Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations
Admiral William McRaven, U.S. Navy (Retired). New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2019. 355 pp. $30.
Reviewed by Captain Joshua Himes, U.S. Navy
Retired Admiral William McRaven’s much-anticipated second book combines page-turning personal anecdotes from many special forces’ actions that defined the past two decades with a broader, strategic perspective on service above self and the exceptional spirit of the Department of Defense’s most important asset—its men and women serving in harm’s way.
Sea Stories begins in the American Officers’ Club in Paris, where McRaven was introduced at an early age to the adventures of military life vicariously through his father, an Air Force pilot assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in the early 1960s. His story continues through school and sports in Texas before joining the Navy. He highlights both in the early chapters and throughout the book, the contributions of those who helped him along the way, and he weaves their examples of encouragement and kindness into the fabric of his character.
The book hits its stride with McRaven’s account of successfully completing Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training and numerous vignettes of missions and challenges met during his impressive career. His stories are captivating—many are well known, but a few likely will be new. I was completely unaware of his search-and-rescue mission to Canada for a Navy P2V2 reconnaissance plane that had been lost in British Columbia in 1948. The extraordinary lengths his team went to discover the wreckage 40 years later and close a painful chapter for the families of those aviators is inspirational. The story reinforced a common theme—McRaven’s respect and admiration for his special operations team and the skills they brought together to succeed. Each story reflects his confidence in his team and conveys a clarity of thought that makes this a great leadership book that goes far beyond the Sea Stories title.
Admiral McRaven’s memoir provides captivating glimpses into those events that shaped his character and, in many cases, defined the nation’s efforts in the counterterrorism fight over the past two decades. Each chapter stands alone, so readers can move freely throughout the book. He covers, in exceptional detail, raids and missions in Iraq (the Ace of Spades, Saddam Hussein), Horn of Africa (the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips and interdiction of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who planned and facilitated the U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, among other heinous acts), and, of course, the bin Laden raid at Abbottabad. Of particular value is the insight into the herculean efforts of many in the Defense Department and intelligence community to develop contingency plans at crisis speed, coordinate among agencies, and present executable options for National Security Council deliberation and presidential approval.
Admiral McRaven saves the best for last with his characterization of “The Next Greatest Generation” and a very detailed chapter on “Neptune’s Spear” and the bin Laden raid. He recounts compelling exchanges with soldiers and sailors at Landstuhl and Walter Reed hospitals, which reflect the same indomitable spirit he first saw in his parents and the Greatest Generation. It is hard not to conclude, as he does, that tomorrow will be a better day.
His detailed depiction of the planning and successful execution of the bin Laden raid alone is justification for reading this book. He provides extensive detail on his role in the mission and the immense effort by many to successfully carry out the operation.
Sea Stories is a quick read, well written, and ideal for young and old leaders alike. Far more than just “sea stories,” Admiral McRaven’s memoir belongs alongside the great inspirational books of this genre.
■ Captain Himes served at the Joint Special Operations Command from 2015 to 2017 and is a career naval intelligence officer. He currently is commander of the Joint Intelligence Center, Central Command.
Why America Loses Wars: Limited War and U.S. Strategy from the Korean War to the Present
Donald Stoker. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019. 330 pp. Notes. Biblio. Index. $29.95.
Reviewed by Commander Jason D. Shell, U.S. Navy
In Why America Loses Wars, Donald Stoker, author of Clausewitz: His Life and Work (Oxford University Press, 2014) and formerly of the Naval Postgraduate School, has written a six-chapter lashing of U.S. strategic acumen since the end of World War II. As Stoker sees it, the dawn of the Cold War and the nuclear age muddled U.S. strategic thinking on fighting limited wars. As national interests expanded in a global contest against Soviet communism, U.S. political objectives in war were more prone to be ambitious and ambiguous.
Fearing escalation and nuclear war with the Soviets, however, the United States embarked on wars with sweeping objectives and limited means, generating indecision, stalemate, and retreat. U.S. commitment to victory in war also has waned, he argues, as theorists such as Thomas Schelling have tried to reduce war to an act of rational signaling and bargaining with an enemy, an approach that misinterprets the nature of war, delays its resolution, and undervalues victory.
To correct its slide into indecisive wars, Stoker argues the United States must recover an understanding of the nature of war and the demands of statecraft in wartime. First, the nation must go to war with clear objectives. Second, those objectives (and nothing else) must determine the ways and means used to wage war. Third, the United States must be committed to victory. Fourth, it must plan and commit to winning the peace. It must plan to relate the end of warfighting with a satisfactory political outcome.
Stoker is most compelling in his critique of the U.S. fixation on the means used to wage war rather than on the objectives to be achieved. He has left room to develop his thinking further, though. His argument about the Cold War’s impact on U.S. strategic thinking, for example, is made without comparison to U.S. strategic thinking before World War II. His chapter on limited war theory as it bears on insurgency, terrorism, counterinsurgency, and revolution includes few references to U.S. experiences since 2001. And while Stoker is focused on the U.S. experience in Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf War, he avoids discussion of Grenada, Panama, Kosovo, and other U.S. military operations in the same period. Stoker also avoids discussion of the Weinberger and Powell doctrines, both of which seem to have been intended to address the strategic atrophy he laments. Stoker’s case studies work—they just seem incomplete with so much of the strategic record still available for analysis.
Why America Loses Wars is an introduction to sound thinking about limited war for a broad audience and a challenge to military and political leaders to think clearly and deliberately on the conduct of war and peace.
■ Commander Shell is a Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer.
Holding the Line: Inside Trump’s Pentagon with Secretary Mattis
Commander Guy M. Snodgrass, U.S. Navy (Retired). New York: Sentinel, 2019. 352 pp. Notes. $27.
Reviewed by Lieutenant Commander Graham C. Scarbro, U.S. Navy
How do you continue with the mission when seemingly every day brings some new twist, a change of plans, a different approach? In such an environment, how do you even identify the mission? This conundrum takes center stage in retired Navy Commander Guy “Bus” Snodgrass’s memoir, Holding the Line, chronicling his time as chief speechwriter for former Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
Mattis frequently remarked on the necessity of “holding the line” during times of turmoil. The military’s role, he believed, was as a stabilizing influence in politics and U.S. society. This required a consistent tone, a steady approach, and a sense of mission.
Snodgrass presents this mission as a constant battle, likening it to his experience dealing with multiple emergency malfunctions in a fighter jet—no matter what arrives, the pilot must successfully guide the plane to a safe landing. In Holding the Line, Snodgrass trades a cockpit for an office in the Pentagon’s D Ring. Like a stricken aircraft, Mattis’s Defense Department lurches from one difficulty to another, all the while trying to “hold the line.”
In the wake of its publication, press reports and interviews have focused on the book’s big personalities: former officials such as Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Advisor John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and, of course, President Donald Trump. But those looking for a tell-all about how “deep state” bureaucrats tried to thwart the President’s every move or about how the “adults in the room” tried to keep an unconventional executive on task will find Snodgrass’s approach more nuanced.
The personalities in Washington, even those outside the Oval Office, create many challenges, of course, making hay in the press, but professional readers will also find much ado about processes and policy in the world’s largest bureaucracy.
What Holding the Line lacks in salacious tabloid drama, it gains in studying interdepartmental relations, politics at the highest level of U.S. government, and lessons for leaders at all echelons. Politics aside, there is no arguing that President Trump is an unorthodox figure, and Mattis himself is a legend in military circles.
Snodgrass paints the President as an unpredictable leader who defies convention, while also crediting the ways in which Trump’s style yielded results. Mattis descends from Olympus as a mere mortal, beset by challenges both internal and external. When President Trump’s distributive deal-making style and business mogul background clash with the career Marine, Mattis’s efforts to be both a good follower to the President and a good leader to the U.S. military encounter a tension that doesn’t abate until the book’s final pages.
Mattis endeavors to present a consistent message, despite an ever-fluctuating White House tone. Pentagon officials struggle to adjust to a revolving door of personnel changes. Snodgrass himself undergoes a difficult transition, from military fighter pilot to civilian political appointee. These episodes will inform and resonate with anyone who ever had an unpredictable commanding officer, dealt with the turmoil of personnel transfers, or strove to be as good a follower as they were a leader and vice versa.
Political junkies will find plenty to chew on: Pentagon briefings, policy-by-tweet, resignations, firings, and interagency squabbles. Highlighting the book’s relevance are recent discussions on the role of retired military personnel in politics, Mattis’s own relative silence on his time as Secretary of Defense, and the continued breakneck pace of politics that seem to invade more and more of American life. As much as any publication can be seen to take a balanced view these days, Snodgrass’s Holding the Line treads the line admirably and provides a valuable study in process, politics, and power at the United States’ highest levels.
■ Lieutenant Commander Scarbro is a 2013 graduate of TOPGUN and is assigned to Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic.
Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America’s First Cyber Spy
Eric O’Neill. New York: Crown, 2019. 304 pp. $27.
Reviewed by Lieutenant Commander Raymond Dennis, U.S. Navy
Many associated with the federal government and the military—particularly those experienced with classified information—are familiar with the case of Robert Hanssen. From 1979 to 2001, Hanssen used his position as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to commit espionage against the United States for Soviet and, later, Russian intelligence services. Following his arrest, the 2002 Commission for Review of FBI Security Programs labeled Hanssen’s treasonous actions as “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history.” Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this case is learning how the FBI looked introspectively to bring down one of its own. Gray Day is this compelling story.
In December 2000, FBI leaders selected the author of Gray Day, Eric O’Neill, to investigate Hanssen. At the time, O’Neill worked as an investigative specialist for the FBI’s Special Surveillance Group (SSG). FBI leaders levied O’Neill’s technical background, which included an interest in software development, to place him within Hanssen’s office. For a month in early 2001, O’Neill served as Hanssen’s assistant. He monitored Hanssen’s activity, collected evidence, and helped make the case.
O’Neill’s firsthand account is a captivating narrative of ending Hanssen’s run of disloyalty to the FBI and the nation. Although the book is focused on the necessary relationship he forged with Hanssen, it weaves in O’Neill’s personal relationships with his wife, Juliana, and his parents (his father is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy). In addition, O’Neill details the balancing act required to complete law school at night while remaining present for his family and committed to the FBI. Certainly, his situation during the case was unique, yet it is relatable for most—the struggle for self-realization; the pursuit of happiness and success.
As the title indicates, O’Neill refers to Hanssen as “America’s first cyber spy.” Even though the term “cyber” was relatively new in the technology lexicon, O’Neill is accurate in his classification. The FBI dubbed Hanssen’s use of technology (specifically, his Palm Pilot model IIIx) as the “smoking gun.” O’Neill used his placement and access to hastily retrieve Hanssen’s device, provide it to FBI technicians for cloning, and subsequently return the device without sparking suspension. This device cloning was vital to linking Hanssen to his Russian handlers.
This is not the first look at the investigation and arrest of Robert Hanssen. Several books and the 2007 film, Breach, are based on the Hanssen case. However, Gray Day provides a perspective directly from the FBI’s source: O’Neill himself. As the book’s epilogue discusses, O’Neill draws on his experience with Hanssen to connect the dots to more recent cases of espionage. As he accurately notes, today’s espionage employs cyber as a means of information exchange and security.
Gray Day is written in a manner to capture the attention of a general readership; it does not require a particular interest in counterintelligence, law enforcement, or cyber. And for those who choose to learn this story, the book undoubtedly will provide an important lesson on the commitment to safeguard the nation’s secrets and expose those dedicated to treasonous acts.
■ Lieutenant Commander Dennis is an Indo-Pacific foreign area officer attending India’s Defense Services Staff College in Wellington, India. Previously, he was a member of the U.S. Navy’s information warfare community, serving with the Navy Cyber Warfare Development Group.
New & Noteworthy
Reviewed by Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Hoffmann, U.S. Navy
Middle East 101: A Beginner’s Guide for Deployers, Travelers, and Concerned Citizens
Youssef H. Aboul-Enein and Joseph T. Stanik. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2019. 422 pp. Notes. Biblio. Index. $48.
Written with a deployed military and government audience in mind, Middle East 101 provides a solid general look at Middle Eastern history, culture, and current affairs. The authors—both of whom share a naval background—provide a broad-brush overview of the region, from ancient civilizations to the present day, in the form of 101 questions and answers. While the book explores culture and religion in addition to history, the questions are sequenced in chronological order. Middle East 101 also clearly explains topics that could be confusing to the nonspecialist, such as sectarian differences within Islam and the wide variety of reformist movements emerging throughout the history of the region.
Anyone not familiar with the Middle East’s history or regional issues would benefit from this work. While overly broad on occasion, the book’s examination of key historical events and figures serves as a great jumping off point for further research and study and is a solid introduction on a complex region with a rich history.
Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers
Andy Greenberg. New York: Doubleday, 2019. 350 pp. Notes. Biblio. Index. $28.95.
Reading like a fast-paced thriller, Sandworm traces recent developments in cyber warfare. While the book’s main emphasis is on Russian cyber operations in the Ukraine and elsewhere, it also mentions other nations’ (including the United States’) use of cyber attacks over the past half-decade. Tech writer Andy Greenberg makes what could be a dry and technical subject interesting for the general reader as he warns of the devastating consequences of a cyber attack on critical infrastructure—from power grids to financial systems.
This book is recommended reading for anyone responsible for safeguarding computer networks—civilian as well as military—as well as those involved in defense and international relations. Students of international law may also benefit from reading Sandworm, as Greenberg raises issues about reciprocity, rules of engagement, and how cyber attacks should be treated in international law.
Navy SEALs: The Combat History of the Deadliest Warriors on the Planet
Don Mann and Lance Burton. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2019. 324 pp. Appx. Biblio. Notes. $24.99.
While many books have been written about naval special warfare, Navy SEALs brings a fresh perspective on these elite sailors. Written by two former SEALs, the book begins with the foundation of underwater demolitions teams during World War II and takes the story of the SEAL teams through subsequent conflicts to the present day. Each chapter presents an overview of the conflict and a vignette of a SEAL operation undertaken during the conflict. The book also features brief biographies of SEAL Medal of Honor recipients, as well as information about the current SEAL training process.
While some of the specifics of the operational stories have been dramatized, Navy SEALs gives a unique firsthand view of real-world special operations, both current and historical. Recommended for military history buffs as well as those interested in naval special warfare, Navy SEALs emphasizes the grit and determination key to the SEALs’ operational successes.
Octopus Crowd: Maritime History and the Business of Australian Pearling in Its Schooner Age
Steve Mullins. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2019. 324 pp. Notes. Biblio. Index. $54.95.
Part of the University of Alabama’s “Maritime Currents” series on nautical history, Octopus Crowd looks into the pearl fishing industry of late 19th-century Australia. While ranching and wool often are thought of as key parts of the Australian economy, pearling in the Torres Strait between Australia and Indonesia also played a crucial role in the development of modern Australia. Octopus Crowd—named after the near-monopoly held on the industry by large producers—covers the origins and growth of the industry to the decline of schooner-based pearl fishing after World War I.
The book discusses the technical development of the ships used in pearling, the international nature of the pearling crews, and how the industry’s practices influenced how territorial seas and economic zones are codified. Besides maritime historians, this book may intrigue those interested in Australian history as well as labor relations and industrial history.
■ Lieutenant Commander Hoffmann is a career surface warfare officer. He has served in several ships and afloat staffs and currently is the damage control assistant in the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).