Ice Cold Leader

CHAPTER 1“We Were Sure You Were Dead”

ONE OF THE COMBAT AREAS OF PROFICIENCY REQUIRED OF a Navy SEAL platoon is Military Operations in an Urban Terrain, or MOUT. This is simply the act of a military unit moving through a city and fighting, usually from house to house. This was typically the type of combat you saw on the news during the War on Terror in Iraq.

One night as my platoon was training, we set up on a house for entry, and I was to be the second man through the door. I would simply go the opposite way the “number one man” went. The number one man's nickname was “Booger.” (No secret meaning here. He always seemed to have a hanger disgustingly in view.) In other words, if Booger went through the door and turned right, I would go left. My job was to simply read off of him, go the opposite way, and continue on with the standard house-clearing protocols.

The movements of a proficient military unit making its way through the house are clear and distinct. If a SEAL decides he is going to go to the right, that's it. If it is the wrong move, it will be up to his teammates to make the necessary corrections to ensure a fluid and aggressive flow of movement through the house.

This is why I was surprised when Booger started to go left but then made a sudden jump to the right. It was an unusual display of uncertainty. Despite the speed at which we were moving, I remember clearly thinking to myself, “Huh, I wonder why he did that?” I was about to find out a split second later.

As ...