenades, Claymores, and any specific equipment.

In the case of a combat swimming op, we’d indentify who the swim buddies were going to be and review the hand and arm signals that would be used on the surface and underwater.

In certain missions we reviewed the procedures for body searches.

As in the ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ op, the rules of engagement were discussed in detail. They’re extremely important, because today’s wars are fought with restrictions in terms of who operatives are allowed to fire at and under what circumstances, and there are rules for taking prisoners, seizing property, and interrogating enemy soldiers.

Most civilians probably aren’t aware of the emphasis placed on ROEs and how they define and modify every U.S. military engagement.

We always designated a loss-of-communication plan too, and we answered the following questions: What signal will be used for withdrawal or extraction? Will we be using a 40 mm, a flare, IR chemical light, or an IR strobe? Would we come to report fifteen minutes past the hour, or every other hour?

All SEALs are experts at concealment and deception. And many of our ops included a deception plan. For example, we might blast off a lot of demo to make it sound like a hundred guys were storming a beach when in reality we were staging a night jump miles behind enemy lines.

We’d talk about how to get in, how to get out, and how to stay concealed, and remind one another of the importance of noise and light discipline. It’s amazing how well sound travels at night, especially over water.