(KPRC) Officially, the federal government does not acknowledge the existence of an elite group of commandos know as SEAL Team Six. Yet KPRC in Houston spoke with multiple sources who said the members of this team are so highly specialized they refer to members of other SEAL teams as "Vanilla."
The training regime to become a Navy SEAL, which is short for Sea, Air, Land, is one of the most brutal in the world. Candidates face two years of physically and mentally grueling training before being assigned to a team. The training begins with weeks of intense physical conditioning, including the notorious "Hell Week." According to an article by the Navy News Service, during this week candidates are forced to endure a continual 132 hours of physical labor with little sleep. It is estimated roughly two-thirds of SEAL candidates do not make it through this phase of training. Those who endure these first challenges move onto training that includes explosives, mountain climbing, rappelling, guerrilla warfare tactics, close-quarter combat, seamanship, scuba diving, parachuting and cold weather training.
This is it what it takes to become a SEAL.
To become a member of SEAL Team Six is the stuff of legend. In fact, these warrior elite fall under the military's more modern moniker of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or "DEVGRU." A source who spoke to Local 2 Investigates on the condition of anonymity said the members of this team are more informally called "The Quiet Professionals." Our source said the team's quarters in Dam Neck, Va., bear no special markings to indicate the men inside are members of SEAL Team Six.
Members of this team are hand-picked; there are no applications or tryouts. This team operates only under presidential orders on the most classified of missions. Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, members of this elite group have been one of the tips of the government's spear in the war on terror.
The handiwork of these men is almost never known, saved for rare instances such as the rescue of the captain of the Maersk Alabama who was taken hostage by pirates. Now the world knows it was members of this team that brought an end to the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
After years of meticulous intelligence work, President Barack Obama gave the order for the members of this team to raid bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani suburb of Abbottabad, just 30 miles from the capitol of Islamabad and a stone's throw from the Pakistan Military Academy.
With the order given, the members of this team climbed aboard MH-60 helicopters and flew under Pakistani radar until they reached the compound. Instantly, the team took gunfire from the roof of the compound. Extreme heat is also blamed for forcing one the helicopters to make a hard landing inside the compound. Despite the momentary glitch, the team deployed inside the compound. Forty minutes later, the firefight was over, and, according to President Barack Obama, bin Laden was dead.
The team then blew up the downed helicopter and made their way back to safety. Officials with the federal government said Osama bin Laden's body was then taken to the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson and buried at sea.
"I was very proud of the fact that they were not only able to carry this out, but carry it out so effectively," Houston attorney David Adler said.
Adler is a former CIA officer who said he still has friend who was part of the Agency team charged with tracking down bin Laden. Adler said he also lost a friend on 9/11 when an al-Qaida operative crashed a plane into the Pentagon.
"I can't even imagine the risks that are involved trying to do this in a country where you can't rely on the local police for assistance, you can't rely on the local military for assistance," said Adler.
In fact, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul told Local 2 Investigates that Pakistan was intentionally not told of this operation.
"You're going to see Congress really crank up an investigation into Pakistan to see whether or not they were complicit with hiding him," said McCaul.
McCaul is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management. McCaul told Local 2 Investigates suspicions over Pakistan's involvement grew when information surfaced bin Laden may have been living in that compound for up to five years prior to the raid.
"It's hard for me not to believe that he's been there for so long and they had no idea that he was there," McCaul said.
Officials with Pakistan's government have strongly denied any involvement in helping bin Laden avoid capture.
McCaul said the break in the search for bin Laden came in 2003 when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed gave U.S. intelligence officials the name of a trusted bin Laden courier. Officials with McCaul's office said this information came after Mohammed, considered by the U.S. government the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was put through an interrogation technique called "waterboarding." This technique simulates drowning. Officials with McCaul's office said this happened when Mohammed was held in a secret CIA-run prison in Europe.
Officials with McCaul's office said that between 2005 and 2007, another al-Qaida operative held at Guantanamo Bay gave U.S. intelligence officials the same name of the courier. From there, intelligence officials worked leads and eventually tracked the courier to the compound where government officials said bin Laden was killed.
McCaul said the government initially considered using a missile to strike the compound, but decided against that plan for fear of collateral damage and the need for instant confirmation of bin Laden's capture or death.
McCaul said members of the U.S. military used DNA from bin Laden family members to verify the reputed terrorist leader was the one killed in the raid.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that bin Laden was unarmed, but resisted, when he was shot and killed.
The training regime to become a Navy SEAL, which is short for Sea, Air, Land, is one of the most brutal in the world. Candidates face two years of physically and mentally grueling training before being assigned to a team. The training begins with weeks of intense physical conditioning, including the notorious "Hell Week." According to an article by the Navy News Service, during this week candidates are forced to endure a continual 132 hours of physical labor with little sleep. It is estimated roughly two-thirds of SEAL candidates do not make it through this phase of training. Those who endure these first challenges move onto training that includes explosives, mountain climbing, rappelling, guerrilla warfare tactics, close-quarter combat, seamanship, scuba diving, parachuting and cold weather training.
This is it what it takes to become a SEAL.
To become a member of SEAL Team Six is the stuff of legend. In fact, these warrior elite fall under the military's more modern moniker of Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or "DEVGRU." A source who spoke to Local 2 Investigates on the condition of anonymity said the members of this team are more informally called "The Quiet Professionals." Our source said the team's quarters in Dam Neck, Va., bear no special markings to indicate the men inside are members of SEAL Team Six.
Members of this team are hand-picked; there are no applications or tryouts. This team operates only under presidential orders on the most classified of missions. Since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, members of this elite group have been one of the tips of the government's spear in the war on terror.
The handiwork of these men is almost never known, saved for rare instances such as the rescue of the captain of the Maersk Alabama who was taken hostage by pirates. Now the world knows it was members of this team that brought an end to the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
After years of meticulous intelligence work, President Barack Obama gave the order for the members of this team to raid bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani suburb of Abbottabad, just 30 miles from the capitol of Islamabad and a stone's throw from the Pakistan Military Academy.
With the order given, the members of this team climbed aboard MH-60 helicopters and flew under Pakistani radar until they reached the compound. Instantly, the team took gunfire from the roof of the compound. Extreme heat is also blamed for forcing one the helicopters to make a hard landing inside the compound. Despite the momentary glitch, the team deployed inside the compound. Forty minutes later, the firefight was over, and, according to President Barack Obama, bin Laden was dead.
The team then blew up the downed helicopter and made their way back to safety. Officials with the federal government said Osama bin Laden's body was then taken to the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson and buried at sea.
"I was very proud of the fact that they were not only able to carry this out, but carry it out so effectively," Houston attorney David Adler said.
Adler is a former CIA officer who said he still has friend who was part of the Agency team charged with tracking down bin Laden. Adler said he also lost a friend on 9/11 when an al-Qaida operative crashed a plane into the Pentagon.
"I can't even imagine the risks that are involved trying to do this in a country where you can't rely on the local police for assistance, you can't rely on the local military for assistance," said Adler.
In fact, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul told Local 2 Investigates that Pakistan was intentionally not told of this operation.
"You're going to see Congress really crank up an investigation into Pakistan to see whether or not they were complicit with hiding him," said McCaul.
McCaul is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management. McCaul told Local 2 Investigates suspicions over Pakistan's involvement grew when information surfaced bin Laden may have been living in that compound for up to five years prior to the raid.
"It's hard for me not to believe that he's been there for so long and they had no idea that he was there," McCaul said.
Officials with Pakistan's government have strongly denied any involvement in helping bin Laden avoid capture.
McCaul said the break in the search for bin Laden came in 2003 when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed gave U.S. intelligence officials the name of a trusted bin Laden courier. Officials with McCaul's office said this information came after Mohammed, considered by the U.S. government the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was put through an interrogation technique called "waterboarding." This technique simulates drowning. Officials with McCaul's office said this happened when Mohammed was held in a secret CIA-run prison in Europe.
Officials with McCaul's office said that between 2005 and 2007, another al-Qaida operative held at Guantanamo Bay gave U.S. intelligence officials the same name of the courier. From there, intelligence officials worked leads and eventually tracked the courier to the compound where government officials said bin Laden was killed.
McCaul said members of the U.S. military used DNA from bin Laden family members to verify the reputed terrorist leader was the one killed in the raid.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that bin Laden was unarmed, but resisted, when he was shot and killed.
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