I was invited by my Polish publisher ZNAK to come to Warsaw for a book signing, and decided to set the trip up to coincide with SOFREP.com documentary on the Polish GROM. I did a bunch of media to promote my book the first week, and then met up with the GROM.

The GROM have served alongside American SOF in Iraq and Afghanistan and have a great (and well earned) reputation within the U.S. Special Operations community.

They are the first Special Ops unit featured in our USAA sponsored Dark and Silent series on SOFREP.com. Dark and Silent: GROM

A little bit of GROM history from Wikipedia

After two Polish diplomats were shot in Beirut, Lt. Col. Sławomir Petelicki was sent to Lebanon to secure the transfer of civilians and the Polish diplomatic outposts.

Upon his return to Poland, he presented his plan for the creation of a special military unit to the Ministry of Interior, a force that would be trained in special operations to be deployed in the defense of Polish citizens in situations similar to the one in Lebanon. Petelicki’s ideas were well received, and on July 13, 1990,GROM was formally established.

It was a great trip, a beautiful country, and I made some life-long friendships.

We have some incredible footage that we’re excited to share this year.

I first met Chris at SEAL Team THREE where we were both stationed, he was this big quiet guy who was all American and all Texas. Our paths crossed a few years later when he was a student at the SEAL sniper course, at the time I had just transferred to the program as an instructor. Chris was a great student, who was personally mentored by a good friend and fellow SEAL sniper instructor, Eric Davis. Eric wrote a great tribute to Chris that you can read here.

How did this happen? He was mentoring a Marine with severe PTSD, they went shooting together and the guy  snapped and shot Chris. It’s tragic, especially given the circumstances and his deep love for helping his fellow American Veterans. Chris was successful in life after the Teams and he could have retired to his ranch and lived a quiet life. Instead he chose to be exemplary in all actions towards raising awareness for Veterans causes close to his heart. He’s a hero to me for this, and I will never forget him for it.

It’s a strange thing to be in your thirties and experience so many of your friends vanish.

I never knew his wife or family well but I do know that they are true American heroes.  They have sacrificed greatly, Chris spoke so highly of his wife for the sacrifice she made. We spoke in great detail of the importance of family and friends, AND the importance of all Veterans sticking together. Many in the public will want to help but please realize the pressure that the family is under, especially with the news media, they need time to mourn in peace. Be respectful of that.

On the set of SOFREP TV’s Inside The Team Room: Navy SEALs Chris Kyle, Chris Osman, Brandon Webb, and host Pat Kilbane

A Note to News Media

If you’re news media reading this then be respectful of how you interact with the family. Some news media people get this and some don’t. Strive to be the ones that do. Me and my friends in the Military know who the bad ones are , we pay attention and share it with each other. I received several emails from news media yesterday  asking me, “did you know Chris?…Can we talk?”. 5 seconds on Google and you would have known that we were friends, teammates, and done projects together. Give the situation the respect it deserves, especially when it comes to dealing with his family.

A Note to America

Let’s take the high road, and  choose to honor and respect an American Hero regardless of your political or Second Amendment beliefs. It disturbs me that people are celebrating his death and politicalizing this tragedy. How we act in tough times is a measure of true character. Chris is an American who dedicated the greater part of his life to this country, we owe him, and his family a massive debt, and we should honor them however we can.

See you on the other side brother.

Brandon

Mass shootings in America have become something of a national past time. A lot of young men, frustrated with life, overmedicated, armed with the fresh realization that everyone ISN’T a WINNER in life, go get guns and shoot people. In 2008 America had over 12,000 deaths at the end of a firearm, compared to 11 in Japan, skew for population ratios and it’s still a massively high number.

I was watching CNN’s Piers Morgan’s exchange with Alex Jones the other night, it was crazy (see below for yourself). More minutes of my life wasted watching my fellow Americans continue to spiral into the polarized black hole that has become the gun debate in the US.  Congrats to CNN for increasing their ratings, make no mistake that Piers’s producers knew exactly what they were doing, and what they would get with Alex Jones.  Be careful what you wish for Piers..

Mass shootings with “Active Shooters” is a problem we can’t ignore any longer. I for one am willing to take a leadership role on the issue.

America’s culture is rooted in gun ownership. I’m a gun owner and enjoy recreational shooting with my son in a safe controlled environment. I personally wouldn’t have taught him firearms safety if given the option however, because America is rooted in gun ownership culture I thought it best to drive home firearms safety and the responsibility that comes with handling firearms. I also took away all his shooting video games, not a good thing for a ten year old to practice taking head shots…

I don’t have all the solutions on this issue but I do know that I’m personally ready to compromise to limit mass shootings, and I’m ready to have an intelligent conversation on this issue.  If leading gun organizations like the NRA don’t take a leadership role in proposing realistic solutions, then they will have failed to truly represent gun owners. The result will be that politicians will end up passing more ridiculous laws that don’t make sense for anyone. The issue is cultural also, you can’t just go after gun control. Most silly laws passed, especially magazine limitations. It’s like trying to get rid of drunk drivers by shrinking the size of gas tanks in cars. Yes, it really is that silly.

Sometimes change, as difficult as it can be at first, is a good thing, after all it was once within our constitutional rights to own and enslave other human beings.If we continue to do nothing then we can expect more mass shootings in the near future. Remember that when you kiss your kids goodbye on their way to school.