during my last deployment to Iraq in 2006 one of the first things we did was a series of operations on the eastern side of Ramadi in order to execute these operations we took a majority of the seals to camp Corregidor home with the first of the 506 band of brothers on the edge of the Milaap district of Maroma of Ramadi Camp Corregidor was like for Apocalypse they received mortar fire RPGs and small arms fire daily the barracks were an old partially blown out building with sandbags in the windows dirt floors and no air conditioning there were no showers it was hard living as far as the fighting Charlie Company from the first of the 506 who-who we were set to work with had suffered almost 40 casualties in the time they had been in Ramadi and had gone from a fighting force of 140 to just over a hundred Charlie Company loved having seals with them after the first operation they conducted with seals the company commander told his battalion CEO he wanted seals with him on every mission to help keep his men alive as we continued these initial operations into the mohab district there were heavy firefights many dead enemy and multiple coalition casualties it was intense sustained combat many would have considered Camp Corregidor and Eastern Ramadi to be hell on earth but I knew it was exactly where seals belonged we soon completed that first run of missions and headed back to our main camp when we got there I told one of the platoon commanders I wanted him to select guys to form a 7 man squad to take back to Camp Corregidor but he told me he didn’t want to just pick guys he thought that some guys might not want to go back to Corregidor the hard living conditions the tough fighting and the high rate of casualties that sounded reasonable to me so I mustered the whole troop in the planning space I explained to them that we were sending a squad to Corregidor permanently because the army is in a tough fight and suffering heavy casualties and that as Americans as servicemen and as frogmen we cannot sit on the sidelines as that happens if there’s a fight we need to be in it I wrote on the dry erase board Camp Corregidor volunteers and I said to this pack of seals if you want to go over to Corregidor if you want to volunteer to be in the worst area with the worst living conditions with the hardest fighting and with the highest chances of getting hurt or killed then go ahead and write your name up on that board and then I walked out of the room a short while later I came back in and I looked at the list on the board it was filled in fact every single seal to a man had written his name on that board yes every man had volunteered to go forward into that raging storm and that is who we are that is what we joined the SEAL Teams for to do what no one else can do in the worst areas in the worst conditions we crave the dirt and sweat and fire and blood let there be no doubt it is in our soul it is in our nature sure seals can do any job well but it isn’t the belly of the beast where we thrive I have seen with my own eyes the wholesale slaughter that occurs when seals are unleashed on the enemy as we were meant to be and it is incredible thing it is also a thing of strategic impact areas like Ramadi and Sadr City which after years of complete enemy control become pacified soon after the sword of overwhelming carnage is wielded by the frogmen on the high ground this is who we are Death Dealers killers executioner’s and in being so saviors defenders warriors now there are those that say we need to change evolve and mature they claim that the nature of war has changed that it is more complex and demands a more sensitive approach I say they are wrong war may morph and appear different through the ages and when you live through a war and you see it up close like we are now you may notice complexities that you didn’t perceive about the wars you studied in history class but I tell you there is nothing new the nature of war has never changed and never will change the nature of war is death to kill the enemy before he kills you the rest is details now of course we can handle the details in fact seals can excel at all of them gathering intelligence assembling information forming alliances rebuilding communities training protecting treating seals can do anything but these details can also be done by others you don’t need to be a seal to conduct those activities I say send seals forward into the violent fray send seals where no one else can go to do what no one else can do send seal to find and butcher our enemies soulless masses and leave nothing behind but scorched earth and rubble buildings that is our nature as I look at the SEAL Teams today I say to you all yes absolutely evolve get smarter better faster more creative learn to mitigate risk when you can figure out new ways to win attack the enemy in new ways using information and intelligence infiltrate the enemy and turn him against himself evil against evil adapt and overcome changing enemy tactics by all means evolve and get better every day every chance you get but don’t forget the nature of war and don’t forget the nature of seals we must train brutally and without mercy so we can fight the same way brutally and without mercy our job is to close with and destroy the enemy and we do it better than anyone yes our current wars will someday end but war indoors before man was war waited for him as long as man is war will always be always and our great nation will always need men to do what is in our nature kill the enemy kill him as he sleeps kill him as he plots kill him as he hides kill him as he fights that is our nature and that is our solemn duty light the fire take the torch hold it high let it burn bright let it supply the warmth and light of freedom and liberty for our countrymen but also let the fire incinerate our enemy let the inferno consume everything he is everything he ever will be and everything he has ever held sacred as I walk away from the teams today I assure you I will never forget I will never forget your service and sacrifice I will never forget you my fellow seals for getting me here to this day for leading me for following me and for watching my back I will never forget our fellow soldiers sailors airmen and Marines that have fought and sacrificed so much I will never forget those big tough frog men and hardcore seals that came before me particularly the ones that raised me in the teams and taught me the true way of the frogman and finally I will never forget our fallen brothers the many seals who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom especially Mark Lee Mike Mansoor and Ryan Jobe of SEAL team 3 task unit bruiser who lived and fought and died like warriors I am humbled to serve with you all and I will never forget thank you god bless the teams and god bless the United States of America
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