There have been nearly as many Navy SEAL books written as all other special ops combined

Paul Szoldra
Apr 2, 2018 9:36 AM PDT
1 minute read
Special Operations photo

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Navy SEALs writing books about their craft is a common trope shared within the military community, and apparently it's not too far from the truth.

In the wake of former SEALs Matt Bissonnette and Robert O'Neill sharing details of their involvement in the Osama bin Laden raid, the special operations elite have a spotlight on them. And while it doesn't look like any other military unit is going to come close to that level of attention, a search of books published about special operations forces shows that SEALs indeed take the top prize.

"A critical tenant of our Ethos is 'I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions.' Our Ethos is a life-long commitment and obligation, both in and out of the service. Violators of our Ethos are neither teammates in good standing, nor teammates who represent Naval Special Warfare," reads recent letter from Naval Special Warfare.

But that certainly hasn't stopped the presses.

Using the non-scientific method of Amazon.com book search for common terms to describe America's elite units, we found the tallies for books by or about:

  1. Navy SEAL: 6,443
  2. Army Special Forces: 3,008
  3. Delta Force: 1,743
  4. Army Ranger: 1,737
  5. Marine Recon: 181

To be clear, there is plenty of room for error here. "Delta Force" sometimes shows up when searching for "Special Forces" and vice versa. And books with "Navy SEAL" can have anything from a firsthand account of a mission to a cheesy romance novel.

But the numbers certainly show one thing: Recon Marines really need to step it up with their writing.

NOW: 19 photos of Navy SEALs doing what they do best

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