How SEALs Carried Out Their Mission (Capt. Phillips rescue)

[underpants]

Source: Washington Post

The operation to rescue Capt. Richard Phillips involved dozens of Navy SEALs, who parachuted from an aircraft into the scene near dark Saturday, landing in the ocean. The SEALs were part of a larger group of Special Operations Forces involved in the effort, according to military officials.

The SEALs set up operations on the USS Bainbridge, which had been communicating with the four pirates via radio and had also used smaller boats to make deliveries of food and water to the lifeboat. Yet the pirates were growing increasingly agitated, the officials said. At one point Saturday, the pirates opened fire on one of the smaller U.S. Navy craft that approached.

Soon afterward, two pirates moved to one of the hatches of the lifeboat and stuck their heads out. The third pirate advanced toward the captain, and pointed his AK-47 straight at Phillips' back, the rifle touching it or inches away, the official said.

U.S. military observers believed that Phillips was about to be shot. SEAL snipers, who were positioned on a deck at the stern of the Bainbridge, an area known as the fantail, had the three pirates in their sights. The on-scene commander gave the SEAL snipers authority to fire.

"As soon as the snipers had a clear shot at the guy who had the rifle, they shot him and the other two in the hatches," said the senior military official.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/12/AR2009041202645.html?hpid=topnews

[Captain Hilts]

1. Have a great Navy day! nt

[DaLittle Kitty]

7. Job WELL DONE... HAts Off To Our Navy Seals! A Happy Ending w/ A Dem In Charge!

:)

[corruptmewithpower]

2. Cheers to our magnificent fighting men and to President Obama.

The President had the wisdom to give the navy a job to do and the restraint to not micromanage that job from half a world away.

[Lithos]

3. Well done!

Professional and appropriate use of lethal power.

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. Cheers. But the SEALs couldn't have had time to set up and target if not

for professional hostage negotiators on the scene for days. They'll get little credit and quietly move on to save the next people in danger.

[Pirate Smile]

5. They did great. They managed to get the Pirates to agree to the line between the

boats so they could be towed close enough to make the shot, along with towed back out to sea when they were nearing shore. They managed to get one Pirate to essentially give himself up. They did an awesome job.

[joshcryer]

14. If a hostage negotiator cannot make headway in the first few hours, then their job is buying time.

That's pretty much a universial here. Textbook negotiation is "keep them on the line for as long as possible."

[underpants]

20. Right. Wear them out-weaken them-they will either comply or let their guard down

or you get useful information OR the pros talk them out of it

[aviationpm]

6. The military truly has many of our best people... truly proud of them. n/t

[cboy4]

8. I'm regaining my full pride of America very quickly.

:bounce:

[AlphaCentauri]

9. very clean job

[EFerrari]

10. I was so afraid that man was history. Bravo!

[Rhiannon12866]

11. K&R! Amazing story! "I love it when a plan comes together." ;)

We really needed some good news and this was just the ticket... Kudos to the courageous crew and to the incomparable U.S. Navy! :patriot:

[Optical.Catalyst]

15. I love it when President Obama's plan comes together

[Rhiannon12866]

21. The man has an innate wisdom that his predecessor obviously did not.

x(

[geomon666]

12. Now that is how you do an operation.

Quick, clean, with a clear plan. Are you reading this Bush? Or at least having someone read it to you?

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. I had no idea the lifeboat was on a line, only 80 feet from the destroyer

I'm not so surprised they managed to shoot the pirates so quickly now.

[underpants]

19. That was a surprise to me-that they accepted it

not to demean the pirates but they were the onboard guys they probably didn't realize that that was the first step to the end. They lost some control even of their control was be adrift (being not tethered). From there that probably offered the lifeline that led to the first guy giving up. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all playbook stuff. The Navy has been at this from quite some time.

[rasputin1952]

16. I don't like to see people die, however, I feel no remorse for the

pirates. There appears to have been little chance for peaceful resolution, an innocent man was apparently about to die...this was the avenue of resolution.

Order given, action taken...situation over.

[MaineDem]

17. Bravo Zulu to the Navy!

Well done.

[sarcasmo]

18. Job well Done and kudos to Obama for pulling the go ahead and take em out trigger.

[underpants]

22. Firing at sea

that has to be difficult. I did BRM in the Army (not to really compare basic rifle marksmanship to the highly trained SEALS) and we had a stable firing position (prone or foxhole) to a fixed target-the only thing we had to consider was "Kentucky windage". At sea at any distance the firing position is always moving as is the target--up down left right-- and the wind could be rather difficult to get a good read on. I am sure they train on this all the time. Three shots, three successes. Amazing at any range.

[sarcasmo]

32. I agree, ex Military here too, the wind itself made that a difficult shot.

[Tim01]

33. Wind? Weren't these guys at like 80 ft?

[paparush]

23. Sniping on board a boat must take amazing skill.

Even if not under power, just the wave motion, the wind, etc.

I'm not having a Katie Kouric "Navy Seals Rock!" kinda moment.

Having fired a few guns in my lifetime, I know the challenge of hitting a stationary target, much less one that is bobbing to and fro.

Hate that anyone had to die.

[underpants]

24. I posted the same thing just above

post #22

lots of variables there. Lots of math running through the firer's head. Can't be easy regardless of range or amount of training.

[davsand]

27. I had much that same reaction.

"Amazing shooting" doesn't even begin to describe my respect for those snipers' skill. I know full well that nobody I know could have made that shot in that setting.

I think it speaks volumes about our C in C that he has the wisdom to let the professionals do the jobs they are trained to do--which clearly is what happened here.



Laura

[KansDem]

25. Really "Mission Accomplished"...really!

Not some neo-con doofus version of it...

I bet FOX News had a difficult time reporting this. I imagine the story stuck in their throats like a wad of Bush's legacy...

[trotsky]

26. Great job by all involved.

Just amazing.

[tiddlywinks]

28. that is awesome

just awesome! it makes my day!! i know the cap'n is happy! time to break out the spiced rum on the rocks!!!!!

[rollin74]

29. Well done

Nice job, SEALS

[Dappleganger]

30. And they didn't need Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris to pull it off!

Go Seals. :D

/Navy brat rant

[ACTION BASTARD]

31. Obama will save us ALL!

[steven johnson]

34. NY Times: "To Rescue Captain, U.S. Snipers Held Steady Despite Many Moving Parts"

By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: April 14, 2009
WASHINGTON - The hard part was not the distance, 75 feet, an easy range for an experienced sniper. Far more difficult were all the moving parts: the bobbing lifeboat, the rolling ship, hitting three targets simultaneously in darkness - and all without harming the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips.
That was the consensus on Monday from former members of the Navy Seals who said they were impressed by the skills of three Seal snipers who aimed from the fantail of the destroyer Bainbridge and picked off three Somali pirates holding Captain Phillips in a small lifeboat that was being towed about 75 feet behind the destroyer.

Several dozen members of the Seals had secretly boarded the Bainbridge on Saturday, having flown to the area, parachuted into the ocean and then climbed aboard inflatable boats they had dropped into the sea.

But a former member of the Seals said the events unfolded as a classic hostage rescue operation and that Seal snipers trained daily, and under all conditions, to maintain precision skills.

"Training from a moving platform is something they do all the time," said the former member, Harry Humphries, who is now a security consultant and actor. "That's a classic problem at sea."
Jamey Cummings, another former member of the Seals who is now an executive headhunter, said most Seal platoons of 16 had at least two snipers who were essential to the tactics of the group. "It's a common misperception that Seals like to sneak up on people and use knives on them," he said. "If you have to do that, the mission was probably not planned that way."


http://mobile.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/world/africa/14sniper.xml

[davepc]

35. Dosent the Times have a stlye sheet? Its Navy SEALs

It's an acronym, its capitalized.

[TorchTheWitch]

36. A lot of people don't know it's an acronym

They think they're called "seals" because of the aquatic creature (crazy, I know). It bugs me when people don't capitalize the letters. I think this is a journalist error. More and more I see all kinds of spelling and other obvious mistakes in printed media... I guess they don't pay anyone to proofread anymore.