Book Review: Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations

While on a trip to Montana, I had an opportunity to read Admiral William H. McRaven’s Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations. While my intent was to read this on my way to and from Montana, I actually finished it halfway to Montana. I had a lot of seat time in airports and the plane. However, I would have finished it in one day because I really enjoyed reading it.

Sea Stories is 335 pages long spread across 18 chapters. The chapters cover McRaven’s life story from his youth to his retirement from the Navy as a four-star admiral.

As noted in the title of the book, this was a collection of mesmerizing stories about a group of warriors who are at the front of the spear. McRaven shared high-impact recollections that regularly made front-page news.

I resonated with the stories because McRaven was honest with his conversations. I felt a connection with those in the stories because they were similar to my experiences in the military. I could relate to the people depicted.

While all the stories were fascinating, there were a couple of stories that stood out to me.

The first story that jumped out to me was when he was a kid having adventures in his neighborhood. Interesting enough, his neighborhood was close to an Air Force restricted area. His SEAL training began then.

Naturally, his SEAL training experience also stood out. I am always amazed at what men like these endured and reflect on some of the decisions I had made. We know that people can endure more than what they think they can. The secret is convincing the mind. His ability to not quit helped with his recovery from a serious parachuting accident.

Many of the other stories told focused on high-profile missions. These missions include the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the most important mission, the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Naturally, as he rose in rank and responsibility, he led operations often removed the ground operations. However, he was directly involved in these operations.

To read his accounts of these different missions helped to fill in the backstory. The small details and the behind the scenes conversations help to flesh out what was reported in the news. I walked away more impressed with this fine officer. I would definitely recommend Sea Stories to others.

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Additional Reading

• Book Review: My Share of the Task
• Book Review: Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

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