A stirringly evocative, thought-provoking, and often jaw-dropping account, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O’Neill’s awe-inspiring four-hundred-mission career, which included his involvement in attempts to rescue “Lone Survivor” Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and which culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden.
In these pages, O’Neill describes his idyllic childhood in Butte, Montana; his impulsive decision to join the SEALs; the arduous evaluation and training process; and the even tougher gauntlet he had to run to join the SEALs’ most elite unit. After officially becoming a SEAL, O’Neill would spend more than a decade in the most intense counterterror effort in US history. For extended periods, not a night passed without him and his small team recording multiple enemy kills—and though he was lucky enough to survive, several of the SEALs he’d trained with and fought beside never made it home.
The Operator describes the nonstop action of O’Neill’s deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, evokes the black humor of years-long combat, brings to vivid life the lethal efficiency of the military’s most selective units, and reveals firsthand details of the most celebrated terrorist takedown in history.
Great story. Great warrior. A very readable, enjoyable tale told by a humble warrior. It’s a basic outline of the authors life from childhood up until the famous shots are fired. He doesn’t get too bogged down in cool sounding military lingo, nor does he delve deeply into tactics or gear (He did, however, catch my attention when he revealed he only carried 4 rifle mags and no handgun. Dang. Talk about going light). Having read “No Easy Day” and this book, I would say that if you want the deeper stuff read the former. If…
Definitive Book On The Killing of UBL! Robert O’Neill , the SEAL who shot and killed the monster Usama bin Laden has written a great, easy to read and comprehensive account not only of Thee raid but of his life growing up in Butte,Montana. He fully describes his SEAL training and life after wards including other raids. If you are interested in the Navy SEALs or our war against terrorism you must read this book.
Buy It! My daughter dated a Navy SEAL while he went through BUD/s. They would meet every weekend at our house (halfway between daughter’s house and Coronado) through the entire program. Also had the opportunity to attend his graduation ceremony in the grinder (Class 244). I learned more in O’Neill’s book about the program, the pain, the stories, the traditions and the mental fortitude required to complete than I ever heard from the boyfriend or any of the other SEAL books I have read.