Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy Seal Mass Market Paperback – 28 December 2004

It's been said that there are two types of Navy SEALs: those that can do anything, and those that can't do anything else. Having penned as simultaneously thoughtful and riveting of a memoir as "Warrior Soul," Chuck Pfarrer can undoubtedly be said to reside in the former category.The story of how Chuck Pfarrer went from California surfer boy to SEAL Team Six operator is nothing short of fascinating, and more than a little improbable. Heartbroken over the loss of his long-time girlfriend, he shipped off to OCS and then BUD/S with no real knowledge of what the SEALs did, only that his career military father had acquired a deep and abiding respect for them from serving together in Vietnam. At BUD/S, like his fellow classmates, he endured a world of pain but got through it with the resolve to leave only in a stretcher or on graduation day. Class 114, of which Pfarrer was a member, would go on to win the "No-Bell Prize," that rarest of BUD/S honors awarded to the handful of classes that don't lose a single candidate during Hell Week.This is only the beginning of Pfarrer's journey, however, as he still must pass through Jump School and Advanced Operator Training. At Fort Benning, Pfarrer riffs on the Army-Navy rivalry and the subtle and not so subtle ways that SEALs subvert authority there. After all, after having gotten wet and sandy for months upon months, nothing a square-jawed Army instructor could do or say could possibly inspire fear in the heart of a BUD/S graduate. The sheer fearlessness of these SEALs, even in "tadpole" form, is astounding. Consider the case of a friend of Pfarrer, Doc Jones. Wanting to get his wings without putting up with 3 weeks of jump school, Doc followed a platoon out onto the drop zone at Fort A.P. Hill and picked up a parachute. Using the ploy "Hey, could you help me buckle this," he was assisted by his new platoon mates and got onto the plane. He hooked up his static line and jumped like everyone else, and not only survived but went on to earn his gold parachute wings. It was discovered that he hadn't attended jump school and was sent packing to Fort Benning. The story followed him throughout the navy."Warrior Soul" is packed full of humorous stories like that one, including military witticisms like "where there's a will there's a waiver," but it's far from just being a book of funny anecdotes (if you just want that, check out When the Bullet Hits Your Funny Bone: the Essence of a U.S. Navy SEAL ). The second part of the book takes on a more serious tone as Pfarrer, now deployed with SEAL Four, navigates the madness of war-torn Beirut. The infamous bombing of the Beirut International Airport is described at length, a tragedy which was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of warfare and resulted in the deaths of 241 servicemembers. An unconventional warrior forced to fight a conventional war, Pfarrer was frustrated, disturbed, and haunted by his time in the 'Root but managed to make it out alive.I won't ruin the details of any later aspects of the book, including the many hairy moments that Chuck gets himself into and especially not the engrossing details of his initiation into SEAL Team 6. You simply must read it for yourself. This is a well-told, utterly intriguing memoir and is well worth your time. A big thanks to Mr. Pfarrer and the rest of the Navy SEAL community for their courageous service to this nation.

In dem vorliegenden Buch schildert der Autor seinen persönlichen Werdegang, seine Ausbildung zum Navy SEAL und seine Kampfeinsätze während seiner Dienstzeit. Da es für mich zu diesem Zeitpunkt das erste Buch zum Thema SEALs war, war auch die Schilderung des Trainings und der Ausbildung hoch interessant.Im Gegensatz zu den meisten aktuellen Publikationen die aus gegebenenm Anlass meist Einsätze im Irak und in Afghanistan schildern, erhält man hier einen Einblick in weniger bekannte Einsätze während der 1980er Jahre. Besonders interessant sind hierbei verdeckte Operationen im mittelamerikanischen Raum, sowie im Rahmen des US-Engagement während des libanesischen Bürgerkriegs. Mehrere andere Einstäze runden das Bild sehr gut ab, so dass man einen guten Einblick erhält, wie breit das Einsatzspektrum der SEALs gefächert ist.Das Buch ist in einem gut verständlichen Englisch geschrieben und war für mich sehr angenehm und leicht zu lesen. Zudem besticht es durch ein hohes Maß an Glaubwürdigkeit und Authenzität. Kurzum, für mich ein rundum gelungenes Buch, dass eine hohe Bewertung verdient und das es vedient gelesen zu werden! Kaufen!!!

The US Navy Seals are the pre-eminent commandos in the world. After all, they got Osama, with some help from the US Air Force. Their only competition for the top spot is the British SAS (Special Air Services). Chuck Pfarrer was a lieutenant in the Seals, the highest rank you can achieve and still be hands-on. When you read this book, you will think, OK, I understand that Chuck can do all this commando stuff, but, how come he writes like an angel? Writing well is not part of the Seals job description. After I finished the book, similarly puzzled, I looked just inside the back cover, and learned that after Chuck left the Seals, he became a movie script-writer in Hollywood. I thought, "Oh, right, of course, I wish I had known that." But of course I loved the book anyway, it is a thrilling read. Highly recommended for arm-chair commandos like myself.

I was very surprised by the author's objectivity as well as his writing skills. Soldiers are not know for their ability with the pen, especially special forces soldiers. The book is very well written, evenly paced and, even though it is told from a first person narrative, incredibly objective. There is no grandstanding or ego trips (compare this to a Dick Marcinko book for example), just the author's experience and his views, related as disspasionately as possible. Yet it manages to be a very interesting and thrilling read. So the objective tone does not detract from the experience at all, quite the contrary, it helps enhance it through its honesty. My only complain was the the book ended too soon for me (even thought it's 314 pages long).The author tells his stroy from his training in the BUD/S program to his deployment in different parts of the world such as Beirut, etc.I recommended this to anyone interested in the SEALs or special forces, or just military action in general.

In the early 80s, navy brat Chuck Pfarrer dropped out of uni and decided to join the Navy SEALs, an elite unit not known outside of military circles. On every other year, you needed to serve in other branches of the military before applying. That year, they took civilians as an experiment...Chuck Pfarrer recounts his years on and under the waves, in Beirut, South America and any number of nameless, dusty places in a way that's neither humble nor bragging. He gives credit where credit is due, recalls cowardice in others and failure in himself. Above all, he comes across as a real live human being rather than a two dimensional warrior cliche. Which is odd because he went on to write the movie Navy SEALs, a gung ho hunk of junk about two dimensional warrior cliches. I forgive you for the movie, Chuck. Your life story more than makes up for it. Should have made a film out of this instead.