Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden identified as Rob O'Neill
The U.S. Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden during the daring 2011 raid on the terror leader's compound in Abbottobad, Pakistan, has been identified as Rob O'Neill.
According to the Daily Mail, O'Neill, a 38-year-old Butte, Montana, native, is expected to reveal himself as the shooter in a Fox News special, "The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden," later this month. But O'Neill's father confirmed his son, who retired from the Navy in 2012, was the SEAL who fatally shot the al Qaeda leader — and supports his decision to go public.
"I support him in everything he is doing," Tom O'Neill told the U.K. newspaper. "People are asking if we are worried that ISIS will come and get us because Rob is going public. ... I say I'll paint a big target on my front door and say come and get us."
Twenty-three members of the SEAL Team 6 and an interpreter participated in the historic Operation Neptune Spear just after midnight on May 2, 2011, storming the compound and killing bin Laden and four others, including one of bin Laden's sons, bin Laden's two bodyguards and the wife of one of the bodyguards. According to the Daily Mail report, O’Neill shot Bin Laden three times in the forehead.
In 2013, Esquire published an extensive interview with O'Neill about his role in the raid but did not reveal his identity.
In that interview, the former SEAL — identified as "The Shooter" due to what the magazine described as "safety" reasons — said he had been largely abandoned by the U.S. government since leaving the military.
“In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead," he told Esquire. "Bap! Bap! The second time as he’s going down. He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed. He was dead. I watched him take his last breaths. And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: Is this the best thing I've ever done, or the worst thing I've ever done?
"I'm not religious," he added. "But I always felt I was put on the earth to do something specific. After that mission, I knew what it was."
Despite killing the world's most-wanted terrorist, he said, he was not given a pension, health care or protection for himself or his family.
"[SEAL command] told me they could get me a job driving a beer truck in Milwaukee," he told Esquire. "My health care for me and my family stopped. I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You're out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your 16 years. Go f--- yourself."
"What are you supposed to do when you come out of the military after such service," Tom O'Neill said, "become a greeter at Walmart?"
But the Esquire story was challenged by CNN and others, including fellow SEAL Team 6 member Matt Bissonette, who wrote a best-selling book about the Bin Laden raid, "No Easy Day," under the pen name Mark Owen. The book, published in 2012, drew the ire of both his fellow SEALs and the Pentagon — something O'Neill is sure to face.
In a letter sent to his troops last month, Rear Admiral Brian Losey, the head of Naval Special Warfare Command, denounced those who have broken the elite force's tradition of secrecy by revealing details of secret missions.
"A critical tenet of our Ethos is 'I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions,'" Losey wrote in the letter dated Oct. 31. "'We do not abide wilful or selfish disregard for our core values in return for public notoriety and financial gain, which only diminishes otherwise honorable service, courage and sacrifice.'"
According to his lawyer, Bisssonette — who is about to release a new memoir under his pen name — is currently the target of a criminal investigation under the espionage act.
The story of the bin Laden raid was the subject of "Zero Dark Thirty," the 2012 Oscar-nominated film directed by Kathryn Bigelow. During the production, some Republicans accused the Obama administration of granting Bigelow "top-level access to the most classified mission in history." The CIA denied granting the filmmakers unusual access to information, saying no classified information about the raid was leaked.
O'Neill was involved in two other missions that became Hollywood movies. In 2009, he was the lead jumper on the Maersk Alabama, the ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates. The rescue mission was later turned into the Oscar-winning movie "Captain Phillips."
He was a member of the SEAL team that helped save fellow SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who survived a failed mission to capture a Taliban leader in Afghanistan. Luttrell's 2007 book, "Lone Survivor," was adapted for a 2013 film starring Mark Wahlberg.
Since leaving the military, O'Neill has become a public speaker.
"With most of his career shrouded in a classified cloak, O’Neill was the man on the ground we have never heard of but know exists," his bio on the Leading Authorities website reads. "He was one of the quiet professionals performing the most difficult tasks in the most difficult circumstances, serving his remarkable career in the shadows and keeping America safe in the process."
More from his bio:
In his line of work, instant, critical decision-making is an absolute necessity for success, and he has proven experience in exceptionally high-risk and fluid environments. Having trained more than 800 special operations and tactical operators, O’Neill brings this unique expertise to organizations and translates his elite SEAL team training into high-impact, actionable insights on leadership, decision-making, operating in uncertain environments, and how to become the ‘best of the best.’ His mantra is “never quit,” and O’Neill believes this is the single most important factor in determining success. O’Neill reminds us that the servicemen doing the dirtiest work are often making the hardest sacrifices.
"A lot of the stuff that is out there is still classified and I want to maintain integrity with my former unit," he says in a video on the speaker booking site. "But some of the stuff I can talk about, I can bring lessons from it without divulging any classified information."
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