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Download PDF The Operator Firing the Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Audible Audio Edition Robert O'Neill Simon Schuster Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 9 hours and 42 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio Audible.com Release Date April 25, 2017 Language English, English ASIN B01N7YU0QW

The Operator Firing the Shots That Killed Osama Bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Audible Audio Edition Robert O'Neill Simon Schuster Audio Books Reviews

• "The Operator Firing the Shots that killed Osama Bin Laden" by Robert O'Neill, (publ. Apr. 25, 2017); 358 pp, hardback.  (Amazingly, as I write this review while holding the book in hand, one can read almost the entire book as provided for in Books!)
  
  This book regards the experiences of the author in serving as a U.S. Navy SEAL member on some 400+ "missions", with his account of being the person who actually shot and killed Osama Bin Laden -- the Islamist who coordinated the hijacked airplane, suicidal Islamikazi attacks on 9/11/2001 that destroyed several skyscrapers in NYC and damaged the Pentagon.
  
  The author recounts growing up in Montana and the road that led to his joining the U.S. Navy to become a SEAL.  He recounts his SEAL training -- a trying, exhausting experience that one has read in many other SEAL-training books written by other SEAL-school graduates.  Following SEAL training, he discusses other combat-oriented training that he undertook during his 16 years as a SEAL.
  
  What, of course, is of primary interest here is his account as to how his SEAL team trained for their mission to "neutralize" Osama Bin Laden at his secretive Abbottabad, Pakistan compound. I'm not going to recount the author's entire 25-page raid of rappelling from a helicopter into Osama's high-walled "fortress", but will quote the author as claiming that as he climbed up a stairwell to Osama's third floor "Osama bin Laden stood near the entrance at the foot of the bed, taller and thinner than I'd expected, his beard shorter and hair whiter....In less than a second, I aimed above the woman's right shoulder [who was standing in front of Osama] and pulled the trigger twice.  Bin Laden's head split open, and he dropped" (p. 310).   Well, there's more to the author's account as to how his team searched through the building for documents and computers for intelligence data, and their escape back to their Afghanistan base.
  
  About a year-and-a-half after shooting bin Laden, the author decided to retire -- but still about 3 years short of being able to retire from the military and qualify for a monthly pension.  Towards the end of his SEAL career, he came under criticism from other SEALs that he was planning on quitting early in order to "cash in" on writing a book such as this.   The author was bothered by such criticism, and he pondered in his concluding paragraph "I've had many moments when I've wondered if being the one who killed Osama bin Laden was the best thing that ever happened to me, or the worst.  I'm still trying to figure that out"  (p. 336).
  
  Even if the author hadn't been the SEAL who downed Osama, his recounting of his other combat experiences would still make this book an interesting read.  I highly recommend it.
• I read this book almost entirely straight through, finishing it in one day. Like Rob, I grew up in small-town Montana and joined the military straight after high school, so I found his early chapters both very interesting but also very relatable. He manages to break down his journey through BUD/S in a way that's easy for us to understand and digest yet also remain awestruck at what those guys have to go through to earn their title. The action is non-stop and reveals a lot of information that we previously didn't know.
  
  And through all of it, Rob remains completely humble.
  
  By far my favorite book and I plan on buying it again through Audible to listen while running.
• O'Neill's excellent page-turning narrative deserves a spot high on the very short list of the best first person war-related books. His style is engaging and his personal and professional stories demonstrate the best in American determination, wit and humor.
  The reader is literally in Rob's hip pocket during his trials during BUD/S and advanced SEAL training, assignment to the teams, the mundane and hair raising missions, as well as a riveting description of the raid to kill bin Laden. He balances the technical, military and personal sides of his career with skill and humility.
  The only reason it took me two days to read it is that I started at 10PM the night I downloaded it. Highest recommended for anyone vaguely interested in the topic.
• It was the summer of 2014, and my wife and I were passing through Butte, Montana, on a long-distance road-trip from Arizona to Banff. At the same time, we said why would anyone want to live here. Well, as it turns out, a whole lot of good people live there, including one young man who had an incredible journey from Butte to Abbottabad, Pakistan.
  
  The Operator is the recently published book by Navy Seal Robert J. O’Neill, who is best known for firing the shots that killed Osama Bin Laden. This is a fascinating and well written story of men doing difficult things from their initial training to missions abroad and the challenges they face with their families, their friends and with their fellow operators.
  
  While O’Neill participated in 400 missions during his career, it was surprising the number of historically significant missions he was involved with. Previously, this reader did not know that he was involved with the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, when Somali pirates had taken over the Maersk Alabama. He was also in Paktika Province (Afghanistan), when Bowe Bergdahl deserted. O’Neill and his team hunted for Bergdahl as did my paratrooper son. When my son mentioned that Seals would go on missions with his team, I wondered if it could have been O’Neill and his guys.
  
  While the world knows about the killing of Bin Laden, O’Neill fills in the details on what actually went on inside that compound, and the tenseness of the operation. This story also makes one realize that war is a young man’s game, and this reader remains thankful that there still are Americans who serve a purpose that is greater than themselves. Read this book and be inspired!