The story behind Lone Survivor and a masterclass in cheating . . .

How a catastrophe in Afghanistan shone the spotlight on an audacious example of cheating on Special Operations selection

Many of us are familiar with the ‘Lone Survivor’ story as portrayed in the Hollywood blockbuster with Mark Wahlberg. For those who are not, the movie tells the story of a US Navy SEAL who survives a catastrophic engagement with the Taliban when all of his team mates are killed. The SEAL in question was Marcus Luttrell who went on to be awarded the Navy Cross. The movie, unsurprisingly, portrayed Marcus as a hero who survived against all odds until rescue came. And since then, to the general public at least, this was the accepted version of events. In the past few years however, an alternative version of the facts, verified from multiple sources, has emerged to counteract much of that narrative.

The narrative that the movie pushes is that of a tip of the spear operation against an Al Qaeda commander based in a mountain stronghold. The commander was said to have killed 20 US Marines the month before as well as many other attacks. A small team of SEALs is inserted into the region but encounter a massive Taliban force under the Al Qaeda commander and are quickly overwhelmed. Communication problems ensue due to the topography of the area, and they are unable to secure any air support or reinforcements to aid them. Eventually, all with the exception of Luttrell are killed. Luttrell escapes by falling down the face of a mountain and evading capture until he is rescued by an Afghan villager. Under the Afghan cultural code of Pashtunwali, the Afghan head of the village, Mohammed Gulab, sees that Luttrell is cared for and a message sent to the nearest American military base. In the movie, the Al Qaeda commander and his Taliban attack the village, hell bent on seizing Luttrell and they almost succeed, driven off at the last moment by the arrival of the might of the US military. Marcus is rescued in the nick of time as he goes into cardiac arrest and has to be resuscitated by the medics.

Except . . . well, except that an extra large portion of artistic licence fed that particular narrative. The Al Qaeda ‘warlord’, Ahmad Shah, was not Al Qaeda at all and was in reality a regional militant, assessed as having a loose grouping of around thirty or so men under his command. The killing of 20 US Marines at his hand was also artistic licence in the movie. In reality, the US Marines had been tracking and targeting Shah, and had come up with a plan using Special Operations Aviation (SOAR) to insert Marines ground troops in numbers to carry out the operation. When Special Operations looked at the plan, they decreed that if SOAR was to be allocated to the operation, Special Operations ground troops had to be the boots on the ground. The Marines weren’t particularly happy about this; a Marine operation led by Special Operations where the Marines now played only a supporting role. Experience had also taught them that this leads to command friction, interoperability issues, and other negative factors that impede the smooth running of an operation. But the SEALs took over the Target Pack and tailored it to their own specs, and the Marines grudgingly accepted their relegation.

The operation quickly became a catastrophe. Luttrell’s team were compromised from the off as villagers and Taliban alike heard the helicopters dropping them off and the Taliban tracked the commandos’ footprints. There was a coming together with goat herders but this was incidental rather than causal for the SEALs’ compromise. The terrain was brutal, around 10,000 feet altitude of rugged mountainous peaks and ravines which also impacted on communication with Command. Once the team was compromised, it was a very difficult environment in which to fight.

In the movie, the SEALs are first engaged by 40-50 Taliban but corroborating intelligence reports put that number at closer to 10-12. Unable to raise communications, the SEALs have no access to air support or reinforcements and have to battle the enemy on their own. Eventually a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) deploy to assist but their helicopter is struck by an RPG while still in the air, killing all 16 on board. It is generally accepted that at this point, only Luttrell was alive, his three team mates already dead. Luttrell was seriously injured and was practically crawling to escape the Taliban forces when he was eventually rescued by Gulab and taken to the Afghan’s village. He was cared for here and a message sent to Marines at a base further along the valley informing them of his situation.

The Taliban contingent also never attacked the village where Luttrell was held. They were outnumbered by the villagers and saw discretion as being the better part of valour, so to speak. They did, however, enter the village and interrogate Luttrell before being forced out by the villagers. Luttrell also did not suffer any cardiac arrest or require any resuscitation. Another aspect of the movie that was heavily disputed was Luttrell’s actions in the battle that day. When rescuers reached Luttrell in the village, they were surprised to note that the SEAL retained much of his complement of ammunition, indicating that he hadn’t fired his weapon as much as one would have expected in a severe engagement. I have heard various versions of this element of the story ranging from ‘my friend was the first guy to rescue Marcus and he said Marcus hadn’t even fired a shot’ to a quote from Gulab that when he got Marcus to the village, the SEAL still had 11 magazines of ammunition. I can’t find any solid verification for either of these versions so that’s why I’ve stuck with what I have. In fairness to Marcus Luttrell, whenever this point has been levelled at him, he has been up front about it. With a broken spine, two bullet wounds, and damaged legs, he’s been clear that even when Murphy was screaming Luttrell’s name for help, he put his weapon down and covered his ears as he was unable to reach his comrade. But that brings us to Luttrell and something that I’ve been thinking about for a while now.

In 2000, a young Marcus Luttrell was undergoing the tough Navy SEAL selection process known as BUD/S. Marcus was not a strong runner and this had been already highlighted by his poor performance on the many, many runs the candidates endure during selection. With a criteria four-mile run looming ahead, Marcus doubted he would pass it as he believed he was also suffering from stress fractures in his legs. It would be the end of his dream to become a US Navy SEAL. And, this, as they say, is where it gets really weird.

Marcus has an identical twin, Morgan Luttrell, who at the time was on a break from college and visiting his brother. Morgan, even though a civilian, was athletic and fit and had always kept himself in good shape. In what can only be described as a jaw-dropping scenario, Marcus and Morgan hatched a plan whereby Morgan would take his twin’s place on the four-mile run to ensure Marcus remained on the course. And they did it. As implausible, Hollywood comedy caper as it sounds, Morgan Luttrell took his brother’s place not only for the four-mile test but for several more days while Marcus rested and recovered. The staff were none the wiser and completely hoodwinked by the brothers’ subterfuge. When he felt up to it, Marcus releived his brother and returned to the BUD/S process.

And no, while I may be a fiction author, I really didn’t make that up.

Of course, nothing of this magnitude could hope to remain a complete secret and word began seeping out until it eventually came to the attention of the staff and Command. Marcus was confronted about the switch, formally questioned by his seniors, and admitted his fraud. There was of course anger at his subterfuge but, bizarrely, mostly directed at the potential Health & Safety concerns. What if Morgan had been seriously injured while masquerading as Marcus? What if he’d died due to unfamiliarity with procedures? What if he sued the Navy? But even more bizarre than that, was that the Navy decided to allow Marcus to graduate as a Navy SEAL in April 2000.

I found this quite a staggering facet of the Marcus Luttrell/Lone Survivor story and thought long and hard about comparisons. It would be like a soldier on SAS selection resting up for a couple of days while his twin cracked on with The Fan Dance or Endurance. A Royal Marine recruit hiding back in the block while his twin ran himself across Dartmoor to pass the 30-Miler on his brother’s behalf. Then getting found out, admitting their crime, but STILL being awarded their respective sand/green berets.

I’ve heard a few sources quote a SEAL maxim that was common during BUD/S: ‘If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.’ In the British military, at least in my experience, the polar opposite is the case. Cheating is punished severely and usually with the individual in question being ‘binned’, or if already serving, returned to their parent unit. A humorous example I remember, involved three colleagues of mine when we were carrying out mountain training in the highlands of Scotland. This is quite an arduous evolution that starts with familiarisation and light climbs building into full-weight ascents and technical traverses while enduring the notorious Scottish mountain weather. On this particular day, around half-way through the training, we were tasked to complete a route across several hills, moving through a series of checkpoints. A long day, hard climbs, carrying around half the weight we eventually would be. Three individuals saw an opportunity to save themselves a lot of effort and hitch-hiked between the peaks, while still ensuring they went through the mandatory check points. Unfortunately, and through mere chance, one of our Mountain Leaders (MLs) passed one of the vehicles these individuals were travelling in. When he challenged them at the end of the day’s exercise, they admitted their sin. For the next couple of hours, the resident MLs beasted my colleagues up and down hills, through peat bogs and icy streams until they literally couldn’t stand up straight. They were then lined up and each one presented with a massive boulder which they were told was now a mandatory part of their load to be carried at all times. These boulders were serious rocks and weighed a lot. The men were warned that for the remaining weeks in the mountains, they would be privy to snap inspections and that at any point their boulder was not in their kit, they would be kicked off the evolution, returned to base and would not deploy with the unit to Norway but remain on camp for the three months conducting guard duties. Harsh but fair was our assessment of the punishment and, in true military fashion, the three were thereafter referred to as ‘The Flintstones’. As our loads increased daily to the point where we were carrying packs of around 100 pounds, it was easy to spot The Flintstones on the mountain slopes as they staggered under the extra weight of their punishment boulders.

Another time, on a Command Course for Warrant Officer level, there was a complex logistics exercise we were given to be completed under severe time constraints. It was an open secret amongst the candidates that some candidates who had attended previous courses copied the nominals and details of these exercises to pass on to their mates who would attend later courses. On my particular course, the RSM in charge informed us that he was aware of this practice and as such, had altered several elements of the exercise. He was crystal clear with his follow-up warning: ANY cheating would be viewed as a lack of integrity and not befitting the character of a Warrant Officer. You can probably guess what’s coming . . . Two of the candidates on my course decided they knew better and put their heads together whereby using the copies from a previous course, they started their cut and paste exercise, searching for the changes the RSM had made as they went. While the rest of us worked through the nights and weekend, the pair would give exaggerated yawns, state loudly that they were done for the day, then head off to the Mess for a drinking session. On the Monday morning deadline, they, along with the rest of us but less exhausted, handed in their work. It was late afternoon when the RSM put his head in the door, pointed at the individuals as he named them and told them to come with him. It transpired that the geniuses had not only missed some of the altered elements but because they had copied one another's work, their spelling and grammar errors were identical. Confronted with the evidence, the pair admitted their crime. They were informed immediately that the punishment would be severe. And it was. Particularly for one of them who had completed his contracted 22 years of service but was being retained in role on the strict proviso that he passed the Command Course to qualify him. He was kicked off the course with immediate effect. In the space of an afternoon, he had lost his job, his house (as he and his family were living in Service accommodation), and affected his military pension. As any of us would in his position, he pleaded his case, citing the massive impact the punishment would have not just on him but on his family. But the punishment stood and our colleague walked out of the camp gates the same afternoon, technically unemployed, soon to be homeless, and doubtless wondering how the hell he was going to break the news to his wife and kids.

Harsh but fair again? Certainly we took no joy or even humour in our colleagues’ departures, but . . . we had been warned in the clearest of terms. And a Warrant Officer has serious responsibility for the men and women under his command as well as being the linchpin between senior officers and the rank and file. At this level, integrity should be a given, built upon two decades or so of professional soldiering. I still remember a former RSM of mine who was revered and respected by the entire unit and a line from the eulogy at his funeral which said he had been ‘. . . a man you didn’t fear, but feared disappointing.’ I couldn't have worded it better myself. He had been a man of such professionalism and integrity that you just didn't want to let him down.

So, back to Marcus Luttrell and ‘Lone Survivor’. I take nothing away from the heroism and bravery the SEALs displayed during Operation Red Wings. Even today, Luttrell’s officer, Mike Murphy, who died on the mountain that day, has a challenging CrossFit workout named after a circuit he devised and used. Oh, as well as a posthumous Medal of Honour. I think their actual story needed no Hollywood embellishments to make it exciting. What the men endured and how they fought was story enough. In my opinion, I think it’s possible that the US Navy were happier with the movie version of events as a more palatable explanation to the public for the loss of the 19 special operations servicemen. But that’s just my opinion.

As for Marcus Luttrell and the cheating to get through BUD/S, I would never have picked up on this except for some research I was doing for a piece I was writing. The sheer audacity of getting your twin to stand in for you for a few days on selection staggered me. Then having the hierarchy find out but still allowing Luttrell to graduate, surprising me even more. Interestingly, the twin who stood in, Morgan Luttrell, later went on to pass BUD/S and become a SEAL himself. And Marcus? Marcus left the Navy after compounding the injuries he suffered on Red Wings with further ones from combat tours of Iraq. He started up The Lone Survivor Foundation, using his experiences and fame to raise money to help wounded Veterans and their families. He now runs the Team Never Quit foundation and podcast whose aims and mission are similar to The Lone Survivor Foundation.

So, a guy doing good things for people who really need it. And the fact that he cheated on BUD/S? While it’s pretty easy for me to mount my high horse and voice my indignation, the fact remains that there was a very different attitude towards cheating at BUD/S. I can almost see the grudging respect the Command Staff had for the sheer audacity of Marcus’ ploy. Even recently, a lot of exposure has fallen on the use of steroids by BUD/S candidates and the fact that the staff are aware this goes on and, to some extent at least, turn a blind eye to the practice. So, if cheating isn’t treated as cheating, it’s very difficult to point at Marcus’ scenario and see that he did anything wrong other than to get caught. If some cheating is acceptable, the floodgates open pretty soon and it’s then impossible to say ‘well, this level of cheating is okay but that’s not . . .’ And, when all is said and done, the cheating didn’t define Marcus. He fought on in Iraq even after his injuries and wounds from Afghanistan. He founded charitable foundations to help Veterans and their families get through some very tough times.

There remains a lot of controversy around the disparity between Luttrell’s version of Operation Red Wings’ events in his book and the movie and what actually happened. Mike Murphy’s family for example, believe Luttrell has sullied their son’s name with his account of Murphy considering killing unarmed civilians. The numbers of enemy combatants and the (alleged) fact that no dead enemy were found either by the villagers or the US Military rescuers. The ammunition Luttrell retained on his person.

At the end of the day, the only people who know what happened on that mountain are the four US Navy SEALs who were there. Sadly, three of them died of their wounds and cannot corroborate or dispute the subsequent version of events. Only Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor of that terrible day, can do that.

Anyway, there you have it, a tale of two halves so to speak, with a bit of background on the Lone Survivor story and the incredible tale of how Marcus Luttrell started his journey as a US Navy SEAL. I hope you found it interesting and look forward, as always to your comments and feedback.