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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.