No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

lifeboat made landfall, we would be forced to attempt a rescue mission on shore.
    The team that went over to the
Bainbridge
was made up of an assault team, multiple snipers, and a small command element. The SEALs set up an overwatch position on the fantail of the
Bainbridge
. Snipers started a rotating watch as negotiations continued. We waited patiently for the situation to develop.
    On Sunday, we suddenly got word that Phillips was now on board the USS
Bainbridge
and safe. Soon all the guys were back and I ran into my friend Gary. He was in the class ahead of me during BUD/S. Gary came to Green Team a few years after me. He started his SEAL career driving mini-subs. It was funny to think of him folding his six-foot-four-inch frame into the sub. He was awarded a Silver Star on the last deployment. He literally stitched up five guys trying to flank his element during a mission in Kandahar. Gary went over to the
Bainbridge
and was in charge of interrogating the captured pirate Wal-i-Musi.
    We shook hands.
    “Dude, holy shit, give me some scoop.” I said.
    “We caught the last one when he popped his head up and smoke checked all three,” Gary said.
    Gary told me he was tasked with talking to the injured pirate, Musi. Gary hoped the pirate could persuade his comrades to surrender. Gary started killing Musi with kindness when he got to the
Bainbridge
.
    “Hey, man, want some ice cream?” he said. “How about a cold Coke?”
    Musi and Gary struck up a quick friendship over food and comfort. Gary kept Musi out in the open so the other pirates could see him drinking Cokes and eating ice cream. Since the pirates still on the lifeboat had to yell back and forth to negotiate.
    “I can’t hear,” Gary told Musi. “Tell them to pull the rope in.”
    Musi agreed and the line got shorter and shorter, the lifeboat inching closer to the
Bainbridge
. The seas were getting rough and with no engine the lifeboat was getting tossed around. As it got dark, Gary and his teammates pulled the lifeboat even closer. It was pitch-black and there was no way the pirates could tell they were being pulled closer to the USS
Bainbridge
. On the fantail, Gary and his teammates scanned the lifeboat. Infrared lasers that can be seen only through night vision goggles danced over the skin of the boat.
    One of the pirates always sat on top of the covered area keeping watch; engaging him would be simple. They could also see one pirate through the window steering the boat, another relatively easy target. But the third pirate was always hidden, and they needed to take out all three at the same time. The only way to take the shots and ensure Phillips’s safety was to get the third pirate to expose himself. Finally, after hours of waiting, on Sunday night the third pirate’s head and shoulders emerged from the rear hatch of the lifeboat. That was all the snipers needed. The orders stated, only act if Phillips’s life was in imminent danger. With tensions already high, and fearing for Phillips’s safety, my teammates opened fire. In seconds, all three pirates crumbled under the barrage.
    After the last of the sniper shots rang out, the team on the fantail heard one unmistakable crack from a pirate’s AK-47. The single shot echoed over the water, and my teammates were immediately deflated. The stakes were high. Washington was getting frequent updates, and they were watching drone feeds of the lifeboat. The commanding officer of DEVGRU and our squadron commander were both on the USS
Boxer
.
    Fearing the worst and not knowing if Phillips was dead or wounded, two snipers near the towline jumped up and started to slither down the rope to the boat. There was no time to waste. Balancing on top of the towline, which bobbed inches above the dark waves, they reached the boat in minutes. Armed with only pistols, they boarded the lifeboat and swung inside the enclosure. There was a single opening into the raft, making them an easy target for even a wounded pirate.
    Entering the life raft, they quickly and methodically reengaged each pirate, making sure there was no more threat. They found Phillips tied up in the corner, unhurt. The USS
Bainbridge
‘s rigid-hull inflatable boat carrying a handful of SEALs was shadowing the lifeboat. When they heard the shots, the boat raced in and the SEALs pulled Phillips off the lifeboat.
    Back on the
Bainbridge
, before the last shot rang out, Gary grabbed Musi and slammed him onto the deck.
    “You’re going to jail,”