Movie Theater No Easy Day (book)

#51
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Still don't see BOLD type?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">But...that's what he did. No mention of specific units. Eventually details leaked out, but to think they wouldn't is naive. This was one of the most important raids in US (if not Western) history so it was a matter of time before details got out in one form or another. It would have happened under Bush or any other president. The problem is that TOO MUCH got out TOO SOON, in my opinion, and that can be blamed on a variety of factors like members of the administration doing high-fives, mil folks wanting to impress their media contacts or source bonefides, prying journalists with deep connections. The motivations are myriad.</div></div>
 
#53
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Read it in three hours on a plane - seemed like an outline for a Hollywood movie to me. Half the book is devoted to snapshots of the author's career in the teams but didn't generate real feeling of involvment with the characters. Almost like reading a totally objective third hand account.

Gripping? - Only in as much as the hype wants you to get to the main course..
Detailed? - No
Factual? - I suspect only the guys who were there will ever know
Respect for the guys who did it? - Undoubtedly
Worth the price? If it supports bereaved families and wounded servicemen/women, YES, buy two copies!

Edited: +1 on Lone Survivor being a better read. I read them back-to-back, LS first. Maybe made NED look a little thin by comparison?
 
#55
Re: No Easy Day (book)

The author is a noble warrior. He and his teammates deserve unyielding time, love, attention, and our unending respect.

I'm copying what I feel is the most important quote: <span style="font-style: italic">"...what can I do to help? Two answers come to mind. Don't just live, but live for a purpose bigger than yourself. Be an asset to your family, community, and country....."</span> <span style="text-decoration: underline">No Easy Day</span>, Owen/Maurer, p.299.

Also, by deception, misrepresentation and misleading, I expect the publishing houses and writers throw these guys under the bus. While the motive of the soldier is pure and well-intended, I suspect the motive of the writer and publishers is not as innocent.

Now, having read the book, I stand by my original feelings. Our special operators who have conducted covert missions shouldn't recount their missions by selling their stories to stiff-shirt publishing executives and nilly willy writers looking to make a buck by exploiting these men and their experiences. They should not reveal that they only run suppressed. Future operations could be compromised if an enemy confuses the mission by also using suppressed weapons, for example. They should not reveal facts such as one teammate sat on UBL's body on the ride back to base, even if there was no place else to sit. Extremists and loyalists get worked up over stuff like that. Reveling the fact isn't worth the trouble it causes.

This book was 300 pages long. On page 209 they took off for the mission. On page 256 they landed returning from the mission. The title might have been "A Navy Assaulter: His life", for example. These writers looking for a story fluff the books, 250 pages worth.

For the benefit of efficiency I am glad to know "...the bureaucracy was gone...." while training for the mission. They could get anything they needed for training or the mission. Civilian military leadership, as the system is set up by the Constitution, directs the military, preventing a dictatorship form of government like Nazism. Thanks be to God.

One concern I have pertaining to our mens' safety is drug use. Sleep aids over do it. Drug-induced sleep does not provide the mind and body with rest, and it leaves a groggy mental slowness. When tired, sleep happens. For our mens' safety I wish they would forgo the use of sleep aids before a mission.

My prayer is that these men and women who achieved this mission and all the others sleep in peace - that those who did not survive the missions rest in peace, and may God bless us all.
 
#56
Re: No Easy Day (book)

DT- No, I cannot see anything bolded. Here's your quote with the words "problem" and "TOO MUCH" in bold, per my own insertion of the coding. Compare to your original. I see it in my insertion, but not your original. Could you just, I dunno, say what you had intended to/did bold? Or are you effing with me?
smile.gif




<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">But...that's what he did. No mention of specific units. Eventually details leaked out, but to think they wouldn't is naive. This was one of the most important raids in US (if not Western) history so it was a matter of time before details got out in one form or another. It would have happened under Bush or any other president. The <span style="font-weight: bold">problem</span> is that <span style="font-weight: bold">TOO MUCH</span> got out TOO SOON, in my opinion, and that can be blamed on a variety of factors like members of the administration doing high-fives, mil folks wanting to impress their media contacts or source bonefides, prying journalists with deep connections. The motivations are myriad.</div></div>
 
#57
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Just finished it today. It read pretty quick and easy, didn't take very long to finish it. It wasn't everything I thought it would be. I didn't really take anything he said as releasing classified info for the sake of national security. All in all though I'm happy I got it and enjoyed it.
 
#58
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Gagh, how is this hard to understand? Here's the post I made:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3563174#Post3563174

Within that post I said that info would "eventually get out" for many reasons, which you jumped all over, seemingly ignoring the part that came after it (in bold) where I wrote "TOO SOON" and "TOO MUCH." In other words, I agreed that "eventually" came way too soon and too much info was divulged (including this book).

Ohhh nevermind...pointless argument. I'm done trying to win the internet today.
 
#59
Re: No Easy Day (book)

The book had just a little bit less than f----all information in it.

He would have been better-off doing the Gary Berntsen thing: Including useful info and detail, submitting it to the censors, and having everyone read between the black lines.
 
#60
Re: No Easy Day (book)

My better half surprised me with a copy she brought back from a recent trip.

I am most of the way through it and I am with Graham. There is very little information in it. Lots of interesting reading and some good war stories from a guy who has BTDT and has the T-shirts. But I didn't see (so far) even the smallest thing that would put troops at risk.

I won't go into my opinions on the NDA he signed. But nothing in the book so far has not already been aired again and again on NatGeo, Discovery, History, Military channels, NPR, NBC, Fox... And repeated at dozens of 'We got Bin Laden' speeches and Press Conferences. The 'wall of silence' around this mission came down about a nanosecond after the announcement was made that Bin Laden was dead.

And I am just old enough to remember what happened to the 'wall of silence' after Desert One. There was not silence at all and it was picked apart and analyzed and talked about for week/months. Followed by Beckwith's book after he had been summarily retired. Biggest difference was that after Desert One, there was a circular firing squad... not hails for heros. And 1SFOD was being outed, not DEVGRU.

Glad I am reading it. Glad some $ will go to families. In awe of the capabilities and the skills of the folks who can achieve this level of skill as operators.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
#61
Re: No Easy Day (book)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dogtown</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gagh, how is this hard to understand? Here's the post I made:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3563174#Post3563174

Within that post I said that info would "eventually get out" for many reasons, which you jumped all over, seemingly ignoring the part that came after it (in bold) where I wrote "TOO SOON" and "TOO MUCH." In other words, I agreed that "eventually" came way too soon and too much info was divulged (including this book).

Ohhh nevermind...pointless argument. I'm done trying to win the internet today.</div></div>

I'm beyond the argument, as your wording was deficient in making the point you now espouse; you're right, it's pointless. I want to see this damn bolding!
smile.gif
I can't see anything bolded.

There is no easy day on the internet.
 
#62
Re: No Easy Day (book)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Casey Simpson</div><div class="ubbcode-body">One concern I have pertaining to our mens' safety is drug use. Sleep aids over do it. Drug-induced sleep does not provide the mind and body with rest, and it leaves a groggy mental slowness. When tired, sleep happens. For our mens' safety I wish they would forgo the use of sleep aids before a mission.
</div></div>

Casey, is that your personal impression or from the author? If its your impression - I would have to respectfully disagree. I have not read this book yet, but I just finished Fearless (which was awesome BTW). These guys generally get one week of quality time with family (which obviously they engage their families activities mostly during day) between their missions/deployments which are almost always done at night and can traverse through multiple time zones within a night or two. Have you ever done shift work, not to mention shift work where its life or death, plus over time zones? Its more important for these guys to get sleep before a mission than have the adrenaline surge/nightshift effect/time zone effects causing them to start a mission after being up 24+ hours jet-lagged. I am sure they are given their option of hypnotics which they test individually for both providing restorative sleep as well as side effects such as grogginess. I have no doubt they alter agents based on how much time they anticipate they have to sleep and drug half-life that allow superb function without grogginess. Sounds like you never had insomnia; if anyone deserves to have it addressed its these guys.
 
#63
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Read it and thought it was a good book. I've read better and I've read worse. I still can't figure out what all of the hoopla is about. He didn't reveal anything different than some of the other books I have read. I don't know if the last chapter got under some peoples skin or what, but I didn't see anything that looked like a breach of security. I mean I read the book and I still couldn't do any of the stuff that they do. He does get on washington pretty hard at the end of the book, but it was related to all the leaks that occurred after the mission. That is the only thing that I could see hurt anyone's feelings.
 
#64
Re: No Easy Day (book)


UKD, yes. The author wrote about using Ambien approximately four times, but you're probably right. The men are probably well aware of the risks, and also I'm sure the throes of an assault is sufficient to awaken the nervous system with more than enough excitement to be alert. Incidentally, my interest is out of love and not criticism. I"m a big hater of violent death.
 
#66
Re: No Easy Day (book)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: UKDslayer</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Casey Simpson</div><div class="ubbcode-body">One concern I have pertaining to our mens' safety is drug use. Sleep aids over do it. Drug-induced sleep does not provide the mind and body with rest, and it leaves a groggy mental slowness.</div></div>Casey, is that your personal impression or from the author? If its your impression - I would have to respectfully disagree. </div></div>Ambien is not such a bad way to get some needed sleep after a mission either...Time zones...Jet lag....The endless rewind in your head...
wink.gif
 
#67
Re: No Easy Day (book)

I listened to the audiobook. I didn't learn any secrets from this book. No tactics that I haven't heard in other books. The author of this book doesn't release anything that hasn't been said a hundred times already.

And I think it's total BS that his real name has been leaked!!!
 
#68
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Compared to the risk of getting your ass shot off because you're sleep-deprived and inattentive, I'd say Ambien looks pretty good.

I figure that principle first was applied in WWII when Nazi pilots were given Pervitin, the first pharmaceutical form of methamphetamine, to keep them alert on long missions.
 
#70
Re: No Easy Day (book)

I see your concern with the use of Ambien, and perhaps some insight that many are not aware of. Most people swear off any chemical use to reach goals, which is fine, I mostly agree, but its really not fair to make a blanket statement, unless you have your own experiences with Ambien.

I had Ambien prescribed to me last year, it was for a constant changing shift. They call it "shift sleep disorder" or something like that. Coming from a first hand experience with using it, there is no groginess, no sloppy mental slowness. It was quite refreshing to get real sleep and not be dragging ass and needing 5 cups of coffee and then crashing when it wears off. So using it on a flight to reset your internal clock is more of a wise decision than forcing sleep when nerves and environmental conditions simply will not allow, and I can speak from experience as well, that trying to do that, you WILL NOT get the results you are after. Oh, and after using it for approximately 3 months, then finally getting a set schedule, there were no after effects, no withdrawl symptoms, nothing. The biggest issue would be to use it when you CAN'T get at least 6-8hrs of uninterrupted sleep. Then you just might have some after effect, like what was mentioned at one point in the book. But the initial effects only last for about 1-2 hours, the rest is normal sleep.

I am about 3/4 of the way through the book. As of now, I have yet to read anything that resembles Obama bashing, secrets being given, nothing that either hasnt been shown on some sort of educational programming or can't be found in less than a minute of a Google search. I have a magazine that gives a detailed article with plenty of photographs of a SEALs kit. Saying that they shouldnt mention working at night, or using suppressors is moderately pointless. These tactics have already been mentioned ad nauseum in nearly every conversation, article, documentery and instructional eithery directly related to the SEALs or in general. I thought it was funny when that one show Modern Sniper mentioned a super secret math formula that snipers use to calulate loophole shooting. Turns out, it really isnt that secret. So in the immortal words from Sgt. Hulka.....
imagesCA84K5UH.jpg
 
#71
Re: No Easy Day (book)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: desertrat1979</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Coming from a first hand experience with using it, there is no groginess, no sloppy mental slowness. It was quite refreshing to get real sleep and not be dragging ass and needing 5 cups of coffee and then crashing when it wears off. So using it on a flight to reset your internal clock is more of a wise decision than forcing sleep when nerves and environmental conditions simply will not allow, and I can speak from experience as well, that trying to do that, you WILL NOT get the results you are after.</div></div>Agreed.
 
#72
Re: No Easy Day (book)

I flew on an ISR platform for OEF and OIF and our sorties were 13.5 hours long (longest was 18 hours) to not include pre-flight activities. When you landed you were so hyped up there was no way sleep was coming easy so Ambien was prescribed to the crews. If I missed a sleep cycle due to the lack of sleep my next sortie was a painful event and I would have to rely on stimulants to keep awake. During wartime there are things that I was willing to do that during peace time training I was not willing to try. When others lives are on the line and your performance is required to be top notch in order to stay effective you do what you have to do to survive.
 
#73
Re: No Easy Day (book)

There are several negative side effects possible with ambien.

Shaking of the arms and legs sounds like a bad idea for people in that line of work.

http://sideeffectsbase.com/ambien-side-effects/

On the more aggressive side, the drug can cause depression, mood swings, panic attacks, seizures etc.

My mother was formerly a flight attendant and used Ambien for a couple of years, and she definitely developed some of the mood swings and panic attack symptoms. There is also a period of time (30-45 minutes after taking the medication) that people can be like zombies- doing conscious physical things without conscious thought.

For my mother, that could be walking up and down the stairs 6-10 times till you notice and think "what the hell is she doing." For a SEAL that could probably be chambering rounds or handling weapons.

I wouldn't use that stuff, and I have negative experience with soldiers who used mood altering prescriptions and don't think that stuff should be ok for deployed time either.
 
#74
Re: No Easy Day (book)

Wow, as I read these posts, I see a commercial on NatGeo..."Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden" Sunday 4 Nov. on NatGeo. Wonder where they be getting details for this one. Somehow, I doubt its from this book. In fact, this book has touched on very little OpSec, they spoke of tactics that are already known, and gave details that have already been spoonfed to us from the politicians trying to use these events to get re-elected. The only thing I got from this book was a first hand perspective on events we already have been told about.
 
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