The former Navy SEAL who claims to have shot and killed Osama bin Laden spoke at the Best of Blount Awards in Tennesse. Robert O'Neill, 38, is one of the most highly decorated veterans of our time. He was the leader of Navy SEAL Team 6.
WASHINGTON — Navy SEALs may pride themselves on being quiet professionals, but they seem to have been pretty noisy as of late.
U.S. special operations leaders are scrambling to contain the damage from what they view as an unseemly quest for attention as another Navy SEAL opens up about the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.
"They're terribly frustrated," said Dick Couch, a Vietnam-era Navy SEAL, referring to special operations leaders. "They want to be very clear this is not who we are."
"It just makes us looks like buffoons," he added.
The latest revelation comes from Robert O'Neill, a former member of SEAL Team 6 who says he killed bin Laden with a shot to the forehead when the team raided the terrorist's compound more than three years ago.
Earlier this week, O'Neill spoke about his exploits in The Washington Post. He is also scheduled to appear on Fox News next week to describe his role in the raid.
O'Neill's disclosures come nearly two years after Matt Bissonnette, another former SEAL Team 6 member, published details about the raid under a pen name in No Easy Day. Bissonnette didn't submit the book for review prior to publication.
As a result of all the publicity, leaders of the Naval Special Warfare Command issued a rare plea to remember the code they pledged to live by in the face of the revelations. A critical component of the SEAL ethos is to keep quiet.
"We will not abide willful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety and financial gain, which only diminishes otherwise honorable service, courage and sacrifice," said the letter signed by Rear Adm. Brian Losey and Force Master Chief Michael Magaraci on Oct. 31.
Analysts and former Navy SEALs say some are seduced by the celebrity status that has been conferred on them in recent years. The SEALs have been the subject of Hollywood films, video games and books.
A group of SEALs was recently disciplined for consulting on the computer game Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
Hollywood has produced a string of movies portraying SEALs in a heroic light, including Zero Dark Thirty, which chronicled the bin Laden mission, and Captain Phillips, which portrayed their role in killing pirates and rescuing a ship captain.
Their celebrity status has overshadowed other special operations forces within the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force, Couch said. It wasn't always the case. During Vietnam, few people had heard of the Navy SEALs. It was the Green Berets who captured the public's imagination, helped by John Wayne's starring role in the 1968 movie about the Army special forces.
Today's tsunami of coverage on SEALs presents a far greater temptation to cash out or otherwise capitalize on the public interest.
The Pentagon said they are expected to resist the urge. Revelations from the special operations forces risks exposing classified information, given much of what they do is secret, said Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby.
"There is an expectation inside that community, a code, that they ascribe to that they will not seek recognition for what they do, they will not seek financial gain from what they do," Kirby said Friday.
"Nothing takes away our pride and esteem for the job that those individuals continue to do," he added. "But there's an obligation that comes with it, an obligation not to be candid about what they do."
