by Don Mann
My mom and sisters had taught me to be compassionate and always try to help those in need, which somehow translated into my desire to become a corpsman.
Both of my parents taught me to have faith in God and set goals for myself.
Goals have always been some of the sturdiest foundations in my life. Micro-goals, like winning a local triathlon or bike race; and macro-goals, like making it through BUD/S, becoming a Navy SEAL, getting selected to SEAL Team Six, and competing in the world’s most difficult endurance events—setting my sights lets me have something to work toward and, in some of the hardest times, to have something to live for.
SEALs taught me the need to work as a team, to trust and support your teammates, and that a group of individuals working together toward a common purpose is much more powerful than the aggregate of their individual skills.
All the SEALs I’ve known—whether they were athletes, bikers, cowboys, muscle heads, or college students—have had one thing in common: their willingness to push themselves far beyond what they thought were their limits.
I was never the fastest, strongest, or smartest. So I’ve always felt that if I wanted to not just get there but get there up in front of the pack, I had to push myself harder than others.
I’ve been tremendously fortunate in other ways too. In fact, when I think of the number of times I narrowly escaped death, I almost can’t believe it. Besides the ever-present chance during ops, there was the free-fall accident in Arizona, the time I ran out of oxygen diving in Key West, the training accident in the desert of California in the ambulance, and the live-rocket round in Panama.
Another time was when I was with ST-1 in Korea: Our entire platoon was getting ready to board a helicopter when a Marine came up to us and said, “We have a Marine with us with frostbite and hypothermia. Do you mind if we have this helicopter and you guys wait for the next one?”
We said, “Go ahead.”
Twenty Marines boarded the helicopter and took off. We learned an hour or so later that it flew into a storm and hit a mountainside. Everyone onboard was killed.
Sometimes luck finds you when no element of training or experience can help you come out on top. Just recently while I was riding my Indian Chief—like the one my dad used to own—on a country road near my house, I came roaring around a curve and was hit in the face by a large vulture.
I was almost knocked off my bike and initially thought I broke my neck. The worst that came of it in the end was that I tasted wet vulture feathers in my mouth for months afterward.
I’m fifty-three years old and still competing at a fairly high level against twenty- and thirty-year-olds. I have nerve damage in my face and head from shrapnel that ricocheted off a piece of steel; hearing loss from explosions, helicopters, and weapons; skin cancer; two fractures in my back; a compressed spine; rib fragments in my liver; an enlarged heart; two torn rotator cuffs; patellofemoral pain syndrome in both knees; and chronic plantar fascia nerve damage and frostbite in both feet.
I also have the well of energy I had as a youngster still burning inside me, urging me to accomplish more and set new goals for myself. There are so many exciting things I still want to accomplish in this life while I still have time.
A big deal for me is to climb five more of the seven summits!
I attempted to summit Mount Baker in Washington State a couple of years ago as a tune-up for my Denali climb; I went with an SF guy, an adventure racer, and a mountain guide. We ran into a terrible storm with high, frigid winds. The SF guy lost his footing, fell backward, and tumbled a hundred meters over his large backpack and the sled he was pulling and suffered a head injury.
When I ran over to where he was lying in the snow, he told me that he had to get up and patrol the barracks. He thought he was back in the Army as an E-1.
After my wife and I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, in 2008, we went on safari. One morning she thought she heard a lion outside our tent. But when she told the guard, he said, “No, those lions are far away, but because of the way the sound travels, they sound like they’re close.”
The next night she woke me up and pointed to the little tarp outside our tent where we washed up. A large lion was out there drinking our water and urinating, three feet away, with nothing between us except a thin piece of canvas. That day I had bought a spear from the Masai warriors, and I had it next to my bed. Dawn said, “Get your spear.” I replied, “It would be like a toothpick in that seven-hundred-pound beast—let’s just stay very quiet.” It was another one of those helpless moments.
I’m proud that I still do the work I love—training people who deploy overseas in the global war against terrorism and men who want to become SEALs. But most important, I’ve been married for ten years to a wonderful woman, whom I love deeply. Between us we have three talented, smart children—Dawnie, Chonie, and Dylan—who fill me with joy and pride.
There’s a reunion that Dawn and I look forward to every summer—the three-day gathering of SEALs that’s held in Little Creek, Virginia. Thousands of current and former SEALs show up with their families—everyone from Vietnam-era SEALs like Medal of Honor recipient Bob Kerrey to current members of ST-6.
The whole history of SEAL teams is represented. Crusty ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ can be seen holding court with a beer in his hand, signing autographs and telling stories. At recent reunions, I’ve run into distinguished SEALs like Jesse Ventura (the former pro wrestler and governor of Minnesota), ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ and Medal of Honor recipients Thomas Norris and Michael Thornton have appeared.
I take special pleasure in seeing some of the officers I served under who have now become admirals. Guys like Joe Kernan, Eric Olson, Ray Smith, Bob Harwood, and Brian Losey, who was with me in Riberalta, Bolivia, when the boy was hit by a motorcycle.
It’s a tight-knit community of men, women, and families.
I’m always struck by how many former SEALs like me are still engaged in some sort of military activity. And I’m pleased by the number of guys who talk proudly about their sons who are going through BUD/S or serving on one of the teams.
Dawn’s ex-husband, Ray, who is one of only three SEALs to have spent his entire career at ST-6, usually attends. At one recent reunion, Dawn and I were standing next to Ray and his new wife when a former teammate of ours walked up, looked at the two of us with our arms around our wives, and said, “You see the funniest things at these reunions.”
Last time that guy had seen the three of us, Ray and Dawn were married to each other, and I was single.
Even though we gather to see one another and celebrate, the reality of war is always present. As the years pass, it pains me to notice an increasing number of current SEALs with prosthetic legs or glass eyes or otherwise scarred with battle wounds.
At the last reunion, I ran into Admiral Bob Harwood, who was the officer in charge of ■■■■■■■■■ when I was there. Bob turned to the guys he was talking to and said, “This is Don Mann. He’s the toughest guy I’ve ever known in Special Operations.”
Even if he said it to be nice, it was good to hear.
It also reminded me that any individual accomplishment I might have achieved over the years doesn’t match the pride I feel in being part of one of the most exclusive and distinguished communities on earth—U.S. Navy SEALs.
The bond between teammates is as strong and unconditional as the promise all SEAL operators make to defend our country:
I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accompl
ish our mission. I am never out of the fight.
Pre–SEAL deployment, Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in Okinawa, Japan, 1980
Pre–SEAL deployment, U.S. Marine Corps MASH tent in Pohang, Korea, 1980
The SEAL Team One Foxtrot Platoon, 1983
Platoon training in the Chocolate Mountains of Niland, California, with SEAL Team One, 1983
In Korea with SEAL Team One, 1984. Frigid weather, in a whiteout. After the op, I had to be treated for frostbite.
Climbing caving ladder to helicopter, 1985
SEAL Team One at Camp Kerry, California, 1985
SEAL Team Six lead-climber training in Yosemite National Park, 1986 and 1987
SEAL Team Six jungle-warfare training in Puerto Rico, 1988
Weapons training, Niland, California, 1988
SEAL Team Six, 1987
Climbing an oil rig in Grand Isle, near New Orleans, 1989
SEAL Team Six, 1989
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)
Glossary
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
Acknowledgments
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.
About the Authors
DON MANN (CWO3, USN) has for the last thirty years been associated with the Navy SEALs as a platoon member, assault team member, boat-crew leader, and advanced-training officer, and, more recently, as program director preparing civilians to go to BUD/S (SEAL training). Up until 1998 he was on active duty with SEAL Team Six. Since then, he has deployed to the Middle East on numerous occasions in support of the war against terrorism.
RALPH PEZZULLO is a New York Times bestselling author
and award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His books include Jawbreaker (with CIA operative Gary Berntsen), At the Fall of Somoza, Plunging into Haiti (winner of the Douglas Dillon Award for American Diplomacy), The Walk-In, Most Evil (with Steve Hodel), Eve Missing, and Blood of My Blood. His film adaptation of Recoil by Jim Thompson was directed by James Foley.
AVAILABLE IN JUNE 2012 FROM MULHOLLAND BOOKS
HUNT THE WOLF
A SEAL Team Six Novel
by Don Mann and Ralph Pezzullo
Navy SEAL Team Six commando Don Mann infuses his debut military thriller with the real-life details only a true insider can reveal.
In the midst of a grueling training exercise, Thomas Crocker, USN, unearths a pocket of terrorism that leads straight from the slopes of K2 to the cities of Europe and the Middle East. Crocker and his team, who are trained for the most intense kinds of combat in the most extreme environments, must blaze through a perilous web of terrorist cells to track down a ruthless sheikh who is running an international kidnapping ring—before his captives pay the ultimate price.
The following is an excerpt from the novel’s opening pages.
Available wherever books are sold
Prologue
It is a principle of human nature to hate those whom you have injured.