There’s a joke in the Special Forces community that asks, “How do you know you’re talking to a SEAL? If you are, they would’ve already told you.” It’s of course a good natured jab at their Navy friends, but I first heard it during a conversation about Mark Bissonnette publishing his account of the Bin Laden raid.
“No Easy Day” caused a lot of face palms throughout Special Operations in every branch. Even as a civilian, I felt the book was so out of line that I bought a hardcover edition instead of downloading it for Kindle because Amazon has been forced to remove books from Kindle devices in the past.
Looks like that might have been a prudent decision. The Department of Defense has finally reached a settlement with Bissonnette that requires him to turn over every cent he made from the book and related paid presentations. He must also make a formal apology for violating non-disclosure agreements he signed as a SEAL, for publishing the book and presentation slides without following the required approval process, and for sharing classified information.
Bissonnette did publish a follow-up book about his experience becoming a member of SEAL Team 6, though he followed approval protocol for that. Looks like he’ll be needing that cash flow as he only has four years to pay the $6.6 million he earned from “No Easy Day.”