Inside SEAL Team Six

by Don Mann

  I said, “Bob, forget it. Your dad’s gone. You don’t want to murder anyone.”

  “You don’t understand. The asshole’s in prison waiting for arraignment. I’m going to go in there and take him out.”

  “Bob, you’re one of my best friends. I don’t want you to do this.”

  “I have to do this, Don.”

  “When you go into the prison, they’re going to use a metal wand to check you for weapons. Then you go through a door and you wait there. There’s a table. They check the table. Then the guards bring the prisoner in. You’ve got to call first to make an appointment. Say that you’re an attorney and you want to meet with the guy. Make sure you carry a briefcase and business cards. And tape a razor blade to the back of your watch. Wear a short-sleeved shirt so it looks like you don’t have anything to hide. While you’re talking to the guy, lean over and whisper something, then do what you need to do.”

  Bob decided not to do it—thank God. And he ended up serving on the SEAL teams for twenty years.

  SERE training was intended to provide the skills to live up to the U.S. military code of conduct when operating in an uncertain or hostile environment.

  The COC was drilled into our heads.

  You’ve probably heard pieces of it grunted through the gritted teeth of actors stripped to their waists in cheesy action movies. But for the record, here it is:

  Article I. I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

  Article II. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

  Article III. If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

  Article IV. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

  Article V. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

  Article VI. I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

  Once the twenty of us knew the COC backward and forward, we were given some basic lessons in land navigation; identification of poisonous plants, animals, and insects; water procurement; fire making; building shelters; and evasion, escape, and resistance techniques.

  Then we were dropped off in the desert without food or water and ordered to find our way to a safe area while trying to avoid contact with the “enemy.”

  Thirsty and hungry, we drank from prickly pear cacti and searched for edible plants to eat. Spotting a small rabbit running under a bush, I threw my Ka-Bar knife, and to my surprise it pinned the rabbit’s neck to the ground. By cooking the rabbit meat with edible plants, I made a half-decent rabbit stew.

  But one little rabbit was hardly enough to feed twenty hungry men.

  Hungry, thirsty, and exhausted, all of us were captured over the next several days.

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  I figured that if they were going to act tough, I’d play it for real too.

  When one of my captors stepped out of the jeep, I got my bound hands in front of me, grabbed his PRC-77 radio, and tossed it under the wheels.

  I also managed to steal a knife and lighter, which I hid in my boots.

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  Every opportunity I could find, I escaped from my tiny ■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​ and, after numerous attempts, managed to smash all of the bulbs that lit the inner camp.■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​■​

  Once while I was out stealing bags and hiding them alongside the fence, a guard started calling us for roll call by banging on the roofs of the cells; this happened with no warning day and night.

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  We were tired, hungry, and thirsty. Our bodies were breaking down from the lack of sustenance and sleep.

  One of the more hostile guards started to harangue us over the loudspeaker, denouncing the United States, telling us that our leaders were rotten and that we were fortunate to have the opportunity to give up the information they were asking for.

  A number of the people in my class capitulated right there and were rewarded with warm drinks, warm food, and clean clothing.

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  The guards asked one more time, “Who knocked out the lights? Who’s been stealing the bags from the empty cells? And who was liberating the prisoners from their cells?”

  They grabbed the smallest captive and pulled him over to the board. As they started to strap him down, he broke.

  “It’s the SEAL,” he shouted, pointing at me. “He cut a hole in the fence and is sneaking people out whenever he gets a chance. He’s the covert escape leader!”

  The guards grabbed me and tied me down.

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  Eventually the guards gave up and hauled me back to my cell. A couple of hours later, they returned and marched me to the commandant’s office.

  There, I was pushed against a wall and directed to stand at attention. The camp commander walked in—a fit man in a crisp khaki uniform with his hands clasped behind him. He stopped in front of me, looked me directly in the eye, and asked, “Are you the one who is helping the other captives to escape?”