American Sniper: The Autobiography Of The Most Lethal Sniper In U.S. Military History Part 66

I had a number of options and possibilities. I'd been talking with a friend of mine named Mark Spicer about starting a sniper school in the States. After twenty-five years in the British Army, Mark retired as a sergeant major. He was one of the foremost snipers in their army, and had served over twenty years as a sniper and sniper platoon commander. Mark has written three books on sniping and is one of the world's leading experts on the subject.

We both realized there was and is a need for certain types of very specific training for military and police units. No one was providing the sort of hands-on instruction that would help prepare their personnel for the different situations they might find. With our experience, we knew we could tailor courses and provide enough range time to make a difference.

The problem was getting everything together to do it.

Money, of course, was a pretty big consideration. Then, partly by chance, I happened to meet someone who realized the company could be a good investment, and who also had faith in me: J. Kyle Ba.s.s.

Kyle had made a lot of money investing, and when we met, he was looking for a bodyguard. I guess he figured, "Who better than a SEAL?" But when we got talking and he asked where I saw myself in a few years, I told him about the school. He was intrigued, and rather than hiring me as his bodyguard, he helped provide the financing for our company. And just like that, Craft International was born.

Actually, it wasn't "just like that"-we busted b.u.t.t to get it going, working long hours and sweating out all the details the way any entrepreneurs do. Two other guys joined Mark and me to form the owners.h.i.+p team: Bo French and Steven Young. Their areas of expertise have more to do with the business side of things, but they're both knowledgeable about weapons and the tactics that we teach.

Today, Craft International's corporate offices are in Texas. We have training sites in Texas and Arizona and work internationally on security measures and other special projects. Mark can occasionally be seen on the History channel. He's pretty comfortable in front of the cameras, so at times he'll relax into a real thick British accent. The History channel is kind enough to translate his thick accent into good 'ol boy English with subt.i.tles. We have yet to need subt.i.tles for any Craft courses, but we haven't ruled out the possibility.

We've a.s.sembled a team we believe is the best of the best in their given areas for all the areas of training we provide. (You can find more information at www.craftintl.com.)

Building a company involves a lot of different skills I didn't think I had. It also includes a ton of admin work.

d.a.m.n.

I don't mind hard work, even if it is at a desk. One of the pullbacks on this job is that it's given me "Dell hand"-I spend a lot of time pounding a computer keyboard. And every blue moon I have to wear a suit and tie. But otherwise, it's a perfect job for me. I may not be rich, but I enjoy what I do.

The logo for Craft came from the Punisher symbol, with a crusader crosshair in the right eye in honor of Ryan Job. He also inspired our company slogan.

In April 2009, after Somali pirates had taken over a s.h.i.+p and were threatening the captain with death, SEAL snipers killed them from a nearby destroyer. Someone from the local media asked Ryan what he thought.

"Despite what your mama told you," he quipped, "violence does solve problems."

That seemed a pretty appropriate slogan for snipers, so it became ours.

BACK IN TEXAS

I was still conflicted about leaving the Navy, but knowing that I was going to start Craft gave me more incentive. When the time finally came, I couldn't wait.

After all, I was going back home. Was I in a hurry? I got out of the Navy November 4; on November 6, I was kicking Texas dust.

While I was working on Craft International, my family stayed back in the San Diego area, the kids finis.h.i.+ng up with school and Taya getting the house ready to sell. My wife planned to have everything wrapped up in January so we could be reunited in Texas.

They came out at Christmas. I'd been missing the kids and her terribly.

I pulled her into the room at my parent's place and said, "What do you think about going back by yourself? Leave the kids with me."

She was tickled. She had a lot to do, and while she loved our children, taking care of them and getting the house ready to sell was exhausting.

I loved having my son and daughter with me. I had a big a.s.sist from my parents, who helped watch them during the week. Friday afternoons I'd take the kids and we'd have Daddy vacations for three and sometimes four days at a shot.

People have an idea in their heads that fathers aren't able to spend comfortable time with very young children. I don't think that's true. h.e.l.l, I had as much fun as they did. We'd mess around on a trampoline and play ball for hours. We'd visit the zoo, hit the playgrounds, watch a movie. They'd help Dad grill. We all had a great time.

When my daughter was a baby, it took a bit of time for her to warm up to me. But gradually, she came to trust me more, and got used to having me around. Now she is all about her daddy.

Of course, she had him wrapped around her little finger from day one.

I began teaching my son how to shoot when he was two, starting with the basics of a BB rifle. My theory is that kids get into trouble because of curiosity-if you don't satisfy it, you're asking for big problems. If you inform them and carefully instruct them on safety when they're young, you avoid a lot of the trouble.

My son has learned to respect weapons. I've always told him, if you want to use a gun, come get me. There's nothing I like better than shooting. He already has his own rifle, a .22 lever-action, and he shoots pretty good groups with it. He's amazing with a pistol, too.

My daughter is still a little young, and hasn't shown as much interest yet. I suspect she will soon, but in any event, extensive firearms training will be mandatory before she is allowed to date ... which should be around the time she turns thirty.

Both kids have gone out hunting with me. They're still a little young to focus for long periods of time, but I suspect they'll get the hang of it before too long.

Taya:

Chris and I have gone back and forth about how we would feel if our children went into the military. Of course we don't want them to be hurt, or for anything to happen to them. But there are also a lot of positives to military service. We'll both be proud of them no matter what they do.

If my son was to consider going into SEALs, I would tell him to really think about it. I would tell him that he has to be prepared.

I think it's horrible for family. If you go to war, it does change you, and you have to be prepared for that, too. I'd tell him to sit down and talk to his father about the reality of things.

Sometimes I feel like crying just thinking about him in a firefight.

I think Chris has done enough for the country so that we can skip a generation. But we'll both be proud of our children no matter what.

Settling in Texas got me closer to my parents on a permanent basis. Since I've been back with them, they tell me some of the sh.e.l.l that I built up during the war has melted away. My father says that I closed off parts of myself. He believes they've come back, somewhat at least.

"I don't think you can train for years to kill," he admits, "and expect all that to disappear overnight."

DOWN IN THE DEPTHS

With all this good stuff going on, you'd think I was living a fairy tale or a perfect life. And maybe I should be.

But real life doesn't travel in a perfect straight line; it doesn't necessarily have that "all lived happily ever after" bit. You have to work on where you're going.

And just because I had a great family and an interesting job didn't mean things were perfect. I still felt bad about leaving the SEALs. I still resented my wife for presenting me with what felt like an ultimatum.

So even though life should have been sweet, for some months after getting out of the service, it felt like it was plunging down a mineshaft.

I started drinking a lot, pounding back beers. I'd say I went into a depression, feeling sorry for myself. Pretty soon drinking was all I did. After a while, it was hard liquor, and it was all through the day.

I don't want to make this sound more dramatic than it really is. Other people have faced more difficult problems. But I was certainly headed in the wrong direction. I was going downhill and gathering speed.

Then one night I turned a corner too fast in my truck. Now, maybe there were extenuating circ.u.mstances, maybe the road was slippery or something else was out of whack. Or maybe that guardian angel that had saved me back in Ramadi decided to intervene.

Whatever. All I know is I totaled my truck and came out without a scratch.

On my body. My ego was something else again.

The accident woke me up. I'm sorry to say that I needed something like that to get my head back straight.