American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U. S. Military History

C
OMMAND
I
loved our new CO. He was outstanding, aggressive, and stayed
out of our hair. He not only knew each one of us by name and face,
he knew our wives and girlfriends. He took it personally when he
lost people, and yet was able to stay aggressive at the same time.
He never held us back in training, and, in fact, approved extra
training for snipers.
My command master chief, whom I’ll call Primo, was 
another
top-notch commander. He didn’t give a flying 
....
about
promotions, about looking good, or covering his butt: 
he was all
about successful missions and getting the job 
done. And he was a
Texan—as you can tell, I’m a little 
partial—which meant he was a
bad-ass.
His briefs always started the same way: “What are you sons of

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His briefs always started the same way: “What are you sons of
bitches doing?” he’d snarl. “Are you gonna get out there and kick
some ass?”
Primo was all about getting into battle. He knew what SEALs
are supposed to do, and he wanted us to do it.
He was also a good ol’ boy off the battlefield.
You always have team guys getting in trouble during off-time and
training. Bar fights are a big problem. I remember him pulling us
aside when he came on.
“Listen, I know you’re going to get into fights,” he told us. “So
here’s what you do. You hit fast, you hit hard, and you run. If you
don’t get caught, I don’t care. Because when you get caught is
when I have to get involved.”
I took that advice to heart, though it wasn’t always possible to
follow.
Maybe because he was from Texas, or maybe because he had
the soul of a brawler himself, he took a liking to me and another
Texan, whom we called Pepper. We became his golden boys; he’d
cover our asses when we got in trouble. There were times when I
may have told off an officer or two; Chief Primo took care of it. He
might chew me out himself, but he always smoothed the way with
head shed. On the other side of things, he knew he could count on
Pepper and me to get a job done if it needed doing.