Inside SEAL Team Six (25 page)
Read Inside SEAL Team Six Online
Authors: Don Mann and Ralph Pezzullo
Shooting a .50-caliber machine gun, 1989
Navy Special Warfare jungle school in Panama, 1990
My CWO2 commissioning ceremony, 1993
Eric Olson pinning on my CWO3 insignia, 1996. Captain Olson was my commanding officer and is now the highest-ranking admiral in the SEAL Teams.
My retirement photo, from 1998. I was actually standing in a river in running shorts getting ready to go on a paddle when the photographer arrived.
Training wannabe SEALs at Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia, 2004
(Will Ramos)
AOIC
Assistant officer in charge
ARS
Alcohol rehab service
AVPU
Alert, voice, pain, unresponsive
BMC
Boatswain’s mate chief
BUD/S
Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL
CAPEX
Capability exercise
CCT
Combat-control technicians
CO
Commanding officer
COC
Code of conduct
CONUS
Contiguous United States
CQB
Close-quarters battle
CRRC
Combat rubber raiding craft
CT
Counterterrorism
CWO
Chief warrant officer
DEVGRU
United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group
DT
Defensive tactics
DZ
Drop zone
E & E
Escape and evasion
EEI
Essential elements of information
EOD
Explosives ordnance disposal
FMLN
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front
FN
Fireman
FTX
Final training exercise
GPL
General purpose, large
HAHO
High-altitude, high-opening
HALO
High-altitude, low-opening
HQ
Headquarters
HRV
Heart-rate variability
HUMINT
Human intelligence
IBS
Inflatable boat, small
IED
Improvised explosive device
IR
Infrared
ISI
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence
JSOC
Joint Special Operations Command
KIA
Killed in action
LAW
Light armor weapon
LPO
Leading petty officer
LT
Lieutenant
MEDCAP
Medical Civic Action Program
MM
Machinist’s mate
MOUT
Military operations in urban terrain
MREs
Meals ready to eat
MTT
Mobile training team
MWR
Miniaturize, weatherize, ruggedize (Admiral Olson called it “moral welfare and recreation”)
NPY
Neuropeptide Y
NRC
Navy Recruiting Command
NSWDG
United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group
NSWG1
Navy Special Warfare Group One
NSWG2
Navy Special Warfare Group Two
NVGs
Night-vision goggles
O-2
Navy lieutenant (junior grade)
O-3
Navy lieutenant
O-4
Navy lieutenant commander
O-5
Navy commander
OAR
Odyssey Adventure Racing
OCONUS
Outside the contiguous United States
OIC
Officer in charge
OODA
Observation, orientation, decision, action
Op
Operation
OP-06D
Naval Security Coordination team
OTB
Over the beach
PDF
Panamanian Defense Forces
PJs
Air Force Pararescue
PLO
Patrol leader’s order
PRB
Patrol river boat
PRODEV
Professional development
PRT
Physical readiness test
PT
Physical training
QM
Quartermaster
QRF
Quick reaction force
ROE
Rules of engagement
RPG
Rocket-propelled grenade
SAS
Special Air Service
SBU-26
Special Boat Unit 26
SDV
Swimmer-delivery vehicle
SERE
Survival, evasion, resistance, and escape
SF
Special Forces
SIT
Squadron integration training
SN
Seaman
SOP
Standard operating procedure
SOTIC
Special Operations
Target Interdiction Course
SPECTRA
Specialized training
SPEC WAR
Naval special warfare
ST-1
SEAL Team One
ST-2
SEAL Team Two
ST-6
SEAL Team Six
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
UBL
Osama bin Laden
UDTs
Underwater demolition teams
VBSS
Visit, board, search, and seizure
VFW
Veterans of Foreign Wars
WFO
Wide fucking open
WMD
Weapons of mass destruction
WO
Warrant officer
XO
Executive officer
Don Mann:
I owe an immense amount of gratitude to the men in the SEAL teams who I was lucky enough to serve with. They taught me some of life’s most valuable lessons. Since BUD/S all the way through retirement and beyond, I have been honored to serve with every one of them.
This book would never have been possible if it were not for my coauthor, the very talented award-winning author, playwright, and screenwriter Ralph Pezzullo.
I am deeply grateful for all of the assistance I received from our editor, John Parsley, who took a very personal interest in this project, and his incredible team at Little, Brown.
I want to thank Heather Mitchell, our literary agent, and her very professional staff at Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents for all that they did to ensure this book project would become a reality.
And finally I want to thank my very understanding wife for putting up with me over the last ten years and for supporting me with this project that means so very much to me.
Ralph Pezzullo:
First, I want to express my appreciation to the amazing Don Mann. He not only gave me the opportunity to help tell his incredible story but also became my friend, for which I’m extremely grateful. And I want to thank the man who introduced us, fellow author and friend Tom Sawyer.
Thanks to the wise advice and effort of our agent Heather Mitchell of Gelfman Schneider, this book found the perfect home with Little, Brown and Company, our extremely talented and thoughtful editor John Parsley, and its superlative staff, including Nicole Dewey and William Boggess.
Finally, I want to thank my wife, Jessica, and my children, John, Michael, Francesca, and Alessandra, for supporting me with their love and understanding and putting up with my long absences during the summer—all for a very worthy project.