When pirates kidnap the captain of a US-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Somalia, a team of elite US Navy SEALs deploy to the scene. The rescue of Captain Phillips is presented in detail, using news footage, original visuals, and interviews with SEALs. Learn what it's really like to be a Navy SEAL and see what it was really like in this true story.
Stars: US Armed Forces
Directed by Gordon Forbes III
#documentary #movies #gordonforbes #usnavyseals #navyseal
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Stars: US Armed Forces
Directed by Gordon Forbes III
#documentary #movies #gordonforbes #usnavyseals #navyseal
Related Keywords:
pirate hunters documentary
Pirate hunters documentary netflix
Pirate hunters documentary where to watch
Pirate Hunting Netflix
Pirate documentary
Pirate documentary National Geographic
Modern pirates documentary
Best pirate documentary
Pirate History documentary
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The hijacking of an American freighter grabs the world's attention.
00:05But when four pirates kidnap the American captain and hold him for ransom,
00:10they get more than they bargained for.
00:13A top-secret force of special operations Navy SEALs trained for one purpose,
00:18locate and destroy terrorists anywhere in the world.
00:22These men are unknown to the public, but not their enemies.
00:28Among the most deadly killers in the American arsenal,
00:32they are classified in name, unit, and deed.
00:36The hijacking of the merchant's ship Maersk, Alabama, is their story.
00:41And for one brief moment, our glimpse into their world.
00:48The day begins like any other.
00:51Around the world, Easter weekend is approaching, and many people are preparing to celebrate.
00:56For most, it's business as usual.
01:00In the Horn of Africa, it's also business as usual for the Somali pirate gangs
01:04marauding the sea lanes of the Gulf of Aden,
01:07hijacking foreign merchant ships and holding their crews for ransom.
01:12Their success fuels a kidnapping industry worth tens of millions of dollars per year.
01:19When armed pirates attack yet another ship,
01:21the merchant vessel Maersk, Alabama, off the coast of Somalia,
01:25the vessel is identified as an American freighter.
01:28The news captures the attention of a global audience.
01:32A high-seas, high-stakes drama is going on off the coast of Somalia.
01:36An American cargo ship taken over by pirates.
01:39Details are unclear.
01:41Reports are that the Maersk, Alabama, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship,
01:45is under attack by pirates of unknown number approximately 250 miles off the coast of Somalia.
01:51The crew forces the pirates off the ship,
01:53but not before they kidnap Richard Phillips, the American captain,
01:57and escape in one of the ship's motorized lifeboats.
02:00There were four Somali pirates with AK-47s, but now they got our captain lifeboat.
02:05They got him hacked.
02:07The story of the kidnapping ignites a political firestorm.
02:10The media, especially cable television, goes 24-7 Somali pirates.
02:15We are bringing to bear a number of our assets, including...
02:19This put an incredible amount of pressure on the Obama administration
02:22with pundits out there demanding action,
02:24and the administration has to come through and deliver.
02:27Bring the pirates to justice.
02:29Piracy off the coast of Somalia, both in the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean,
02:34currently account for almost two-thirds of attacks on commercial shipping in the world today.
02:39It's a very sophisticated enterprise that generates incredible amounts of revenue,
02:44especially in a country where the average family lives on less than $600 a year.
02:49Typically pirates make around $100,000 on a capture.
02:54A lot of the pirates are young, most of the time between 15, 16, and 25.
03:00They come from fishing villages,
03:03and they have seen that piracy has become a big and lucrative business.
03:08Inside the Pentagon, Colonel Rudy Atala immediately contacts sources in Somalia,
03:13hoping to learn the pirates' identities.
03:16We were huddling trying to figure out who the pirates were.
03:19We were going to take every measure and use every tool in our toolbox
03:23to take care of Captain Phillips and make sure that he arrived home safely.
03:27The pirates are identified as Somali teenagers, the oldest 19, the youngest 17.
03:33The four pirates that had Captain Phillips were very young,
03:38one of them already a couple of successful attacks under his belt.
03:43The other three were inexperienced, believed to be on their first out-to-sea mission.
03:48All this came from the source who was talking directly to the elders.
03:52The kidnappers escaped from the Alabama in the ship's lifeboat
03:55and with their hostage, head for the Somali coast.
03:58Kidnappers or terrorists, their intentions remain unclear.
04:01The biggest concern was that the pirates may have some affiliation
04:06to a group called Al-Shabaab, which was on our terrorism list,
04:11or potentially they would turn Captain Phillips to this Al-Shabaab.
04:16Either way, we did not want them to make it to shore.
04:19The safety of the hostage being held by armed Muslims
04:22requires the White House to balance attempts for a peaceful resolution
04:26with a rescue attack which might endanger Captain Phillips.
04:30The political pressures in this particular incident are pulling in opposite directions.
04:35On one hand, there's the demand for resolute action.
04:38On the other hand, one doesn't want to look like one is shooting fish in a bucket, so to speak.
04:45When American naval warships finally intercept the kidnappers at sea,
04:49the pirates use their hostage as a shield against the surrounding ships.
04:54You have four or five guys with a few AK-47s and maybe an RPG,
05:00and they go up against an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer,
05:04and we have a standoff that lasts several days.
05:07Rudy Atala's contacts with Somali tribal elders reveals the names of the pirates and their clans.
05:13I discovered the names of the four pirates
05:15and then also got the names of the elders from the sub-clan where they came from.
05:20We transmitted their names over loudspeaker from the Bainbridge,
05:24and that got the pirates to slow down what they were doing.
05:28At that point, they got extremely nervous.
05:31The pirates refused to surrender.
05:33The Bainbridge and her flotilla, unable to use their superior firepower until they get approval from Washington,
05:39resort to aggressive physical maneuvers to cut off the lifeboat's escape towards land.
05:44They tried to make a run for the shoreline.
05:47Water cannons were used to fire at the lifeboat to kind of push it back out to sea.
05:54Bump the hull, try to keep it from getting close to the shoreline.
06:03Meanwhile, half a world away, a secret Operation Seal Team goes about its daily regimen,
06:09training on a classified military base far from the glare of public scrutiny.
06:16These are trained, highly tuned killing machines.
06:19I say that without any disrespect intended, but this is what they're trained for.
06:26These guys are the most experienced and I would say the most deadly predators on the planet.
06:34These guys are doing stuff that would shock and blow people's minds
06:38if they actually knew what's going on overseas and around the world in a global war on terror.
06:47These are images of Seal Team training,
06:50and they provide a detailed glimpse of how all Seals prepare for war.
06:55The particular effectiveness of Seal Teams lies in their gathering
07:00even the most tightly held information on their enemies
07:03and then launching a devastating attack in force.
07:10In Iraq, Seal Team snipers help decimate the leadership in al-Qaeda and other private militias,
07:16leaving them demoralized and ineffective.
07:22These are top-notch snipers.
07:25Many of them have literally dozens of kills in their record.
07:37You have teams of snipers on the battlefield, people are dying all over the place
07:41and they don't know what's happening.
07:43From a psychological warfare point of view, it's devastating.
07:56SEAL TEAM TRAINING
08:01One of the things that we've done in our fight against terrorism
08:04has been to take out those key individuals.
08:07There are only so many who can make the terrorist machine work.
08:11You eliminate those cogs and the machine just collapses.
08:16The effectiveness of these Seal operations makes the sniper the weapon of choice
08:21for any hostage rescue attempt on the Maris-Galabama.
08:26You have one of the most effective tools in a sniper
08:30that the battlefield commander has in his war chest
08:34and with one bullet can take out one target.
08:39One shot, one kill means reducing possible collateral damage
08:43among innocent civilian populations, a modern political necessity
08:47as low-intensity conflicts are often waged and won in the headlines
08:51as well as the battlefield.
08:53It's surgical in the more precise, I think proper sense of that term
08:58and it's increasingly becoming an instrument of national policy.
09:03It's all over the media, it's a hostage situation
09:06and it's going to elevate things politically.
09:09Who's going to go deal with this situation?
09:11Well, it's a maritime environment.
09:13In the SEAL teams we own that maritime environment.
09:17The outcome of the hostage situation on the Bainbridge
09:20depends entirely on the skill of SEAL snipers.
09:23One error could kill the hostage
09:25and set off an inevitable political and media search for the guilty.
09:29The SEALs call this type of after-action investigation
09:32Who Shot Jack?
09:34It's not an F-18 launching a guided missile strike.
09:38You have to produce a kill shot and you can't miss.
09:42So it's as simple as if the shot goes right, you're a hero.
09:46If it doesn't go right, you're a zero.
09:48If it doesn't go right, you're a zero.
09:54Days after the pirates attack the merchant vessel Mariscalabama,
09:58Naval Special Warfare alerts a small SEAL assault squadron
10:02including the team commanding officer.
10:04Within hours, they depart on a flight for a high-altitude night parachute drop
10:09into the Gulf of Aden and a rendezvous with the USS Bainbridge.
10:13You have a group of guys back in the U.S. that are on pagers.
10:17They get recalled, they have to show up within 60 minutes or less,
10:21get briefed, have all their equipment ready to go,
10:24get on a plane and then coordinate probably en route where they're going to link up.
10:29The flurry of details and rapid deployment is nothing new for the SEALs.
10:33Their mood is relaxed.
10:35This is a situation where they just show up at the top of the food chain.
10:40It was on the water. You got Navy SEALs, you have snipers.
10:43You can't get a better environment for these guys.
10:46They're right where they feel most at home.
10:48I wouldn't be surprised if they back-flipped out of the airplane on their way in.
10:52The pirates in the light boat, they don't have night vision,
10:55so you just come in, use the cover of darkness, set up on the ship,
10:58and when the sun rises, they have no idea that these guys are in position.
11:03Once on board the Bainbridge, the SEALs take up firing positions
11:07while the naval ships force the lifeboat away from shore.
11:10It's a calculated risk.
11:12No one knows the captain's physical condition or what the pirates will do next.
11:17The team doesn't wait long for an answer.
11:21The pirates were very scared.
11:24They were afraid for their lives,
11:27but at the same time, they weren't listening to reason.
11:30They were very much focused on their goal and irrational in their behavior.
11:35But then the lifeboat runs out of fuel.
11:38The kidnappers allow the Bainbridge to take them undertow,
11:41believing they are headed to shore.
11:43Unbeknownst to the pirates, the Bainbridge tows them back out to sea.
11:47The on-board SEAL snipers now are less than 40 yards away.
11:52Later, mixed in with other sailors,
11:55the SEALs go alongside the lifeboat to deliver water
11:58and observe the conditions on board.
12:01The pirates are showing signs of physical and psychological stress.
12:05This hostage situation has been going on for several days.
12:09The situation is escalating.
12:11Once it elevates to a certain point, you have to do something about it.
12:14Unreported by the media,
12:16the pirates' elders deliver a second message over the ship's loudspeakers,
12:20asking the pirates to give up.
12:22The leader abruptly surrenders.
12:25Once on board the Bainbridge,
12:27Once on board the Bainbridge,
12:29he advises the three remaining hijackers to give themselves up as well.
12:33Unfortunately, they said no, that their lives were in the hands of God.
12:37If they're going to reach shore, it was up to God.
12:40If not, then they were prepared to die.
12:42When I relayed this information back to the elders,
12:46the reply back was, we wash our hands from this situation.
12:50SEAL snipers have been in position since they arrived,
12:53but clearance to fire is withheld.
12:56The leadership aboard the Bainbridge
12:58is increasingly concerned for Captain Phillips' safety
13:01and the lack of a clear direction from Washington.
13:04Time is running out.
13:06Of course, these guys get impatient.
13:08They're waiting to hear from the top down
13:10if they have the go-ahead,
13:12and you have that attack dog on a leash,
13:14and he wants off so he can do his job.
13:17To be fair to the administration,
13:19all these factors, the political implications,
13:22the fallout from failure, have to be considered.
13:25There was a certain paralysis at the top.
13:28Every SEAL understands need for action, but with no order.
13:32They can only watch and wait.
13:34Any time you're in that situation,
13:36it's going to produce frustration.
13:38These guys are there to do their job and get it done and go home.
13:42As the evening approaches, the contrast between the hunters
13:45and the hunted could not be more different.
13:48Inside the lifeboat, 3 seasick pirates are oblivious
13:51to their imminent danger and anxious to ransom their hostage.
13:55On board the Bainbridge, SEAL Team snipers maintain their poise.
13:59Everyone thinks, OK, these guys are there to kill someone,
14:02they're there to do a mission,
14:04they're going to be haircuts, buzzed tight, uniform,
14:07everything like that, but they're there to perform.
14:10They're not there to be popular, and they're not there to fit
14:13any image that the public might put on them.
14:15They're there purely to perform, and that's what they're going to do.
14:18It was probably a very casual, relaxed atmosphere.
14:22Put them on a Navy ship where they've got hot coffee, Red Bull.
14:26Essentially it's like a Club Med vacation for these snipers,
14:30and the pirates are sitting ducks.
14:32It's like shooting fish in a barrel for these guys.
14:34It doesn't matter who we're having to target.
14:37We have a dial, and that dial, you can be at zero,
14:40where I'm talking to you right now, and you're at 10,
14:43where you're having to kill someone from the back of a ship.
14:46The snipers monitor the situation by glassing the target,
14:49observing their subjects while in a firing position.
14:52Their first technical concern is the fact that they both are moving.
14:56There's probably some movement because they're on an ocean,
14:58but then they also have the target ship, which is unpredictable.
15:01If someone steps on the other side of the boat or weight shifts,
15:04you can move the boat a foot in either direction,
15:06and these guys are taking simultaneous kill shots.
15:09So the chances of these guys taking all the terrors down at the same time,
15:13the odds would be incredible, but they put the odds in their favor
15:16because of all their training.
15:18SEAL snipers train by shooting thousands of rounds per week
15:21under every imaginable combat scenario.
15:29For experienced senior enlisted men,
15:32the success of this operation is not a matter of if, but when.
15:40This is just another day at the office,
15:42and you're talking very low threat.
15:44You're not going into a village in the middle of the night
15:47and have a lot of unknown factors.
15:49These guys are going to a known location.
15:52They know the threat. They know the number of pirates on board.
15:55And they have a mission to do.
15:57It's kind of like bringing a professional football team in
16:00to play a bunch of high school junior varsity teams.
16:03They're going to come in and do their thing
16:05because they're so well-trained compared to everyone else.
16:09All SEAL training involves what is termed mental management,
16:13years of instruction and preparation
16:15that allows each sniper to keep himself in emotional balance
16:19and ready to kill in seconds.
16:21When guys are put in that situation,
16:23we've trained it into them so many times.
16:25It's just like watching Cirque du Soleil.
16:27You're seeing this incredible performance.
16:29They've done it so many times, it's just autopilot.
16:31They're not thinking about what's coming next.
16:33They're just going through a mechanical process
16:35that they've been through 1,000 times before.
16:38This high-speed film demonstrates how performance is the rule
16:42rather than the exception for all SEAL team snipers.
16:45From 400 yards, a .50 caliber round penetrates a steel safe.
16:50Seconds later, a second round is literally shot through the same hole.
16:56You have to become a master of yourself and your environment.
17:00And by being able to do that,
17:03you're able to do things that other people see as impossible.
17:09All SEALs are volunteers,
17:11and candidates are selected after being tested
17:13for a predator's instincts and a warrior's discipline.
17:18We don't just train them to pull triggers or to stalk.
17:21These guys are like Renaissance men.
17:23They're well-educated, they're well-thought-out,
17:25they know what's going on.
17:26They understand why they're there and their purpose,
17:28and it's a greater good.
17:31There's three types of people in this world.
17:34There's sheep, sheepdogs, and wolves.
17:38Wolves are the psychopaths of the world.
17:40They're the terrorists, the criminals, the rapists
17:43that prey on the sheep.
17:45They're driven by violence and fear.
17:55Then you have the sheepdogs,
17:57and the sheepdogs look very similar to the wolves,
18:00and generally the sheep are made uncomfortable
18:02by the presence of sheepdogs
18:04because it reminds them that there are wolves out there.
18:09The defining difference is the fact that
18:11sheepdogs are driven to protect the flock,
18:14to protect the sheep.
18:21SEAL teams do not announce their presence
18:23and shun publicity.
18:28We're used to blending in
18:29and just becoming part of wherever we're at.
18:31We come in quietly and professionally,
18:33we do our thing, people support us,
18:35we support them, and then we're gone.
18:38Seventy years of training to fight
18:40provides the ultimate insight into the SEAL combat philosophy.
18:44Like the sea, SEALs are unpredictable
18:47and can kill without hesitation.
18:49I've once heard a general tell me
18:51one of his problems he had with using SEAL teams
18:53is SEALs don't stick to the plan.
18:55And I kind of smirked or chuckled a little bit
18:57when he said that, because as a SEAL,
19:00that's our advantage.
19:02It's not that we're cowboys and we go off the plan,
19:04but the whole intent, the purpose of what we do
19:06is to be somewhere that nobody's going to expect.
19:09It does take a pirate to catch a pirate.
19:11It does take someone with a different mindset.
19:15The mindset is key, and that's what BUDZ is for.
19:18BUDZ is there to forge the mindset.
19:21Hey, Navy!
19:28All SEALs first graduate from BUDZ,
19:30basic underwater demolition SEALs training.
19:33It's a 30-week course that combines peer pressure
19:36with physical and emotional stress
19:38to test a man's commitment to group loyalty
19:41and ability to function under pain.
19:43You're in my program. You're not in your own program.
19:46Do you understand me, sir?
19:498, 9, 30!
20:07I showed up at BUDZ, and I was not the person that I am today,
20:11and I had question as to my capability,
20:14what I could and couldn't do,
20:16what was possible and what was not possible.
20:18And going through the training, I now have a complete confidence
20:22that if it's humanly possible, then I can do it.
20:25I don't want to hear no whining and moaning and groaning.
20:28Get it off! Get it off!
20:31You always hear it's 90% mental, 10% physical.
20:35You need to really be able to turn off your brain in a certain way
20:38where you can ignore just all the pain and discomfort.
20:41If you can turn that off, then you're going to be good in BUDZ,
20:44and you're going to be able to keep going day after day.
20:46What's your problem, Mr. Knoll?
20:48Health weakness simulated combat scenario, and you're failing.
20:52We put you in a real situation. You're going to kill people.
20:55If you do not want to be a team player,
20:57you've got not only one thing, but two things wrong,
20:59and that's why they're dropped out right now,
21:01and they are waiting on you, Phillip.
21:03Today, the penalty for you.
21:05Now, as soon as you're ready, you've got to take your time.
21:08On average, 7 out of 10 students fail to pass BUDZ training,
21:12one of the highest dropout rates in the U.S. military.
21:15He's been a winner!
21:19Get it up!
21:21Get this boat up!
21:23Get it up!
21:25We'll push whatever button we need to push to stress him.
21:29I don't want to say society is not used to being uncomfortable anymore,
21:32but we've become a society of comfort.
21:35There are still men on the Earth who will put their comfort aside,
21:39and they base their life on we before me.
21:42These guys can put themselves in situations that their target just can't conceive.
21:46After graduating BUDZ, many SEALs apply for SEAL Team Sniper School,
21:51a classified three-month course that not everyone passes.
21:55I've had students go through Sniper School
21:58and say they'd rather go through BUDZ three times
22:01because we produce such a high level of stress in training
22:05to make sure these guys are mentally prepared.
22:07A SEAL Sniper School is so much more difficult, really,
22:09than any other Sniper School in the world.
22:12I've practically had a nervous breakdown going through Sniper Training.
22:14One bad day and you're on your way back, you're going home,
22:17and you have to look all your boys in the face and be like, I failed.
22:23The Sniper's mentality requires instinct
22:26and a willingness to overcome physical conditions for hours and maybe days.
22:31It's not for everyone.
22:33A Navy SEAL in general and then a SEAL Sniper,
22:36operate and dwell in the space between reality and fantasy.
22:40So they're going to be in that space that nobody's brain would even take them to.
22:44They're not going to expect us to be up on the hill for the past three days.
22:48They're not going to expect us to be dug in in pure pain.
22:53And we'll do that because we know we can and others won't.
22:57They'll give up.
22:58That's what makes a difference between the winners and the losers.
23:03Part of the Sniper's job involves hunting his prey.
23:09But it's not simply following tracks.
23:13It's about setting up the kill.
23:17Stalking for us is an art, a natural predatory instinct.
23:21We all have it, but it's just frowned upon nowadays.
23:25And basically what we work to do is take them from a regular man
23:29to somebody that goes to any situation, any environment,
23:32and make him so he notices everything.
23:34His foreground, his background, his movement, where he is in relationship to his target.
23:39So we just completely reinsert the predatory mindset.
23:42For every Sniper, stalking requires knowing how to blend into the scenery to avoid detection.
23:51It's essential that the Navy SEAL Sniper master the art of camouflage and concealment.
23:56To them it's a matter of life and death.
23:58Right now I look like a hiker, but I'm going to go behind this bush and turn myself into a Sniper
24:02and see if you can find me.
24:08Okay, I can see you.
24:10But you can only see me because I let you.
24:13In just a couple minutes, I went from hiker to a SEAL Sniper behind the bush.
24:18What you don't see are there two other SEAL Snipers and they have you in their sights.
24:23You'd be dead right now and you would never know what hit you.
24:28SEAL Sniper
24:34Regular SEAL platoons perform different missions.
24:37For special operations requirements, each candidate undergoes a process of relentless live-fire scenarios
24:43intended to weed out any who are unprepared to function safely in a 24-7 operational cycle.
24:50SEAL Sniper
24:56The Tier 1 unit has to maintain a constant state of readiness,
24:59so they're constantly training and firing a tremendous amount of shots
25:04and typically those guys maintain a higher degree of readiness and preparation just by their nature.
25:12SEAL Snipers, with their grueling training and mental toughness,
25:16are the obvious choice for a White House in need of a fast deployment
25:19and with a surgical response to the hijacking of the merchant vessel Maris, Galabama.
25:24They don't bring in SEALs to negotiate. They don't bring us in to be fair.
25:28They don't bring us in for any other reason but to win.
25:33It's not a self-help group.
25:35We are there to take over and tilt the odds back in the favor of America.
25:43For the past four days, the story of Somali pirates kidnapping an American freighter captain
25:48makes headlines around the world.
25:50Political leaders in Washington continue to search for a peaceful resolution
25:54as four armed Muslim hijackers continue to defy all requests for surrender.
26:00One of the things that the pirates exploit in situations
26:04is the value that modern democracy places on the individual life.
26:10A man holding a gun of any sort to the head of a hostage
26:14exercises far greater power than a naval vessel with thousands of times as much firepower.
26:22On board the USS Bainbridge, there is no political apprehension.
26:26The SEALs calibrate every pirate movement, every ocean swell, ready to fire at any moment.
26:32But the order to fire doesn't arrive.
26:39Having run out of fuel, the pirates remain tied to the Bainbridge,
26:42unaware their hunters are concealed, watching their every move and waiting.
26:48You have a situation where the administration is going to want to resolve this without any casualties.
26:53But eventually it gets to a point where, hey, this isn't working.
26:57You know, we're not going to produce a situation here outside of taking these guys out.
27:05Many of the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.
27:09But Brandon Webb, a former SEAL sniper instructor,
27:12offers insight as to how multiple snipers might prepare for this situation.
27:18This is a hostage situation. The shots are very close.
27:21It's nighttime. You have these moving platforms, and you can't miss.
27:26And it has to be simultaneous. Take out three targets.
27:29It's like cutting the strings of a puppet.
27:32For SEALs, training to kill their enemies takes more than instinct.
27:36It takes practice under strenuous conditions.
27:39When I train these guys in the sniper course,
27:42I want to put them in the most critical situations that you can replicate outside of being in theater,
27:48creating a tremendous amount of peer pressure,
27:51because you have an alpha male type situation where all these guys are out trying to outdo one another.
27:56All right, ready, go.
27:58Eric and Glenn are former SEAL snipers. Larry, a SEAL platoon commander.
28:03They will compete against the clock and each other over a simple stress course.
28:09This sort of demonstration is a simple illustration of how peer pressure is employed to train SEALs
28:15to overcome any and everything they might encounter in combat.
28:19You know, it's not two rocking ships in the middle of the night.
28:22But what you do in training is you put these guys in adverse situations,
28:25and then you dial up the pressure on them.
28:28Pressure can destroy a man's effectiveness in combat as quickly as any bullet.
28:32Lesson one for every SEAL is expect the unexpected.
28:36We do that intentionally just so we can see who has the fortitude
28:40to push through those adverse situations and come out on top.
28:43In this test, each competitor is given a rifle he has never fired before.
28:51You know, what these guys don't have and what snipers usually have is a tailored suite of weapons.
28:56Each weapon is customized to their particular body type.
29:00They're the distance from their eye to the scope.
29:05In this situation, they have an unfamiliar gun, hot, dusty.
29:09We're putting a lot of rounds through the rifle,
29:11so what happens intentionally is we get a lot of dust in the bolt.
29:15So the chances that you're going to get a malfunction is likely,
29:18which just adds complexity to the shot process.
29:23As Webb anticipates, there is a misfire.
29:27Adapting in the face of changing conditions is the oldest survival lesson in the SEAL playbook.
29:32We all have over a decade worth of training between us,
29:35so something like this might look easy for us, but it's taken years to get to this level.
29:44Peer pressure and the drive to win cannot be underrated.
29:48The fear of losing, of not being the best, or failing your teammates in a combat situation
29:53keeps people alive when others might quit.
29:56Did you even count those? There's no way.
29:59Anytime we do anything, if it's two guys going out for a friendly jog,
30:04it turns into a race. It's always a competition.
30:08With us, it's life and death no matter what.
30:10It doesn't matter if it's shooting for real or if it's shooting for competition.
30:14We do everything 100%.
30:16Guys don't gravitate to these types of positions to be second best,
30:19so the guys are constantly training and trying to one-up each other.
30:23It's a very competitive environment.
30:26Hit.
30:28Hit.
30:30Hit.
30:32And he's cheating already.
30:35Eric is a former sniper instructor.
30:37As he zeroes in on his targets, his ability to control his breathing
30:41reflects an ingrained mental management of his stress.
30:47Hit.
30:49Hit.
30:50No, I don't think so.
30:53I missed that one.
30:56Are you sure you're watching the right target?
30:59Are you sure?
31:00When Eric misses by shooting a target out of sequence,
31:03his protest is a sign of a competitive nature
31:06found in many men who strive to be the best they can be
31:09and for whom failure is difficult to accept.
31:12That was good shooting. Yeah, thanks.
31:15It just shows you the difference between slowing down a little bit,
31:18taking a little bit more time, but he had a very accurate run.
31:21He only dropped one shot.
31:23At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to,
31:26is hitting the target every time.
31:29Glenn is a former military sniper and current expert at Win Zero.
31:33Watching him do his push-ups, there can be no doubt he intends to win.
31:37But using an unfamiliar weapon is a great equalizer.
31:47With a scope, your eye is not at the exact right distance
31:49from the front of the scope.
31:51This is called vignetting, meaning you have a bunch of black
31:54around what is actually focus that you can see,
31:57and that will move around depending on where your head is.
32:00So getting that cheek position is what he's doing to get it
32:04and getting it centred so he's got a good sight picture.
32:08I knocked my push-ups out, sprinted up to the car,
32:10feeling completely confident,
32:12and I just could not get a good sight picture.
32:15I was flailing and trying to get that proper eye relief to the scope
32:19and to eliminate the scope shadow and get a clear sight picture.
32:25This competition is only a demonstration,
32:28but physical stress mixed in with the pressure of the clock and peer pressure
32:32are all necessary to make the action of killing as routine as possible.
32:39Hit. 247. All hits.
32:42They have to perform and overcome those mental challenges.
32:45Like you saw Glenn on the hood of the truck on that stress course,
32:48you can tell he's getting a little frustrated,
32:51but he powered through it, got the shots off,
32:54and then picked up the time on the other target.
32:57How many did you miss?
32:59No misses.
33:01None? We heard a miss on that last set.
33:04All hits. 10 minutes, 47 seconds.
33:06It's always a competition.
33:08Yeah, we might talk a lot of smack and have a good time,
33:11but when it's 3, 2, 1, go, yeah, we like to win.
33:14That was smooth.
33:16Accuracy may seem obvious,
33:18but like everything that goes into a sniper taking his shot,
33:21it cannot be taken for granted.
33:23In the Alabama incident,
33:25the weather and wind conditions could affect a marksman's accuracy.
33:28Okay, go ahead and...
33:30As a sniper, you want to control everything that you can control.
33:33All your environmental conditions are accounted for,
33:36the barometric pressure, the outside temperature,
33:39the temperature inside the chamber,
33:41those environmental factors can make a difference between inches.
33:45It's a matter of taking all the factors that are involved.
33:48Deep breath, exhale, respiratory pause,
33:52squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, surprise trigger break,
33:55follow through, get ready for your second shot.
33:57Hold on the left target.
33:59Left target.
34:01All right, center for elevation, give me 3 minutes left,
34:04and send it when you're ready.
34:07Traditional sniper teams operate with two men,
34:10the shooter and a spotter
34:12who can assess the environmental conditions
34:14and provide adjustments to the shooter's aim.
34:17At 100 yards, Webb accounts for the environmental conditions
34:20to help Glenn zero in his weapon.
34:22We're getting a strong full-value wind left to right at 15,
34:26gusting to 30, and then down there at the target,
34:29it's left, it's right, it's up, it's down,
34:31so to be honest, his job is a lot harder as a shooter
34:34My job is strictly to break a clean shot.
34:38Breaking a shot means squeezing the trigger
34:40until the weapon fires, which is called a surprise break.
34:43The reason you ask for the shot breaks
34:45is because if I'm telling him to aim center mass
34:48right in the chest and he breaks here,
34:50and he tells me he breaks here and he hits here,
34:53I know his dope on the weapon is dead on.
34:59Okay, that's dead center, good shot.
35:01It's like the second that you have that surprise break
35:04that your gun goes boom, you take a mental picture
35:07like a flash goes off in your brain
35:09and you take a picture of exactly where your crosshairs are
35:12and even just a little up or a little down,
35:14that feedback to him is going to provide him
35:17everything that he needs to adjust
35:19as far as wind conditions and bullet path.
35:22The snipers on the Bainbridge
35:24will coordinate a common firing solution
35:26to optimize the shooter's aim.
35:28The snipers on the Bainbridge
35:30will coordinate a common firing solution
35:32to optimize their rifles by using databases
35:34of ballistic and environmental conditions from the Arabian Sea,
35:37all without ever firing a shot.
35:43The chronograph here measures in feet per second
35:47the speed of the bullet as it leaves the barrel.
35:50Every operational environment is different
35:53and will affect accuracy.
35:55All the environmental conditions, like how hot it is out here, we added 5 degrees for
36:00the temperature of the bullet itself and accounted for the barometric pressure, plugged it into
36:05the software program, came out with a firing solution.
36:09On the Bainbridge, environmental conditions are critical for accuracy.
36:13Because the pirates and the hostage are crammed together in the small lifeboat cabin, accuracy
36:17requires hitting the targets as well as avoiding hitting the hostage.
36:22These high-speed images of bullet impacts and their low-pressure shock waves on soft
36:27tissue show how the bullet exits in a tumbling motion, moving with full kinetic force and
36:32without deflection.
36:35The danger for the snipers is if a bullet deflects after hitting a pirate and hits Captain
36:39Phillips.
36:41Each guy has to be responsible for his shot and the bullet path after the exit, where
36:47that bullet's going when it exits the target.
36:50You have to really think about that.
36:52Here is another problem.
36:53The pirates are moving around, and it's apparent a shot might have to be made through the plexiglass
36:58windshield in the wheelhouse.
37:00This means knowing the position of the hostage as well as the hijackers at all times.
37:04You have a guy sitting at the helm station for most of the time, and these guys are going
37:09to have to take a shot through the plexiglass here, and this guy sitting in this helm position
37:16essentially just becomes a very easy target and essentially a sitting duck.
37:21Ballistics is the measurement of force and trajectory of impact of the projectile and
37:26the low-pressure wave following behind.
37:28That pressure wave is what causes severe muscle and organ collapse away from the entry point.
37:34The following demonstration offers evidence of the killing power of newer ammunition and
37:38the specialty designs different combat situations require.
37:42Shot dead.
37:47Ball.
37:51The first shot we took on the left clay was with our standard .300 Win Mag match grade
37:59metal jacket.
38:00This impacted over here on the left edge, and if this was tissue, obviously, this wave
38:07and this pressure wave is enough to do serious damage, especially on a headshot.
38:16So this is the land warfare round, so this is going to provide maximum penetration with
38:21maximum kinetic energy and momentum.
38:28And it just melted and disintegrated the entire top half of this 25-pound block of clay.
38:35Yeah, I've never seen anything like that.
38:37Always such a blend.
38:39But ammunition is only one of the many factors affecting the success or failure of a sniper's shot.
38:44All factors must be considered.
38:46The SEALs aboard the Bainbridge leave nothing to chance.
38:51It's a close shot, but it's at night.
38:55You have a hostage involved.
38:57You have a bobbing platform and a lifeboat.
39:01The ship would have been semi-stable, but it's still moving around.
39:05And then you have all the factors that go into that individual shooter's firing solution.
39:16By late afternoon of the fourth day, the SEALs are in firing position.
39:20The pirates unaware that snipers lurk less than 40 yards away,
39:24hidden inside the superstructure of the Bainbridge, ready to shoot.
39:27The pirates have no night vision, so they probably had absolutely no idea that an element
39:34was set up like that and waiting for the right opportunity.
39:39The right opportunity presents itself when the three pirates appear concurrently.
39:43Then shooters will confirm the hostage is out of the line of fire
39:47and execute a simultaneous volley on command.
39:50This is called a countdown.
39:52We got to make sure we're all on the same sheet of music right here
39:54because we're about to do something extremely surgical.
39:56Once the opportunity presents itself, you have a very quick coordinated activity that has to occur.
40:01You have three, two, one, execute, and the shots are taken and the targets are neutralized.
40:06The shooting position taken by SEAL snipers is unverified,
40:10but the prone position ensures the greatest accuracy.
40:14From the stern of the Bainbridge, it's only 40 yards,
40:17but there is wind, ship motion, and unpredictable moving targets,
40:21all to be coordinated in the blink of an eye.
40:24In addition, the hostage must be out of the line of fire.
40:28To simulate, you put some movement into the shot.
40:31We put these guys up on a knee, so it's not the same as a moving ship,
40:37but it does add a little more complexity to the situation.
40:40There is movement. The sights are moving ever so slightly.
40:44Shooting prone is the most stable position, and we're all shooting one knee up.
40:48We are using rests, so our weapons are braced,
40:51but the fact is laying down, shooting off a bipod or a structure in the prone position is the most stable.
40:58The biggest difference between working alone and working in a team is adapting to a group dynamic.
41:04Left alone, a solo sniper shoots when he's ready.
41:07Firing in a coordinated volley, all the snipers must shoot simultaneously.
41:11It's not when they're essentially ready.
41:13They have to be prepared and get themselves ready like that
41:17because they know that they're getting a command fire.
41:19When we have to go on command, that means we've got to hold our sights really tight,
41:24and we hold our respiratory pause ever so slightly while he's counting down,
41:28so just the margin of error is incredibly small.
41:31So we all have the mental picture, three, two, one, click for us.
41:36They'll be saying execute, but we're going to think click.
41:38Unifying a countdown at sea, at night, on live targets is never easy, even for combat veterans.
41:45But this dry fire practice will demonstrate a trigger break,
41:48the moment when all three snipers must pull the trigger in unison.
41:52A failure to do so might leave a pirate alive and a threat to the hostage.
41:58Another complexity in this particular setup is that we're all shooting different weapons
42:03that have different trigger setups that break at different times, and we don't know the weapons.
42:08So it's going to take a lot of effort to make sure that we break the shots at the exact same time.
42:16It's called a surprise break, when the trigger squeeze causes the weapon to fire.
42:20Snipers use the same weapon for years, but learning the gun takes time.
42:24That's a long break on that one.
42:26That one you've got to worry about a little bit because I've got to take the slack out,
42:29It almost feels like it's rubbing.
42:31Rub, rub, rub, rub, rub, and then snap.
42:34Waiting to take the shot fatigues even the most experienced sniper.
42:37For this reason, SEALs on the Bainbridge constantly rotate their shooters every hour or less to keep them alert.
42:43The difficulty of staying on your gun, having a proper gun position,
42:46your cheek on the well of the gun, trigger position,
42:49you've got to be able to keep your eye on the target.
42:52The difficulty of staying on your gun, having a proper gun position,
42:55your cheek on the well of the gun, trigger position, body position, all those pieces.
42:59What happens is we're human beings.
43:01Our biology will start to break down, muscles will get tired, muscles will cramp.
43:05Alright, lines hot, lock and load.
43:10Alright, make sure you get on your target.
43:14Sniper, sniper, this is Echo One. Check in when you have your target acquired.
43:21Sniper One, ready.
43:22Sniper Two, ready.
43:23Sniper Three, ready.
43:25Alright, this is Echo One, I have control.
43:28Shot in three, two, one.
43:33Oh, that was awful.
43:34Eric.
43:35Eric.
43:36Do it again.
43:38Eric breaks his shot late.
43:40The mistiming may not seem critical,
43:42but even a slight delay in the real situation could leave a pirate alive and the hostage in danger.
43:48Shot in three, two, one.
43:53That was perfect.
43:55Coordinating three individual simultaneous headshots is problematic.
43:59Headshots ensure an instant kill,
44:01but with the Bainbridge, the lifeboat, and the human targets all moving without predictability,
44:06the challenge is obvious.
44:08When you look at a headshot, a human being, the head bobs back and forth and moves around.
44:14Essentially we have suspended three pumpkins, basically to simulate a moving head.
44:20You can see just standing here, a little bit of wind blowing, how these pumpkins are moving around,
44:25and that's really what we want to simulate.
44:27On top is we put an apple on there,
44:30and what we want to demonstrate is just how surgical these guys can be.
44:36Snipers, Echo One, I have control.
44:39Shot in three, two, one.
44:43Action.
44:46If I know that from 75 or 100 yards that I can drill a spinning apple,
44:53a head is going to seem enormous.
44:55It's just part of that whole mental management system
44:58where you're projecting victory before you even enter the battle.
45:02Action.
45:04Forty yards separate the hunters and the hunted.
45:07To train shooters, the pirates are easy targets, many times larger than an apple.
45:12As the pirates continue to rebuff all demands for surrender,
45:16they are observed to be growing more threatening toward the hostage.
45:19They're essentially entombed in this little lifeboat,
45:23and they're cooped up, they're hungry, they're thirsty.
45:27It's just a matter of time before these guys are done.
45:30It's like a lion out in the Serengeti.
45:33I mean, all that's sitting out there is a little tiny lamb.
45:45As evening approaches on the fourth day of the kidnapping,
45:48all negotiations between the pirates and the American negotiators are over.
45:52The pirates reject every offer to surrender, even from their own tribal elders.
45:57In their statements, when we sent the message to them,
46:00was that they were putting all their lives into the hands of God.
46:05When I relayed this information back to the elders,
46:08the reply back was, we washed our hands from this situation successfully.
46:13They're in a small lifeboat staring at a huge U.S. naval vessel.
46:17You know, they're like deers in headlights at that point.
46:21The lifeboat containing the three pirates and their American hostage
46:24remains secured by a tow line tied to the USS Bainbridge.
46:27SEAL Team snipers continue to glass their targets, ready to fire,
46:31waiting for the order from Washington.
46:33What I think must have been really hard for those shooters
46:36was the 18-plus hours they spent on board the boat waiting to get green-lighted.
46:42That ambiguity, that tension between whether to shoot
46:46or whether to negotiate really isn't there.
46:49These guys are trained snipers.
46:51And now they're waiting for the signal or the authority to do so.
46:54Without clearance to shoot, the snipers must wait.
46:57Officials in Washington continue to strategize.
47:00The White House, the National Security Council, the State Department,
47:04the Defense Department, and other agencies
47:07are in a flurry of activity and communication,
47:10looking at all the possible ramifications.
47:13You get a lot of frustration in those situations
47:16because you have, you know, a lot of information
47:19in those situations because you have a guy back in the U.S.
47:22sitting behind a desk making those decisions
47:25that have never been in that environment before.
47:27And then you have actual guys on the ground that know,
47:30hey, I've been here 20, 30 times.
47:33I know there's only one way to resolve this situation.
47:37Observing numerous physical threats toward Captain Phillips,
47:40the on-scene commander receives permission to act
47:43in the event of danger to the hostage.
47:45The pirate's fate is now sealed.
47:47The snipers have the advantage with their night vision.
47:50The mood among the SEALs is professional, relaxed.
47:53After we exhausted everything in our playbook
47:56to try to get the pirates to give themselves up,
47:59we saw that the situation was getting a little bit dire.
48:02They're going to end this the only way that such a situation can be ended.
48:08The on-scene commander realizes that, okay,
48:10there's no way to peacefully resolve this without casualties.
48:13Make a decision.
48:15As soon as the sun goes down, these guys are going to get taken out.
48:18At that split moment when you get the green light to shoot,
48:21it's like flicking a switch.
48:23You just snap in, and it's all about business.
48:25Everything falls back to your training and the routine.
48:30Shortly after dark, the pirates present a simultaneous target,
48:33and the countdown begins.
48:36Snipers, snipers, this is Echo One.
48:38Check in when you have your target acquired.
48:40A mistake now may cost Captain Phillips his life.
48:44There's no second take.
48:45There's no editing.
48:46There's no turning off the camera.
48:48That guy says, I have control, I have control.
48:50That means he has control of that captain's life.
48:52He has control of the future of those snipers and their career.
48:55He's got control of that entire world.
48:58Sniper One, ready.
49:01Sniper Two, ready.
49:04Sniper Three, ready.
49:07All right, this is Echo One.
49:08I have control.
49:11I have control.
49:14Shot in three, two, one, execute.
49:20The first people I want to thank are the SEALs.
49:22They're the superheroes.
49:23They're the titans.
49:24They're the impossible men doing the impossible job,
49:26and they did the impossible with me.
49:31Seven months later,
49:32the Marisk Alabama is attacked near the same location,
49:35but evades capture.
49:37The pirates of Somalia continue to hijack ships
49:39and hold them for ransom at a record pace.
49:43The majority of SEAL team combat operations remains classified.