Why this book: A controversial book about the culture of the Navy SEALs. I’d heard a lot about it from several who’d read it, and I volunteered to host a discussion of the book amongst a group of SEALs, active and retired. 

Summary in 3 Sentences:  Cole looks at Navy SEAL culture primarily beginning with the post-Vietnam era with Dick Marcinko, the founder and first Commander  of SEAL Team Six.  He investigates and describes a litany of crimes and bad behavior by SEALs beginning in the 1970s, through the 80s, 90s and 2000s to provide a picture of the shadow side of the heroic image that SEALs enjoy in America and around the world.  His conclusions, elaborated below, are that these instances of war crimes, and other unethical behavior have been covered up, that leaders have not held perpetrators accountable, nor have leaders been held accountable, and that there is a culture of looking the other way to protect comrades when such incidents and bad behavior might damage the SEAL brand, or the careers of senior officers.  

My Impressions: This book was difficult for me to read, as I know most of the people he talks about and accuses in the book.  While most of us in the SEAL community recognize that most of the unsavory incidents he describes did actually take place, I and my colleagues in the SEAL Teams object to his approach, which we believe, makes an inadequate effort to include mitigating factors or context to the incidents he describes.  These mitigating factors are not excuses, but I and my colleagues believe that describing the environment, context  and other factors would provide a clearer picture of the incidents he describes, and a more accurate assessment of the shortcomings in the SEAL culture.  We also believe his listing of the worst behavior of SEALs over 5 decades deliberately leaves an unfairly negative impression of SEAL culture overall.

Cole has cherry picked some of the worst things that SEALs have been accused of and chronicles them in this book. It is a litany of bad judgment and criminal behavior that has gone un-recognized and unknown outside the small circle of the SEAL community. I was aware of or had heard about most of the incidents he describes – some had been reported in the press, and others were new to me. I’d heard rumors of those that took place in SEAL Team SIX during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; his book fills in details which he got from other operators who were unhappy that these incidents had gone unpunished, and who were willing to share their perspectives with him. 

It is clear that Cole tapped into a vein of dissatisfaction in SEAL Team SIX and was able to get a number of experienced operators to share their stories and disillusionment.  One must always be a bit careful taking such stories at face value – that said, I have little doubt that most of the stories are true, and that the disillusionment by other operators that these incidents were ignored or not punished may be justified.  That said, the SEAL community and SEAL Team Six certainly have issues that need addressing, but Cole doesn’t balance them with other factors that would put them in context, and indeed, in some cases may make them less egregious than Cole makes them out to be.  But I’m certainly biased.

Additionally, several friends of mine point out parts of the book that based on their personal experience are inaccurate, and skewed to support Cole’s point about the corrupt culture of the SEALs. And some of what he described relied on accounts by individuals who probably had a personal ax to grind. That said, Cole says that he only included incidents that were corroborated by several people, noting that he’d heard of several incidents even worse than those he reported,  but which he did not include in the book because he could not corroborate the stories he’d heard with several different people.   I’ve spoken to no one who disputes that the major incidents he describes in the book happened, though most argue that he does not give a complete accounting, and that he chooses to tell the story in a way that fits his narrative – that SEAL leadership did not take appropriate action, and in many cases, looked the other way. 

I DO think this book needed to be written – to bring to the surface and the awareness not only of the American people but also the SEALs that there is a shadow side to the media generated hero myth that surrounds the SEALs.  And I believe it needed to be written by an outsider – it would have been very difficult for a SEAL to be fair in writing this book, largely because of what Cole accuses the SEALs of – namely putting protecting the brand above full disclosure.  This book would have been better had Cole provided more context and perspective that would help explain and perhaps make understandable, if not forgivable, the incidents he describes. He could have gotten that perspective from a number of reputable SEALs.

The book begins by going back to the early 70s when I came into the SEAL Teams and makes Dick Marcinko out to be the progenitor of the “all things excusable” mindset of SEAL Team machismo and operational success.  In my mind, Marcinko simply amplified and exaggerated what was already there.  Though most of the book focuses on SEAL Team Six since 2001, Cole does point out how the culture that created these incidents already existed and was fertile ground for aggressive young men going beyond the bounds of what is acceptable in the execution of their craft.  Most would realize that that is  to be expected in war, especially a war against such a brutal and vicious foe as we had in Al Qaeda and ISIS.  His point was that while excesses may be expected or understood, they shouldn’t have been excused, and were in some cases even encouraged by leaders, and that no one was held accountable.  I believe that there is some legitimacy to that position.

He makes the case that this is not just a SEAL Team Six problem, but he believes that the SEAL Team Six ethos has infected the other teams.  In addition to how Marcinko formed and created the culture and ethos of SEAL Team Six, he recounts other incidents that were not part of SEAL Team Six, making the point that the issues are community-wide and not confined to that one organization.  He unveils the ugliness that the public doesn’t know, but that most SEALs do, of Chris Kyle’s service as a sniper for SEAL Team 3, and  of Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor story, the murder of Special Forces Sargeant Logan Melgar by two SEALs.   He also provides a detailed look at the Eddie Gallagher fiasco that was revealed in Alpha by Dave Philipps.  The things he shares are not widely known, but ARE well known in the SEAL community – and he notes that the Navy and the SEAL Teams are content to let the popular narrative stand, and not to dredge up old wounds, because the Navy and the Teams benefit from the heroic mythology that surrounds Navy SEALs, and the public enjoys it.

Cole has several key take-aways from his book. These are the ones I gleaned:

1. Navy SEAL leadership has been unwilling to hold their friends and good operators publicly accountable for acts which transgress the laws of armed conflict, or common sense boundaries of ethical behavior in combat, especially if these acts are otherwise unknown to the public.  There has been a conspiracy of silence to protect not only individuals, but also the SEAL brand.
2. That officers who have been part of this “conspiracy” to protect the brand have been rewarded with promotions, all the way to flag officer.
3. Protecting the SEAL brand has been important not only to SEALs but also to the Navy, which uses SEALs as a major recruiting tool. The SEAL brand has likewise been useful for politicians who strive to be associated with SEAL heroism and success.
4. Protecting the SEAL brand has taken priority over integrity and upholding standards of behavior and ethics on the battlefield.  Similarly, within the ranks, protecting the “brotherhood” has also taken priority over enforcing standards and holding people accountable. 
5. Enlisted operators are held accountable for and punished for actions that senior officers are not. 
6. Many of the worst behaviors are a result of operators being at war for nearly 20 years straight – that politicians and military leaders have aggressively used SEALs in the Global War on Terrorism without sufficient consideration given to protecting these elite operators from the psychological costs and damage caused by being at war for nearly two decades.  Some of this has resulted (naturally) in a numbness to violence and killing that is in part responsible for the crimes he describes. The SEALs themselves have colluded in this, as their brand and ethos as the nation’s toughest warriors is to never say “enough.” 

I’ve listened twice to a very well done podcast interview former SEAL Team Six operator Andy Stumpf had with author Matthew Cole about this book (“Cleared Hot” podcast episode 227) .   Stumpf basically does not argue with the facts, nor with most of the conclusions that Cole comes to in his book, but notes that the environment Cole describes about SEAL Team Six does not align with Stumpf’s own experience there.  He challenges Cole on some of the overall impressions he leaves, arguing that Cole paints an overly negative picture of the culture of the SEAL Teams.  While not arguing with him about the incidents he describes nor his conclusions, Stumpf does argue that the good and moral members  and actions of the SEAL community deserved more attention than Cole gave them. That said, I do agree with both Cole and Stumpf that the rogue or “pirate” element in the SEAL community is there, and that not enough has been done to keep this element in its box, nor to make clear that “going rogue” will not be tolerated by SEAL leaders nor by the rest of the SEAL community. 

The analogy that comes to mind is describing America and US Culture in terms of the many cases of immoral behavior and poor judgment in how American people and leaders have behaved in America’s past, eg, our early ambivalence about slavery, how we have treated Native Americans, discrimination against minorities and people of color, special privileges to the wealthy and the well-connected, the many examples of arrogant and even criminal behavior by our government.  A book that indeed tells the truth about the many ways in which the US has not lived up to its ideals would not in my opinion, give a fair picture of America or of US culture.  Similarly Cole’s picture of the SEAL community is a distortion.  Cole’s response to that objection was that enough books have been written about the virtues and heroism of the SEALs – he wanted to show the shadow side. But primarily describing the shadow side is also not a fair picture. 

THE SEAL DISCUSSION:  It began with a number of those present noting where Cole got some of it wrong – “facts” that he cited that individuals on the call knew from their personal experience were simply inaccurate, or flat out wrong.  Many of those who Cole names in his book would not agree to be interviewed, because of his articles in Politico about SEALs exclusively pointed out flaws in the SEAL community.  One of those present said that he’d spent well over an hour being interviewed by Cole, providing mitigating information and context which Cole did not include in his book – the retired SEAL believed because his input didn’t fit  Cole’s narrative.   One of those present  was actually talking to lawyers about suing Cole for deliberately giving an inaccurate account of a story in which he was involved.  Many felt that Cole clearly intended to cast aspersions on the honor of the SEAL community, based on the actions of a few bad actors, and that he did not adequately provide context, nor balance these bad events with the very many positives.  That said, in the end, most of us agreed that better leadership would have prevented the many of the most egregious events he described, and that indeed the SEALs had fallen short of their outstanding reputation in some areas, especially in exercising moral courage in leadership.  We generally agreed that SEAL leaders should do more to prevent these things in the future- with better leadership, better screening, and more emphasis on moral courage and ethics-in-warfare training. 

The book clearly touched a nerve. For several days after the zoom session, the discussion continued with a series of emails among participants.   Because of Cole’s reputation as a SEAL Team muck-raker, many SEAL leaders still refuse to read the book, and indeed my impression is that many SEAL leaders have indeed chosen to look the other way.  But I believe it should be read, and should generate an open discussion within the ranks of the SEAL community.   I personally would prefer to keep this discussion out of the public eye – though Cole argues that these incidents and bad behavior should be acknowledged to American taxpayers, and should serve as a warning about giving politicians a blank check to send Special Operators into extended wars. He argues with justification, that not just SEAL leaders but also politicians and the public have chosen to look the other way.