One of the hardest things ...

"Lone Survivor" Marcus Lutrell has already had quite a story as a SEAL when he survived in the mountains of Afghanistan. In this article on SPARTANAT, he remembers his instructor Brandon Webb - now editor of SOFREP - and the demanding sniper training he underwent with him:

I first met Brandon Webb (pictured below on the cover of "Soldier of Fortune") when I was a student in the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Course.

The sniper training was one of the toughest things I have ever done, in some ways even harder than the infamous hell known as BUD/S, the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training that every SEAL must complete. The sniper course starts with a stalking phase, where everything revolves around stealth and camouflage, and where you are taught to painstakingly crawl undetected inch by inch through enemy territory. To be honest, that was really tough for me! Shooting came naturally to me, but sneaking up did not. I'm a rather big guy and trying to pass myself off as a flower or shrub instead of a six-foot Texan... it just didn't work! I have no idea how I would have made it through if Brandon hadn't been my instructor.

Brandon and his team were incredibly tough on us. Their goal was to shape us into one of the best special forces in action, and I have to admit: they succeeded. As I also describe in my book, Brandon's demands were so high that they would make even an Indian scout swallow. But it wasn't just about making our lives difficult. Brandon did more than was required of him. After regular training hours, he took the time to answer our questions and continue working with his students. He was my mentor, and made sure I was good at what I did.

Graduating from sniper training was one of the proudest moments of my life.

From sniper training, I went almost directly to Afghanistan. A few months after being released from Brandon's care, I found myself in the steep mountains of the Hindu Kush, an offshoot of the Himalayas, not far from the Afghan-Pakistani border. June 29, 2005. All the other guys from my reconnaissance team - including my brother's best friend, Matt "Axe" Axelson - had been killed by the same group of Taliban fighters who were now doing everything they could to eliminate me too. If I hadn't benefited from Brandon's patience, care, and skills during sniper training just before this, I'm sure these Texan bones would be decaying on an Afghan mountainside right now.

My story, the story of Operation Red Wings and the brave comrades who fell in the battle for Murphy's Ridge, is told in the pages of the book Lone Survivor. Brandon tells his story in The Red Circle. And about time. His training saved my life in Afghanistan, not just then, but also a few years later in a completely different operational area, during the house-to-house fighting in the hot and stuffy streets of Iraq.

And I know I'm not the only one. Many guys out there - people whose names you'll never hear - are still alive today, thanks to the efforts, skills, and commitment of Brandon and his peers. His book is not just about how he became a Navy SEAL sniper, but it is the story of the man who subsequently shaped the lives of hundreds of special forces.

It was an honor to serve on the battlefield and beyond with the men of the US Navy SEAL Teams and US SOCOM. Brandon and I have both lost many good friends over the years, but I take comfort in knowing that the memory of these great warriors lives on in our stories. I hope you find them as memorable as we do, and that you pass on the stories of these heroics so that we never forget the price these people paid for the freedom we can enjoy.

Brandon tells a great story, and is living proof that you can achieve anything you truly set your mind to. Never give up.

Marcus Luttrell (USN Ret.), former Navy SEAL

"The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy Seal Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen" by Brandon Webb, 2012, 380 pages costs 19.60 euros as a book. The book is available on Amazon for Kindle The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen for 8.82 euros.