For the first time anywhere, the first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy Seal who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments. From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden's compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group--commonly known as SEAL Team Six-- has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines. No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the twenty-four-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen's life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden's death, is an essential piece of modern history. In No Easy Day, Owen also takes readers onto the field of battle in America's ongoing War on Terror and details the selection and training process for one of the most elite units in the military. Owen's story draws on his youth in Alaska and describes the SEALs' quest to challenge themselves at the highest levels of physical and mental endurance. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes numerous previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11. In telling the true story of the SEALs whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.
SAMPLE CUSTOMER REVIEWS –
1) A Gripping Story from a Boots on the Ground Perspective - In No Easy Day, you see an account of the raid to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden from the eyes on someone who was there - one of four team leaders on the ground that night. The account is most definitely gripping, I could not put it down and I skipped sleeping to finish it - yes, there will be hell to pay at work tomorrow. But, nowhere close to as much hell as the operators in DevGru (aka Seal Team 6) undertook to get into DevGru and to stay there.
The first thing that struck me was just how elite a team the US sent on that raid. To be a member of DevGru you have to ALREADY be a Navy Seal. Most who apply don't make it, but they go back to being a "regular" SEAL which has nothing regular about it. For the Bin Laden raid, they essentially assembled an All Star team of the most seasoned DevGru operators from multiple teams and put them together on a team consisting of the best of the best of the best.
My next takeaway on the actual raid itself was how many things actually went wrong. Here you have the best of the best taking part in a historic mission, and all kinds of things start falling apart. Yet, amazingly (to me), despite all the problems, it still worked out. Thats because everything that could have gone wrong was previously anticipated, contingency plans made, and all back up plans were rehearsed multiple times. While I considered the mission to be successful, the impression I get is the members of DevGru thought they could have done it much better. (I'll leave out the details as to avoid spoiling the story).
This leads me to my next takeaway which is just how devoted to perfection and exceptional performance these operators seem to be. One thing that surprised me is how much they train when they aren't deployed. If they aren't jumping out of helicopters on a real mission, they are jumping out of real helicopters for practice. The missions are abroad and the training sessions are state side but often away from home too.
In short, these guys don't ever seem to be at home very much, it just takes that much work and training to be as good as these guys are. I for one am glad they are on OUR side and my appreciation for them has certainly gone way up after reading this book,
No Easy Day very much gives you a view into both the Bin Laden raid but also the years and in some cases decades of demanding work that led up to it... And the title IS accurate, there doesn't seem to be ANY easy days as a member of DevGru.
Overall a gripping story on the Bin Laden raid with excellent perspective on the life of the operators in DevGru (Seal Team 6).
By Victor Cheng on September 4, 2012
2) Excellent. An intense, well written, and captivating memoir. I finished it in one day. - I am usually a very slow reader and my attention often wanders, especially with non-fiction. This book though kept my attention completely. From the author's opening notes about how nothing in this book violates secrecy or operational security to the very last chapter I was completely captivated. The writing is superb and the flow of the book is great.
I highly recommend that you read this book. It is excellent not just as history, or a story, but also a book about how winners think. Guys like "Owen" look at challenges and life completely differently than average people do, and reading this book gave me a wonderful insight into his head. To get an honest view into the thought processes of someone like "Owen" is a unique and incredible opportunity.
I really enjoyed this book and feel like I learned a tremendous amount from it. I highly recommend it.
People who are bashing the book for being a sell out or violating secrecy either have not read the book or are looking at it from a very unique and odd perspective. I find it especially perplexing that some people are bashing him using his experience to gain fame and profit. Considering he wrote under a pseudonym and is donating a majority of the book's proceeds to charity, I can't really understand these accusations. He explains throughout the book that he was motivated to become a SEAL, in part, by reading a similar book about missions in Vietnam. I think that his primary motivation in writing this book is to inform the public, especially those very very few who might make up a future generation of SEALs and Delta operators.
By S. Power TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on September 4, 2012
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