Summary

Owen was home on a three-week leave in the early spring of 2011. He had just returned from deployment in Afghanistan during its cold winter months. After numerous deployments after 9/11, he was glad to be home. It was getting more and more difficult to a get approval for a mission. There were more restrictions than in the past. Policymakers asked that the Team ignore past lessons in favor of political solutions. No more ambushing fighters in their compounds. When interrogating suspects, SEALs had to ask them if they had been abused. The fighters were savvy enough to realize that we were playing by different rules and took advantage of it. There were rumors that a top-secret mission was in the pipeline.

Owen and other Team members were called into a special meeting and told that they would be going to North Carolina to train...