The Navy SEAL who claims to have shot Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011 and is speaking with Fox News later this week has revealed his identity to The Washington Post.
Robert O'Neill reportedly earned 52 commendations over 16 years in the Navy. He was involved in the 2009 raid on the Mearsk Alabama, the event that inspired the film "Captain Philips." And he now says he was one of the SEALs who shot the most wanted terrorist alive.
The SEALs have some of the highest-pressure jobs in the entire US military and work under almost incomprehensible physical and mental strain. They're better prepared and better trained than just about any other special operations force on earth.
In No Easy Day, his book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, former SEAL Matt Bissonnette talks about what it takes just to get ready for a combat deployment.
He recalls meeting at SEAL Team 6 HQ in Norfolk, Va. before jumping into the fight. On the day before leaving for the Bin Laden operation, Bissonnette asked a more experienced SEAL what he should bring along.
The senior SEAL stopped, looked at his new teammate and said: "Dude, what do you think you need to bring for deployment? Load it ... Bring what you think you need."
The following list is what Bissonnette brought along.
This post was originally written by Geoffrey Ingersoll and Robert Johnson.
Body armor plates are able to stop up to three AK-47 rounds — but are only guaranteed to stop one.
Some SEALs go "slick" and remove their plates, depending on different scenarios.
Depending on how far they're traveling and the type of mission they're engaged in, SEALs may just not wear them.
In No Easy Day, Bissonnette says to a buddy: "If I get shot, don't tell my mom I wasn't wearing these plates."
Body armor plate carriers offer protection and are handy for storing all manner of necessary items.
SEALs will surely have one of these — they help carry a few of the next 17 things on this list.
Helmets like this will stop shrapnel, but have also been known to deflect sniper rounds.
The "brain bucket:" No matter what, every soldier wears one.
Even the tiniest fragment or the smallest piece of high-velocity hot metal can enter through soft tissue and puncture your brain, with fellow troops left guessing as to what caused your death. In combat, your life literally depends on wearing one of these.
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