Head of the Snake Part 4: Aftermath

The Jack Carr Channel

Jack Carr

Society & Culture

4.9 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 January 2022

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In May of 2011, Mark Owen crossed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on a mission to capture/kill Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda - to decapitate “The Head of the Snake.” But that night in Abbottabad, Pakistan is just a part of Mark’s story.

In this special four-part series of Danger Close, Jack sits down for an extended interview with Mark to discuss the story you haven’t heard. Starting with Mark’s childhood in a remote Alaskan community to his early days in the SEAL Teams to 9/11 and the sustained combat that followed to his selection and training for a team at the highest echelons of special operations, this is Mark Owen unfiltered, candid, and uncensored. Mark would go on to take part in high-profile operations like the mission to rescue Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates and the search for Bowe Bergdahl. He would later work his way up a stairwell in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and into a hallway where the most wanted terrorist in the world waited… But, as Jack and Mark discuss, the aftermath of the raid would not only change the public profile of Naval Special Warfare, it would also alter the course of Mark’s life in ways he could have never anticipated.

IRONCLAD and SIG Sauer proudly present, The Head of the Snake: The Killing of UBL, a special Danger Close event.

Mark Owen’s books: No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden and No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy SEAL

Sponsors: Today’s episode is presented by SIG Sauer.

Part 4: Aftermath

The days following the raid that killed Osama bin Laden were an exciting time for the American public, but for the men that were there the night he died things were taking a turn. In the final installment of The Head of the Snake series, we learn about why Mark’s military career would soon come to an end, and how his decision to tell the public the story of the Bin Laden raid drew the ire of the Pentagon. It’s a fascinating look at the post-9/11 American military, issues within the Navy Special Warfare community, how the Defense Department deals with internal controversies, and more.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The Danger Close Podcast, beyond the books with me, Jack Carr.
0:16.1	Welcome to The Danger Close Podcast, an Iron Cloud original presented by Six Hour.
0:20.7	My guest today is my dear friend, Mark Owen, and you'll find that this is less of an interview
0:26.0	and more of a conversation between two good buddies just catching up.
0:30.7	It is part four of a special four-part series titled The Head of the Snake,
0:35.2	Killing Osama bin Laden. Now, without further ado, part four of my conversation with Mark Owen.
0:57.7	So moving into this next chapter of life, like you you had this chapter in Alaska.
1:03.6	It was incredible. A little time in college to transition from Alaska to the rest of the world.
1:10.4	Figure out how to win list and go through that process. Then you had this time in the military
1:16.8	that I mean you couldn't have done more. And now it's time to turn the page. And it's January of 2012.
1:27.1	So in December when you tell your leadership that you're getting out and moving on,
1:31.3	what was your plan? Like what was your plan? Did you have a plan for what you're going to do next
1:38.0	or for something you wanted to explore or you just knew that one chapter was done?
1:42.0	I still have a hard time thinking of another job that is like being a seal.
1:47.6	Right? And I loved it. It was everything I dreamt about. That's what I lived.
1:53.2	So when I stepped away from that, do you think of finding a better dream?
1:58.6	I don't know. I didn't have any other dreams of doing anything as cool. I didn't know what else was out there.
2:05.6	So that was kind of like okay. That side of me may be done a little bit to some degree.
2:10.5	And maybe it's find something a little more sustainable rather than I don't know.
2:15.3	Didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I was big into the gear. I had a lot of relationships
2:19.3	and a design gear and was very into that. And I thought okay, I could add value there.
2:26.6	Maybe gear consulting for companies. Doing something along those lines.
	...

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