I think that kind of detail is historically important, but not now, in like 20+ years.
Bin Laden Raid Book: First-Hand Account Of Navy SEAL Mission Will Be Released On Sept. 11
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There's only so many ways to assault a building, depending on the strength and security of the structure itself, how many levels there are, how many people you have, what breaching equipment you have, how many people you think they have, what sort of defensive equipment you think they have.
I don't think posting up diagrams of the means of entry and action scenario is anything to get excited about.
Any SWAT team in the world would be able provide a similar set of plans.
Lot of people who don't know the author seem very quick to judge him.
Assuming he didn't mention (for example only) the XXX secret observation drones that spied on the compound for weeks befiore the attack, or the real names and addresses of his team mates, I don't see that OPSEC would have been violated in any way.
I mean ten seconds after the event your own President and any politician who thought they were entitled to five minutes of fame were all over the news/air and internet blabbering away about the mission to anyone who cared to listen.
I was hearing the same OPSEC violated stuff when Chris Ryan and Andy McNab wrote their first non-fiction novels. Andy even had to attend a court to dispute the MOD's claims that he had written things he should not have.
Storm in a tea-cup. Nothing came of it, now both Chris and Andy are well known authors and respected members of the international security/protection community.
The one thing I'm dubious about is the SEAL author getting the cold shoulder simply because he stated that he had decided to leave the Teams and start a civilian business.
Surely friends and team mates would be wishing him the best of luck with his change of lifestyle?
I don't think posting up diagrams of the means of entry and action scenario is anything to get excited about.
Any SWAT team in the world would be able provide a similar set of plans.
Lot of people who don't know the author seem very quick to judge him.
Assuming he didn't mention (for example only) the XXX secret observation drones that spied on the compound for weeks befiore the attack, or the real names and addresses of his team mates, I don't see that OPSEC would have been violated in any way.
I mean ten seconds after the event your own President and any politician who thought they were entitled to five minutes of fame were all over the news/air and internet blabbering away about the mission to anyone who cared to listen.
I was hearing the same OPSEC violated stuff when Chris Ryan and Andy McNab wrote their first non-fiction novels. Andy even had to attend a court to dispute the MOD's claims that he had written things he should not have.
Storm in a tea-cup. Nothing came of it, now both Chris and Andy are well known authors and respected members of the international security/protection community.
The one thing I'm dubious about is the SEAL author getting the cold shoulder simply because he stated that he had decided to leave the Teams and start a civilian business.
Surely friends and team mates would be wishing him the best of luck with his change of lifestyle?
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There is more to it than that. We have been leaving the door open so that Matt can step in and clarify the situation for himself and because we don't want to throw him under the bus.
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Well SWAT teams are not Tier 1 assets that conduct low/secret profile operations in other countries. There are plenty of ways to assault any type of structure but that doesn't mean it needs laid out in a book that may or may not give insight into specific TTP's.
You have to be verified to do that, either through proven military service or as a civilian.
I personally think mentioning dual-breach top-down, bottom-up is a specific TTP. It's certainly not a common SWAT tactic. He over and over mentions how they went from landing on the X, breach and bum rush, to offset and slow and meticulous movement through a target. He never mentions the Blackhawks were stealth birds, but we know this from other sources and he literally plots out the flight path on a map, the linger time on mission, and the location of the FARP. Now someone can figure out if the range is similar to a standard Blackhawk. I don't think he's going to get anybody killed, but he certainly violated OPSEC. Foreign intelligence agencies have more sources than they did before. It's the little details from many sources that add up to a big picture. I'm not making a judgement of Matt, just pointing out what stuck out to me.
KBar666
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This is sorta what I was getting at in my post before. Agreed.
Intertesting. Aparently photos of his own gear ware posted by NRA not long after the raid:
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Well many people, upto and including their old RSM, would argue that McNab and Ryan's non-fiction novels, specifically Bravo Two Zero, were quite the work of fiction.
Sure. Par for the course for author's of NF these days to make dull and boring incidents more 'glossy.'
Peter Radcliffe's comments regarding Bravo Two Zero are tainted as well.
If I recall he makes a big deal about Andy refusing to consider using a Landie.
That wasn't just Andy's choice, the whole team held a Crow's Parliment before they went off.
KBar666
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Anyone Catch the interview tonight on 60 mins? I managed to catch it. I found some stuff interesting. For example a few things he says even contradicts small little details in the book.
I also found it interesting how he said that those who know him are behind him for writing the book, when everywhere else it seems like they are actually mad he wrote it.
I also found it interesting how he said that those who know him are behind him for writing the book, when everywhere else it seems like they are actually mad he wrote it.
As I understood it, the major issue with McNab was that he implied that the dead men were to blame for the mission going tits up.
I don't think the carrot will work in stopping this flow of books. The way the UK MOD sorted it out was with the stick- they told them to sign the agreement saying 'no books' or they'd be sent back to their old unit. The SEALs could send them to the fleet I suppose, maybe the cheffing school, ha.
I don't think the carrot will work in stopping this flow of books. The way the UK MOD sorted it out was with the stick- they told them to sign the agreement saying 'no books' or they'd be sent back to their old unit. The SEALs could send them to the fleet I suppose, maybe the cheffing school, ha.
You can't send someone who is no longer in the military "back to the fleet". The problem is not with AD types, but rather those who have already ETS'd/retired.
Of course you can't, but it stops it down the track. Which is what I've said, no?
They already sign an NDA, getting them to sign something isn't the problem, it's enforcement of what they sign that's the problem.
No but it contractually and specifically says "no books" not just a general NDA. What I mean is, the wiggle room in a general NDA can be massive, if you put down a blanket statement it makes things much less wriggarable.
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