On the second floor of the SEAL Team 6 headquarters in the Dam Neck naval annex, a computer, known as the ops computer, stores the classified data on every mission the unit has completed for the past decade. One telling illustration of what had gone wrong with Blue Squadron occurred on December 17, 2007, duringa raid in Helmand province. According to multiple SEAL Team 6 sources, the events of that day set off a cascade of extraordinary violence. Bottom: Britt Slabinski, left, and Capt. In reality, its bullshit. At least two of Bissonnettes teammates who were with him when al Kuwaiti was killed were angry about the deception taking credit for a teammates actions on a mission was unprecedented and dishonorable but did not contradict him in the presence of a military lawyer. As a result, Howard became popular among the enlisted SEALs under his command, several of whom defended and praised him. Our sense of whats right and whats wrong is warped. They soon discovered he had violated a series of Navy regulations. Bin Laden dropped and ONeill fired the security round that canoed him. The SEALs successes throughout 2002 resulted in the Joint Special Operations Command choosing the unit to lead the hunt for al Qaeda, as well as the invasion of Baghdad in March 2003. Theres no military purpose for it, a former Red Squadron operator told me. Beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2008, as U.S. Special Operations forces became more central to the American military strategy, the number and frequency of operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan increased dramatically. Howard took the units identity seriously, and after 9/11, despite the questionable circumstances that led to his ascent, his influence steadily grew. That seems more fair. And here were two guys who set out to make money off a mission that required 23 SEALs to pull off: Its dishonorable., Bissonnette and ONeill are no longer welcome at SEAL Team 6 headquarters. ONeill later implied in the Esquire profile that he shot bin Laden because he wasnt sure Reds shots had hit the target. Iraq was a different kind of war nothing wed ever seen, said the now-retired Team 6 leader. Thats whats wrong with my community, the former SEAL Team 6 leader told me. Less than a week before the assault, Bissonnette and ONeill got into a shouting match at the Dam Neck base over who would sell the inside story of the raid. Top:Photo of helicopter onTakur Ghar. Nonetheless, Red Team did not report Hyders alleged battlefield mutilation, a war crime. Mar 27, 2019. We couldve used the intel. Outside the compound, the SEALs were quick to show the photos to others on the assault team. War is an adrenaline rush. The group gave him a five-star rating, its most ignoble designation. ONeills decision to canoe the al Qaeda leader made him unrecognizable. Not provide them., During one Iraq deployment, Howard returned from a raid to an operations center with blood on his hatchet and his uniform. They had bonded over Robertss death. We said, Let us set down and take a look at the convoy to determine if its al Qaeda. Instead, they dropped several bombs.. ONeill and two or three more assaulters moved past Red intothe bedroom as bin Laden lay on the ground. Officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, SEAL Team 6 is today the most celebrated of the U.S. militarys special mission units. When Slabinski was confronted by the commands senior enlisted leader about whether he had instructed Blue Squadron operators to kill all males during the operation, code-named Pantera, Slabinski acknowledged that he had done so. Bravo 3/3B. Just as important as mental toughness and physical fitness are to being a complete operator, spiritual resiliency is an often . While on active duty, hed formed a consulting company with four other SEALs and secured a contract with one of the commands biggest equipment suppliers. Im not going to tell you this didnt happen. The SEAL Team Six member who was named as the man who shot Osama bin Laden dead is facing a whispering campaign from other SEALs claiming that his account of the killing is not truthful.. We didnt debate whether Slab had told his guys he wanted a head on a platter he copped to that. Two different sources said that over a six-year period roughly 2005 through 2011 battlefield reports and accounts of atrocities, particularly mutilations and taking of trophies, were ignored by SEAL Team 6 leadership. After the raid, the White House struggled to describe the exact circumstances of bin Ladens death. Otherwise we knew its going to get out of control. This was a crucial moment: Kill bin Laden now and the war could be over after only six months. According to this source, after shooting the man, who turned out to be unarmed, Hyder proceeded to mutilate his body by stomping in his already damaged skull. Bissonnette was much farther back down the stairwell. Red could see bin Laden bleeding out from his chest wound but he still had not entered the bedroom. In that brief firefight, the SEALs killed nearly 20 foreign al Qaeda fighters, some of whom carried U.S. military equipment taken from Takur Ghar. When Heath, who witnessed Hyders actions, reported them to his team leader in the presence of other members of the team, several of the guys turned and walked away, said the retired SEAL. Howard, who declined to answer questions from The Intercept, rallied his SEALs and others before missions and deployments by telling them to bloody the hatchet. One SEAL I spoke with said that Howards words were meant to be inspirational, like those of a coach, and were not an order to use the hatchets to commit war crimes. At that point, Hyder began assessing the damage and surveying the dead. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. The two weapons found on the third floor were not discovered until the rooms were searched. According to two senior SEAL Team 6 sources, however, the leadership dynamic in Blue Squadron was a failure. And from the moment President Obama announced the operations successful conclusion in a televised address, a variety of individuals and institutions have sought to profit from the elimination of Americas most hated enemy. For many on the raid, including those who had been present in bin Ladens bedroom with ONeill, it was the first time theyd heard anyone in the command say the terrorist leader was standing, posing a threat of any kind. Bissonnettes helicopter crashed into bin Ladens side yard. Today, heis a paid on-air commentator for Fox News and is reportedly eyeing a run for the Senate in his native Montana. Slabinski told Vasely, and later, Navy investigators, that there had been no foul play.. No officers were present, and the enlisted SEALs used the meeting to address Hyders alleged mutilation of the dead Afghan the previous day. Later, a JSOC officer watching drone footage of the operation noticed one of the SEALs throw an object that landed and exploded near where Norgroves body was found. One operator, who confirmed Howards remarks, added his own: Thats the business were in.. Simply claiming to be a current or former member of the military is not illegal. Heath fired once, hitting the man, sending him tumbling down the back side of the small rise. Officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, SEAL Team 6 is today the most celebrated of the U.S. military's special mission units. Private sector and then Delta Force Back at the base, hegave a speech to a group of analysts and nonoperational officers in which he told them that his bloody appearance was a demonstration of how a battlefield commander should lead. The SEALs had been specifically asked to avoid shooting bin Laden in the face. Two hours passed before the SEALs in the damaged helicopter were able to return. Less than 48 hours before Objective Bull commenced, a small reconnaissance group from SEAL Team 6s Red Team had tried to establish an observation post on the 10,000-foot peak of Takur Ghar, overlooking the Shah-i-Kot valley, where forces from the Armys 10th Mountain Division intended to strike the last redoubt of al Qaeda forces massed in Afghanistan. They have an internal process that they think is sufficient and they are not inclined to cooperate unless they absolutely have to. Raser, who conducted investigations into both regular SEAL units and SEAL Team 6, said that in her experience, SEALs simply didnt report wrongdoing by their teammates. Its a question, why was he a threat? Two of these sources told me that the British government informed SEAL Team 6 mission planners that Norgrove worked for the spy agency, and that they had been tracking her movements since the abduction. The sniper team leader acted under his own emergency assault authority to kill the pirates as soon as all three could be taken out at the same time. Slabinski hadtold his operators that he wanted a head on a platter. Although some of the more seasoned SEALs took the statement metaphorically, at least one operator took Slabinski at his word, interpreting it as an order. Two of the operators with Hyder reported afterward that the man was not a threat. In the early years of the war, SEAL Team 6 had an inflexible standard: Shooting people who were unarmed was forbidden and anyone who did so had to demonstrate the targethad displayed hostile intent. SEAL Team 6 headquarters at Dam Neck naval annex, Virginia Beach, Va., showing the 30-foot trident sculpted from a fragment of the World Trade Center. Other SEALs on the ground proceeded as though the survivors were combatants. ONeill entered the room, walked over to where bin Laden lay on the floor, and shot him twice in the face. They also had terrain advantage. By then, there was no question about whether the attempted beheading had occurred; the question was why. Tactically, however, the command was winning on the battlefield, and despite McRavens directives, there was no serious internal scrutiny of the SEALs most excessive conduct. The morning after Objective Bull, Red Team gathered at Bagram Air Base. Red Team, known as the Redmen, employed a Native American warrior as a mascot; Blue Team, known as the Pirates, wore the Jolly Roger; and Gold Team, known as the Crusaders or Knights, wore a lion or a crusaders cross. The Red Squadron assaulters later gathered in a private area of Bagram Air Base and debriefed the mission in front of a military lawyer. One shot hit bin Laden in the chest and the second shot glanced off his hip or thigh as Bin Laden stumbled backward into his room and fell toward the foot of his bed. Its sport., The former SEAL Team 6 leader said that he first noticed canoeing in 2004, and that it does occur accidentally on the battlefield, but rarely. Senior members of SEAL Team 6 felt the pattern of brutality was not only illegal but rose to the level of war crimes. The foreign fighters who suffered these V-shaped wounds were either killed in battle and later shot at close range or finished off with a security round while dying. McRavens other directive required a more extensive post-operation review to document and justify combatant deaths. Was it acceptable, as Hyder had done with the wounded man whom he executed, to desecrate the dead? One of Bissonnettes teammates then put his gun through the front door, which was now slightly ajar, and shot the gunman in the head. Slabinski experienced, charismatic, and by now legendary bridged the gap. A few of his female relatives were nearby. It was like a game. Since the 1980s, when Red Team was first created, there were many operators in the unit who had experienced a metamorphosis of identity and persona into Native American warriors. Some of ONeills teammates were outraged hed been so brazenly inaccurate and self-serving in his account. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. After leaving the compound and returning to their base in Kandahar province, Vasely reported to Moore, his superior officer, that he believed he had witnessed a war crime, a mutilation. A former SEAL Team 6 leader told me that ONeill and Bissonnette originally agreed to cooperate on a book or movie project after the raid was over, but later had a falling out. A retired noncommissioned officer who tried to police the unit said the command suffered from unspoken oaths of allegiance among both the officers and the operators, and that the first instinct when misconduct surfaced was to protect the command and then the men rather than hold bad actors accountable. All of us were upset. Theformer SEAL Team 6 leader told me that for the units operators, the greatest punishment was being kicked out of the unit in front of their peers. Howards critics argue that the hatchets were emblems of the rogue, at times criminal, conduct on the battlefield the commander was encouraging. But what happened during Objective Bull, the assault on the convoy in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, has never been previously reported. The pilot noted that the two mock-up compounds had chain link fences around the buildings, allowing the air to disperse, while the real compound had thick concrete walls. I was going around to the different KIAs with my camera to take photos, Hyder told me in an interview, using the military term for enemies killed in action. While he was there, he confronted the Blue Squadron troop and the operator whod tried to behead the Taliban fighter. No single military unit has come to represent American military success or heroism more than SEAL Team 6, officially designated as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group andknown in military vernacular as DevGru, Team 6, the Command, and Task Force Blue. Im not condoning the behavior theres no justification to hacking a body but we didnt prepare them either. When he first arrived at Dam Neck, operators in the unit who had served in Vietnam warned him that war crimes and battlefield atrocities hung like a cloud over the entire unit even if only one SEAL had participated. Sources at SEAL Team 6 who were present during the operation estimated the number of dead was between 17 and 20. We killed bad guys. Bissonnette and his team then moved to the main house. A retired noncommissioned officer said Howards encouragement and provision of Winkler hatchets was simply adding fuel to the fire. Scott Moore, right, then commander of SEAL Team 6. Red encountered and shot bin Ladens son just before the second floor landing, and the SEALs following behind him fanned out into the hallways and rooms on the second floor to search and secure the area. Inside the vehicle were one or two rifles, as is customary in Afghanistan, but none of the men wore military clothing or had any extra ammunition. This meant there was less oversight over their missions and less accountability if things went wrong. Neil Roberts was the first member of SEAL Team 6 to die in the Afghan war, and among the first elite operators who died after 9/11. In audio of an unpublished interview with the late MalcolmMacPherson, author of a 2005 book about Roberts Ridge, Slabinski describes in great detail an operation that took place about a week after Objective Bull. First, the SEALs would now be required to do call outs before entering a compound. The bombing stopped the convoy along a dry wadi, or ravine, with two of the trucks approximately a kilometer apart. Afterward, Kuwaitis wife confirmed that bin Laden could be found on the third floor of the main building, just as the team had been briefed. Red Squadron snipers killed three pirates who were holding Phillips in a lifeboat. By Emily Cochrane. Last year, the command became concerned about his psychological condition, determining that he was medically unfit to deploy again. Red came to a stop and fired two shots with his suppressed rifle. That was the end of that. Hyder said that his single shot had blasted open the mans head. Bottom right: Candid photo of U.S. Navy SEAL Neil Roberts. The pilot who had warned that one of the helicopters would stall was right. It was split open in the shape of a V. I could see his brains spilling out over his face. He has even alludedto the grisly practiceon Twitter. The commands top noncommissioned officer placed their names on the SEAL Team 6 rock of shame, the unofficial list of unit pariahs. Almost immediately, the issue that received the most scrutiny was the December 2007 attempted beheading. My character and honor are steadfast. His superiors believed he had become unglued over the 2007 deployment. Unfortunately, it turned out he had an audiocassette in his hand. They ransacked the compound for documents and media for intelligence, left the survivors inside, and returned to Jalalabad air base with the body. We didnt hit women or kids. After blowing open the iron gate blocking the main stairway, the lead assaulters, among them Bissonnette and ONeill, followed the operator known as Red up the stairs. We just slaughtered those dudes. After describing one particular fighter who from a distance had resembled Osama bin Laden, Slabinksi continued: To this day, weve never had anything as good as that. Youre moving the bar and buying into an emotional justification, War is hell. If youre not disciplining your force, youre saying its OK.. If you have multiple incidents where the ground force commander pulls the trigger on a deployment, you have a total breakdown of operational tactics, said one retired SEAL leader. Id look through the post-op photos and see multiple canoes on one objective, several times a deployment, the retired SEAL said. 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