Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations

McRaven, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, follows his self-help guide, Make Your Bed, in which he shared principles for success learned during his more than 30 years as a Navy SEAL, with this collection of fascinating stories from his time as commander of the Special Operations Forces. In the book’s first half, McRaven describes his early life and his SEAL training and experiences, including a gripping account of his time as part of Operation Desert Shield during the first Gulf War in 1990, when he was tasked with intercepting an Iraqi tanker. Here, McRaven focuses on how the SEAL experience “builds unbreakable bonds among your fellow warriors.” The book’s second half shows how these bonds are tested when he becomes a SEAL team commanding officer and then later the commander of the Special Operations Task Force, directing the rescue of Captain Phillips from Somali pirates and the capture of Saddam Hussein. But the highlight of the book is McRaven’s detailed account of the successful mission to track Osama bin Laden (in order to confirm that it was actually bin Laden they killed, McRaven had a SEAL lie down next to the 6’4” corpse to measure his size). McRaven’s war stories deliver remarkable insight into the life of a wartime leader.[em] (May) [/em]