Background
O'Neill was born and raised in Butte, Montana. In his youth, his father, Tom, took him hunting and taught him sharpshooting.
O'Neill was born and raised in Butte, Montana. In his youth, his father, Tom, took him hunting and taught him sharpshooting.
He is best known for his claims, made in November 2014, of having fired the head shots that killed Osama bin Laden during the raid on his Abbottabad compound on May 2, 2011. In 1995, at age 19, a year after graduating from Butte Central Catholic High School, O'Neill joined the Navy hoping to become a sniper. O'Neill initially sought to become a sniper and enlist as a Marine where he had known some friends.
On the day he arrived at the recruitment office, the Marine recruiter was not in. Instead, a Navy recruiter suggested that O'Neill enlist in the Navy, telling him he could be a sniper in the Navy SEALs. On 11 occasions during his career, O'Neill left home thinking he would not return alive.
In 2012, after 16 years of service, and 4 years shy of retirement, O'Neill left the Navy. He is now a public speaker employed by Leading Authorities, a speakers bureau. O'Neill rose up the chain of command to Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator.
Claims about participation in Operation Neptune Spear
The claims that O'Neill killed bin Laden came on October 5, 2014, in anticipation of a Fox News special called The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden, which was expected to reveal his identity and details of the mission Operation Neptune Spear. He had previously been interviewed anonymously in an Esquire Magazine article in February 2013. O'Neill's statements resulted in criticism by fellow Navy SEALs.
Rear Admiral Brian Losey and Force Master Chief Michael Magaraci issued a public statement,
In 2012, Matt Bissonette, using the pseudonym "Mark Owen", wrote a book called No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden documenting his participation in the raid. In his book, he does not identify the man who fired the fatal shots at Bin Laden, referring to him as simply the "Point Man". Bisonnette himself admits to firing his weapon at Bin Laden after the fatal shots were fired by the "Point Man" when Bin Laden was already "In his death throes".
He has; however, refused to respond directly to O'Neill's claims, adding that he believed the team effort was more important than one person pulling the trigger. The United States Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into whether Bissonnette leaked classified material. O'Neill has also been criticized by other former Navy SEALs for disclosing his role.
As a member of the Navy, O'Neill was reportedly involved in more than 400 missions, including the mission to save Captain Richard Phillips during the Maersk Alabama hijacking, and Operation Red Wings in which O'Neill helped save Marcus Luttrell.