Calvin Frey > Recent Status Updates

Today I read about this mission brandon went on and how he had one of the biggest terists takedowns ever. He talked about how the found 400 pounds of ammunition as well as documents with planned attacks on the united states.

As the book is wrapping up brandon talks a little about his life now and how the different expericness and ineactions have overall made him a better person for not only himself but others around including his family. He is very thankful for the military and what they have done for him in his years.

Today I read about the valley that was a key turning point in the fight and how they set up to take advantage over the taliban. What was key about the valley was you could see both of the bases and was a key advantage and fighting place. He talked about an encounter with them and how when he saw them they all dropped there RPG and ran.

Today I read about a prior mission they took to Iraq and how they had intel that al Queda was planning an attack on the united states. This intel was buried into a cave and they found the cave with pictures hung of new york and newspapers of new york dated back to when the twin towers were created. Although they weren't sure at the time what they were planning obviously we know what happened

Today, I got left on a cliffhanger. They had a plan to invade the largest al-Qaeda base where it was said that osama bin Laden planned to attack the United States. Although they had a plan to attack and recover information, the chapter left me on a cliff hanger, almost as if the plan didn't go as smoothly as they had hoped. The last sentence was "Or at least that was the plan."

Today I read about a mission they went on during Christmas, and they were driving around Pakistan and drove over a landmine. When they hit the landmine, their car fortunately did not explode. Brandon describes it as one of his most traumatic experiences because every time he drives now, he can't help but think about it.

In today's chapter, I read about brandons patrol mission. This mission was one of Brandon's first and at the beggenning he thought he was almost to good for it. He thought his that with his experience he shouldn't be getting these low class missions as he thought, although the mission turned into something bigger. Brandon and his crew took down a ship of terroists with 100,000 dollars of cash, fake passports. and mor

Today, I read about Team ECHO, a team of Navy SEALs formed outside the States. Brandon originally joined Team SEAL but was then transferred to Team ECHO. Brandon talks about how Team ECHO was worse than Team SEAL because of its lack of discipline and how crazy it was.

Today, I read and saw a bunch of pictures that the author included in his book. These pictures include experiences he encountered throughout his navy seal career. This strengthens the ethos of this book because it includes real pictures with descriptions about what he is writing about. I think it was very important he added those in, especially for someone who doesn't have much experience with the military.

Today I read about the second phase of becoming a sniper. The stealth that comes behind being a sniper is very interesting to me. Brandon talked about crawling through the desert and sneaking up on a sniper tower and having to use the "dead space" to his advantage. He also spoke about his imagination to picture how his hot would travel and what would affect it.

Today I read about brandons shooting courses and how tough they were for him to calculate the different shots he would have to take. Brandon talked about how stressful the courses got when the instructors would put obstacles in their way or try and distract them right before they would shoot.

Today I read about sniper school and bore shots. What this is is a course were you have t have exact precision on your shot and you have to sprint to the line and which is 500 yards away and then shoot. This is very hard due to you have only one shot to hit the target and if you miss you get dropped from the course.

Today I read about sniper school. Sniper school is not what brandon wanted to do but the opportunity couldn't be turned down as it is very hard to even get into sniper school. Brandon talked about how sniper school was the most mentally tough thing he had ever gone though and there was no margin for error. Brandon completed sniper school with 6 other guys and luckily had the oppurntiy to take it

forgot the page number on last response

One interesting fact I learned today was the difference between cover and concealment in the battle ground. The cover is when you are hidden behind a physical object that protects you from enemy fire and concealment just when you are behind an object still seen. Today, I also read about a difficulty Brandon encountered when training. He tore his quad 4 weeks from graduating his seal training.

Today I read about hell week. What hell week is is a 5 day course with non stop training and no sleep at all. Brandon was very out of shape when coming into hell week and that really caused him to be the weakest link and to be singled out by the instructors. Although brandon wasn't the most physically fit guy he had the mental strenth to keep going and to not let them break him.

football when we vote for captains and you really wonder why some people even apply

Today I read about the leadership that Brandon went through during his time before becoming a Navy Seal. He talked about how there were guys who acted like leaders although they didn't always do the right thing and then he talked about the guys who did always do the right thing and lived the message of a navy seal. He said that you can always tell if someone is a leader or just putting up a front. This reminded me of

Today I learned that to become a Navy Seal there are a lot more steps you have to go through than just saying you want to be a Navy Seal. In the book Brandon is talking about the 4 years it's taking him just to become a Navy Seal and how the opportunity for him hasn't been offered. He also went in depth about struggles with his dad and how they have never gotten along.

Today I read about the problems he had encountered with his father at a young age. He talked about how his father would belittle him on the sea and never take his advice as if he wasn't experienced. It even came to a point where his father had to kick him off of the boat because they didn't get along. I think Brandon's problems with his father motivated him into wanting to do something big and impactful.

Today I learned about Osgood Schlotter's disease and how people are impacted by it. In the book, the main character suffers from this and it prevents him from playing in sports the rest of his high school. Osgood shlotters is a disease that happens in your knees that happens from overuse of the knee and doesn't allow you to grow

The reason I picked this book is because I really enjoy learning about military experiences first hand. I feel like im in the authors shoes when I read these kinds of books. Another reason I picked this book is because I just got done reading a book called the long walk which I really enjoyed which is also about military experiences.

139. Today I read about a failed mission they got sent on. They got sen to this town to clear out motor repair shops for silver tubes that could possibly be bombs... They found the tubes but no sign of any bombs. The dude in charge got mad at brian for not clearing out the shops and brian said in his defense its how they live and how they repair cars.

What I read about today was Kermit and hoe kermit died in a helicopter crash with brian and his team. Kermit was a captain and high rank and wasn't close with brian but brian respected him. Brian talked about how his PTSD was affected by kermits death it had been 2 years since he had passed and he still thinks about him everyday. Brian also talked about how he had all these tests done and is in perfect physical shape

Today, I read brian talking about the long plane rides he would have to go on. How the rides almost felt like hell and would make him go even crazier. He went in-depth about how the crazy would put him in situations that would never occur and the countless outcomes that the crazy put in his head. He talked about how the rides felt like days but were only hours.

Author purpose: I think the author's purpose is to show us different lifestyles and cultures with this book. As many situations are in other countries and it goes into depth about their society. I also feel their purpose is just to write about there PTSD so people who are also suffering don't feel alone

Today I read about kermit and how brian wasn't very close with kermit but there paths had crossed by faith. Kermit and brian had met one time before kermits passing. When they met they talked about brian taking over kermits job. Kermit died and brian and his sergeant had to go tell his wife about his death and he goes into detail about how hard that would be

In this chapter it goes into alot of things, One thing that stood out to me is when he starts talking about his wife and how great she is for dealing with his crazy. How she would stay home waiting for him to come back "dead".Not dead from the war but dead as in coming back as a new person. It also talks about how when he went to see a counselor she said he had PTSD and it confirmed him as being crazy. (102 on track)

In this chapter, they started talking about bomb vehicles and how they were the most dangerous type of bombing. How they would have to go in and examine the bombing by seeing what triggered it possibly looking for the driver and then clearing out individuals. What drove him crazy was the civilian remains he would have to pull out from these attacks and there would be people looking for loved ones that where dead.

In this chapter he talks about his first mission and encounter with a IED. He talks about driving the loud brightfull humvee throughout the town and using a robot to locate the bomb. There is a long bridge that they send the robot on that is filled with possible IED which would be tucked under dirt or trash. They encount another allie group that doesn't speak English. They find the IED under a pile of trash.