![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cover_TheWayForward_HC.jpg.jpg\")
Though he participated in numerous missions, some of which were later retold in books and film, it was his mission with Naval Special Warfare Development Group on the May 2, 2011, Operation Neptune Spear, which killed al-Qaida founder and leader Osama bin Laden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two combat veterans co-authored \u201cThe Way Forward: Master Life\u2019s Toughest Battles and Create Your Lasting Legacy\u201d to share with readers their own origin stories, military experiences and life lessons learned along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Military Times interviewed O\u2019Neill shortly before the book\u2019s release earlier in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*Editor\u2019s Note: The following Q&A interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Both you and Dakota Meyer have written books before about some of your combat experiences. What was the motivation for this collaboration?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A: <\/b>It\u2019s some military, some drinking stories, hunting stories, all three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We tried to throw in a few stories that no one had heard before. And we want people to know we can be relatable. If Dakota can be a football player and male cheerleader raising chickens in Kentucky and I can be a pasty white guy from Montana who\u2019s not in really good shape and can\u2019t swim we\u2019re kind of proving that we all come from somewhere that we all have that in common and we can all do anything we want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point of the book is you don\u2019t need to have been to war to have had traumatic experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t being modest when I said I didn\u2019t deserve the medal, and I wasn\u2019t lying when I said I didn\u2019t want it. Gosh, I didn\u2019t want that medal. My guilt over what had happened in Ganjgal \u2014 that four of my guys had been killed when I had been tasked with providing them security \u2014 hung over me like a poison cloud.\u201d<\/p>-Dakota Meyer, Marine sniper, recipient of the Medal of Honor for combat actions in Afghanistan<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Q: You two take turns in the book telling stories from your past but also offering lessons with those stories. Why did you decide to write the book this way?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/b>It was seriously writing them on a napkin. I think we broke the lessons down into parts and then kind of just did an outline and say okay, maybe we start with a story. For example, one of the lessons was how to keep a tight circle, either of friends or in a unit. If you keep a tight circle the adventures you have, the stuff that happens, it\u2019s almost ridiculous. My experience is that if you can keep morale high it helps keep a tight unit. Your team is going to be better and want to work together. We didn\u2019t know if this was a memoir, self<\/p>\n\n\n\n help or some kind of nonfiction biography. But the perfect plan only exists in the planning room. So, we didn\u2019t say \u2018we\u2019re going from point A to point B to point C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: What\u2019s a lesson you could pass on to Military Times readers, soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/b>Well, the first thing, obviously, is don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t take shortcuts because shortcuts and boredom can get you hurt or killed. That\u2019s where complacency kills. The rules are in place for a reason. It\u2019s always the time when you take a shortcut that you get hurt, whether it\u2019s on the flight line or doing electrical work as a Seabee, whether it\u2019s on the firing range as a Marine. A shortcut may have worked before, but it\u2019s the one time that it doesn\u2019t work that gets you hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Any concluding thoughts, saved rounds?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n A: <\/b>Keep it simple and master the basics. Don\u2019t worry about the end stage. Worry about the guy in front of you, how to protect his or her back. It\u2019s everything from close quarters battle to shooting free throws. Always master the basics. Don\u2019t get too complex. Complexity and complacency will kill you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two combat veterans share life experiences from hunting, drinking and war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["disaster","ebb","afghanistan","flashpoints","newsletters","news","left-column","home","off-duty"],"primary_category":"off-duty"},"7":{"categories":["disaster","ebb","flashpoints","news","left-column","home","off-duty"],"primary_category":"off-duty"}}},"categories":[101,22,6,8,23,92,12,25,13],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3396],"class_list":["post-32591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-disaster","category-ebb","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-off-duty"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IXCQETHHVFCJZLM3EA5N7OPOHQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/2022\/09\/20\/the-way-forward-lessons-learned-from-a-marine-and-navy-seal\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n