What do you think?
Rate this book
Eyes on Target: Inside Stories from the Brotherhood of the U.S. Navy SEALs
Told through the eyes of current and former Navy SEALs, EYES ON TARGET is an inside account of some of the most harrowing missions in American history-including the mission to kill Osama bin Laden and the mission that wasn't, the deadly attack on the US diplomatic outpost in Benghazi where a retired SEAL sniper with a small team held off one hundred terrorists while his repeated radio calls for help went unheeded.
The book contains incredible accounts of major SEAL operations-from the violent birth of SEAL Team Six and the aborted Operation Eagle Claw meant to save the hostages in Iran, to key missions in Iraq and Afganistan where the SEALs suffered their worst losses in their fifty year history-and every chapter illustrates why this elite military special operations unit remains the most feared anti-terrorist force in the world.
We hear reports on the record from retired SEAL officers including Lt. Cmdr. Richard Marcinko, the founder of SEAL Team Six, and a former Commander at SEAL team Six, Ryan Zinke, and we come away understanding the deep commitment of these military men who put themselves in danger to protect our country and save American lives. In the face of insurmountable odds and the imminent threat of death, they give all to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
No matter the situation, on duty or at ease, SEALs never, ever give up. One powerful chapter in the book tells the story of how one Medal of Honor winner saved another, the only time this has been done in US military history.
EYES ON TARGET includes these special
Through their many interviews and unique access, Scott McEwen and Richard Miniter pull back the veil that has so often concealed the heroism of these patriots. They live by a stringent and demanding code of their own creation, keeping them ready to ignore politics, bureaucracy and-if necessary-direct orders. They share a unique combination of character, intelligence, courage, love of country and what can only be called true grit.
They are the Navy SEALs, and they keep their Eyes on Target.
The book contains incredible accounts of major SEAL operations-from the violent birth of SEAL Team Six and the aborted Operation Eagle Claw meant to save the hostages in Iran, to key missions in Iraq and Afganistan where the SEALs suffered their worst losses in their fifty year history-and every chapter illustrates why this elite military special operations unit remains the most feared anti-terrorist force in the world.
We hear reports on the record from retired SEAL officers including Lt. Cmdr. Richard Marcinko, the founder of SEAL Team Six, and a former Commander at SEAL team Six, Ryan Zinke, and we come away understanding the deep commitment of these military men who put themselves in danger to protect our country and save American lives. In the face of insurmountable odds and the imminent threat of death, they give all to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
No matter the situation, on duty or at ease, SEALs never, ever give up. One powerful chapter in the book tells the story of how one Medal of Honor winner saved another, the only time this has been done in US military history.
EYES ON TARGET includes these special
Through their many interviews and unique access, Scott McEwen and Richard Miniter pull back the veil that has so often concealed the heroism of these patriots. They live by a stringent and demanding code of their own creation, keeping them ready to ignore politics, bureaucracy and-if necessary-direct orders. They share a unique combination of character, intelligence, courage, love of country and what can only be called true grit.
They are the Navy SEALs, and they keep their Eyes on Target.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2013
53 people are currently reading
1054 people want to read
About the author
Scott McEwen
36 books271 followersScott McEwen is a trial attorney in San Diego, California. He grew up in the mountains of Eastern Oregon where he became an Eagle Scout; hiking, fishing, and hunting at every opportunity presented. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Oregon and thereafter studied and worked extensively in London, England. Scott works with and provides support for several military charitable organizations, including the Seal Team Foundation.
Scott's interest in military history, intense patriotism, and experience with long-range hunting rifles, compelled him to accurately record the battlefield experiences of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in United States military history.
Japanese: スコット マキューエン
Scott's interest in military history, intense patriotism, and experience with long-range hunting rifles, compelled him to accurately record the battlefield experiences of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in United States military history.
Japanese: スコット マキューエン
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
March 12, 2017
Loved it!
August 12, 2016
Eyes On Target provides a brief overview of the U.S. Navy SEALS. From its inception to present-day, this book loosely discusses past and present missions, training, and the bureaucratic difficulties within our political landscape.
The subject is interesting. The content felt abridged. This is a short book, too short. When I finished, I wasn't satisfied, but I was ready to be done. There's a tad too much political lecturing. I understand the critical relevance of politics to the subject, but this book tastes more like propaganda than unbiased fact. And that is a tragedy. Make no mistake. I do not doubt this book's validity. But the writing is simply too leading.
I didn't care much for the "How it could have gone" section wherein the reader is exposed to five alternative possible outcomes to the attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya. The way those possible outcomes is written just feels awkward, as if it crosses from factual to fiction. I don't believe the authors intended for this to happen, but it's how I felt when reading this section. It really through me out of step.
Holter Graham is the narrator, and I enjoyed his reading.
Not a bad book, but not a great one either.
Ultimately I feel disappointed with the content, but grateful to the quality of men it describes.
The subject is interesting. The content felt abridged. This is a short book, too short. When I finished, I wasn't satisfied, but I was ready to be done. There's a tad too much political lecturing. I understand the critical relevance of politics to the subject, but this book tastes more like propaganda than unbiased fact. And that is a tragedy. Make no mistake. I do not doubt this book's validity. But the writing is simply too leading.
I didn't care much for the "How it could have gone" section wherein the reader is exposed to five alternative possible outcomes to the attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya. The way those possible outcomes is written just feels awkward, as if it crosses from factual to fiction. I don't believe the authors intended for this to happen, but it's how I felt when reading this section. It really through me out of step.
Holter Graham is the narrator, and I enjoyed his reading.
Not a bad book, but not a great one either.
Ultimately I feel disappointed with the content, but grateful to the quality of men it describes.
June 5, 2016
Overall Rating: Just skip this book!
Scott McEwen burst onto the scene after Coauthoring "American Sniper" with Chris Kyle and has been writing his "Sniper Elite" series since, which I will concede are entertaining, but perhaps he should stick with writing fiction rather then military history. This entry into military naartive seems to be an attempt to capitalize on that fame. While I am not familiar with Richard Miniter, his credentials would lead me to expect much more from this book the is delivered.
To start with, this book really delivers nothing new. To start out the book, a brief introduction to the UDT and its impact on the founding of the SEAL teams is discussed, a story that quite frankly is better told in more detail in any number of other sources, including Roy Bohem's "First Seal" and Richard Marcinko's "Rogue Warrior". Speaking of Marcinko, these authors seem to have been indoctrinated into the cult of Marcinko, which from other reading, while instrumental in getting things accomplished in the SEAL teams, and especially in DEVGRU, seemed to do more harm then good in the long run.
Many of the chapters in this book are simply recaps of operations/missions that are told in other books, much better, by the individuals who actually participated in those operations. For example: the creation of SEAL team 6, better told by Marcinko himself in "Rogue Warrior". The failure of Operation Eagle Claw at Desert One, again told better by Marcinko and Gen. William Boykin (ret.) who was actually there. McEwen and Miniter also try to capitalize on the success of "Lone Survivor" by including a mere 15 page recap of that operation, again better told by Marcus Luttrell in "Lone Survivor" and "Victory Point" by Ed Darack. Another 20 pages are spent retelling the story of the capture of Ahmed Hashim Abd al-Isawi and subsequent circus of a court martial alleging he was abused by Navy SEALs. Again, a story that has already been told in better detail by Patrick Robinson and 2 former SEAL's who were involved, in "Honor and Betrayal.
The remainder of this book is spent discussing the events of Benghazi Libya on Sept. 11 2012. Throughout this part of the book, the authors focus on 2 SEAL's Doherty and Woods, but seems to forget that there were other former Special Forces members on the team including another SEAL who is not mentioned at all. The authors account of the events seem disorganized and chaotic, more sensationalized then informative. The authors also devout a fair amount of pages to several "rescue scenarios" that they claim have been vetted and could have provided a different outcome on that day. When all is said and done, the account provided in this book, does not seem to line up with that in "13 Hours" which was written with help from the surviving members of the GRS security team.
What made this book incredibly difficult to read were several glaring errors that even the most amateur editor should have detected. First and foremost, the context would randomly switch back and forth between present and past tense making this very difficult to read. Secondly for 2 authors who have spent time writing about the military, they should know to double check their information. At one point, they refer to an AC-130 as a "helicopter gunship". Even a basic google or wikipedia search would clearly show that the AC-130 is not in fact a helicopter. Even reviewing Robinson's "Honor and Betrayal" would have prevented this gross over site. Additionally, in their "rescue scenarios" they suggest that fighters out of Aviano Air Base, which flies Air Force F-16 fighters, could have landed on carriers in the Mediterranean Sea. This is ridiculous for many reasons, not the least of which the authors admit that they do not know for a fact where in the Mediterranean Sea, a carrier actually was located. Additionally F-16 fights cannot land on carriers because they are not equipped to do so and the an Air Force pilot does not have the training to perform this difficult task. Finally, early on the book the authors state that the Beretta 92F was designated "F" in honor of a fallen SEAL. In none of my firearm research, SEAL specific reading, or military reading in general have I ever seen anything that would support this. In fact a quick search reveals that Beretta added the F to denote the model that was submitted to the US government for Federal testing and approval.
When initially picking up this book, I had very high hopes, which were dashed within the first few pages. I continued to read in the hopes that there may be some redeeming quality to this book. Alas this appears to be nothing more then an attempt to capitalize on the "Seal Fever" and "Benghazi Fever" that is sweeping the country. Save yourselves the time, aggravation and money and instead invest in the books that are actually researched and well written.
Scott McEwen burst onto the scene after Coauthoring "American Sniper" with Chris Kyle and has been writing his "Sniper Elite" series since, which I will concede are entertaining, but perhaps he should stick with writing fiction rather then military history. This entry into military naartive seems to be an attempt to capitalize on that fame. While I am not familiar with Richard Miniter, his credentials would lead me to expect much more from this book the is delivered.
To start with, this book really delivers nothing new. To start out the book, a brief introduction to the UDT and its impact on the founding of the SEAL teams is discussed, a story that quite frankly is better told in more detail in any number of other sources, including Roy Bohem's "First Seal" and Richard Marcinko's "Rogue Warrior". Speaking of Marcinko, these authors seem to have been indoctrinated into the cult of Marcinko, which from other reading, while instrumental in getting things accomplished in the SEAL teams, and especially in DEVGRU, seemed to do more harm then good in the long run.
Many of the chapters in this book are simply recaps of operations/missions that are told in other books, much better, by the individuals who actually participated in those operations. For example: the creation of SEAL team 6, better told by Marcinko himself in "Rogue Warrior". The failure of Operation Eagle Claw at Desert One, again told better by Marcinko and Gen. William Boykin (ret.) who was actually there. McEwen and Miniter also try to capitalize on the success of "Lone Survivor" by including a mere 15 page recap of that operation, again better told by Marcus Luttrell in "Lone Survivor" and "Victory Point" by Ed Darack. Another 20 pages are spent retelling the story of the capture of Ahmed Hashim Abd al-Isawi and subsequent circus of a court martial alleging he was abused by Navy SEALs. Again, a story that has already been told in better detail by Patrick Robinson and 2 former SEAL's who were involved, in "Honor and Betrayal.
The remainder of this book is spent discussing the events of Benghazi Libya on Sept. 11 2012. Throughout this part of the book, the authors focus on 2 SEAL's Doherty and Woods, but seems to forget that there were other former Special Forces members on the team including another SEAL who is not mentioned at all. The authors account of the events seem disorganized and chaotic, more sensationalized then informative. The authors also devout a fair amount of pages to several "rescue scenarios" that they claim have been vetted and could have provided a different outcome on that day. When all is said and done, the account provided in this book, does not seem to line up with that in "13 Hours" which was written with help from the surviving members of the GRS security team.
What made this book incredibly difficult to read were several glaring errors that even the most amateur editor should have detected. First and foremost, the context would randomly switch back and forth between present and past tense making this very difficult to read. Secondly for 2 authors who have spent time writing about the military, they should know to double check their information. At one point, they refer to an AC-130 as a "helicopter gunship". Even a basic google or wikipedia search would clearly show that the AC-130 is not in fact a helicopter. Even reviewing Robinson's "Honor and Betrayal" would have prevented this gross over site. Additionally, in their "rescue scenarios" they suggest that fighters out of Aviano Air Base, which flies Air Force F-16 fighters, could have landed on carriers in the Mediterranean Sea. This is ridiculous for many reasons, not the least of which the authors admit that they do not know for a fact where in the Mediterranean Sea, a carrier actually was located. Additionally F-16 fights cannot land on carriers because they are not equipped to do so and the an Air Force pilot does not have the training to perform this difficult task. Finally, early on the book the authors state that the Beretta 92F was designated "F" in honor of a fallen SEAL. In none of my firearm research, SEAL specific reading, or military reading in general have I ever seen anything that would support this. In fact a quick search reveals that Beretta added the F to denote the model that was submitted to the US government for Federal testing and approval.
When initially picking up this book, I had very high hopes, which were dashed within the first few pages. I continued to read in the hopes that there may be some redeeming quality to this book. Alas this appears to be nothing more then an attempt to capitalize on the "Seal Fever" and "Benghazi Fever" that is sweeping the country. Save yourselves the time, aggravation and money and instead invest in the books that are actually researched and well written.
March 9, 2017
I gave this book 5 stars for the chapters that Mr. McEwen dedicated to Benghazi. He outlines what went wrong. He also proposes 5 VIABLE options, based on assets at the disposal of the United stated, that could have altered the tragic outcome that will be a black eye in our history.
March 8, 2017
REVIEW OF AUDIOBOOK; FEBRUARY 11, 2016
Narrator: Holter Graham
This will probably be the last non-fiction book I read on Special Ops warriors. I will stick to fiction from now on because in fiction, my heroes don't die and when they are outnumbered and outgunned and their government won't send in the cavalry, there is always someone who will, and who does.
And Navy SEALs, Delta Force guys should never be named in public or their missions made public. I want to only read about them as fiction, for the safety of the men who lay their lives on the line every day. This was a short audio and the Benghazi issue took up quite a bit. Despite reading some articles, and even after this audio, I still don't know why the Obama Admin did not send in help.
Narrator: Holter Graham
This will probably be the last non-fiction book I read on Special Ops warriors. I will stick to fiction from now on because in fiction, my heroes don't die and when they are outnumbered and outgunned and their government won't send in the cavalry, there is always someone who will, and who does.
And Navy SEALs, Delta Force guys should never be named in public or their missions made public. I want to only read about them as fiction, for the safety of the men who lay their lives on the line every day. This was a short audio and the Benghazi issue took up quite a bit. Despite reading some articles, and even after this audio, I still don't know why the Obama Admin did not send in help.
August 9, 2024
3.5 stars. I was familiar with many of these stories due to reading other books about the SEALs. This felt like a survey of all those stories. Interesting facts about the beginnings of the SEALs.
December 14, 2019
What a stinking pile! Sells itself as a serious book about the Navy SEALs, turns out to be a poorly written Alt-Right Political Hack Job. Really disappointed in the level of writing- and the childishness if the tone. It's bad enough that McEwen and Miniter write with the worst "American journalist Breathlessness" style- but then to have their political views jammed into supposedly historical narratives just make the book unreadable- although i read until the bitter end- even when the book goes COMPLETELY off the rails at around page 143 when discussing the Benghazi Incident- and the authors start a FICTION book about possible scenarios that might have saved our team in Benghazi. by then I was totally sick of the sort of Macho-Superman Fantasy Role they were creating for SEALS- who are actually really down to earth and come from a lot of cultural backgrounds.
I am a Defense Hawk Conservative, but not a social conservative- And the missing element in this book is the "The Other Guys Are On Scholarship Too" ethos that respects the opponent's efforts- in this book the enemy is always dumb and improperly motivated- the sort of cartoonish enemy who deserves their painful death. Real Operators I know and have met over time are much more quiet about their successes- aware that the roles can reverse at any moment. This sort of Triumphalist Trash is simply not helpful - to Readers, to the SEALS themselves, or to any Radical Muslim who might read it - and get further radicalized by the sheer cockiness to the material. Almost any book on this topic is a better choice.
The Last group of readers who should get a hold of this dross are junior readers- if you see someone give this to a kid- quickly replace it with a Harry Potter book ASAP! For the Gamer/Modeller/military Enthusiast, unless you want a good laugh- best to give this a miss. So many better choices to read! A certified piece of trash to avoid.
I am a Defense Hawk Conservative, but not a social conservative- And the missing element in this book is the "The Other Guys Are On Scholarship Too" ethos that respects the opponent's efforts- in this book the enemy is always dumb and improperly motivated- the sort of cartoonish enemy who deserves their painful death. Real Operators I know and have met over time are much more quiet about their successes- aware that the roles can reverse at any moment. This sort of Triumphalist Trash is simply not helpful - to Readers, to the SEALS themselves, or to any Radical Muslim who might read it - and get further radicalized by the sheer cockiness to the material. Almost any book on this topic is a better choice.
The Last group of readers who should get a hold of this dross are junior readers- if you see someone give this to a kid- quickly replace it with a Harry Potter book ASAP! For the Gamer/Modeller/military Enthusiast, unless you want a good laugh- best to give this a miss. So many better choices to read! A certified piece of trash to avoid.
September 19, 2022
I probably should have avoided this one considering that I didn't like McEwen's collaboration with Chris Kyle. His writing style is just not to my liking, but I gave it a go and almost gave up after that awful introduction that read more like a stereotype than a description of actual SEALs. The thing about this book is that you can buy full-length books with in-depth accounts of the missions that are discussed instead of these extremely abbreviated chapters. Example: read Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor. It is excellent, gripping, and a much better account of what happened during Operation Redwing. By the time I got to the five possible scenarios of what could have happened with Benghazi, I was skimming a lot. This book promised to be about the brotherhood of SEALs, not imaginary scenarios that never happened. There are so many books out there about SEALs that are so much better than this one. Personally, I'd skip Eyes on Target and read something else.
May 13, 2024
Couldn’t get past 40 pages. This book reminded me of why I hated history class and reading history books in high school.
The stories just aren’t told well. I feel like I’m reading a breakdown of facts and dates and not a good novelist telling me exceptional stories.
I was also personally in a long-term relationship with a Marine Corps combat veteran for many years (through his entire tour and After his honorable discharge). He was not a kind man and was verbally and emotionally abusive, As well as a sociopath. Now I’m not at all saying that everyone in the service is that same person. I’ve met many military personnel and veterans, including my grandfather, who was a paratrooper in World War II and the most wonderful man I’ve ever known.
But reading this book reminded me of listening to my ex rant on and on for hours about experiences in the Marine Corps with his attitude of how far above he is than “all us pathetic civilians”.
There were a lot of things about this book that just reminded me of this heir of superiority, And it was extremely offputting. Of course, I’m sure I have a much different personal experience to a lot of other people reading this, who may enjoy this book.
And those of us who are civilians owe a lot to many heroes such as my grandfather, And I’m not trying to belittle that.
But one of my all-time favorite genres to read are autobiographies and biographies of World War II and other similar hard experiences from what I would considered to be heroes, although they would never say so themselves because they’re humble.
I just couldn’t get on board with this particular book because I feel like it wasn’t written well, and because of perhaps the attitude with which I felt it was written. And again, that could just be my own very negative personal experience.
But it did still remind me of a boring history book as opposed to a compelling biography/novel. And I’ve read most of the classics such as “A helmet for my pillow”, “Band of Brothers”, etc.
The stories just aren’t told well. I feel like I’m reading a breakdown of facts and dates and not a good novelist telling me exceptional stories.
I was also personally in a long-term relationship with a Marine Corps combat veteran for many years (through his entire tour and After his honorable discharge). He was not a kind man and was verbally and emotionally abusive, As well as a sociopath. Now I’m not at all saying that everyone in the service is that same person. I’ve met many military personnel and veterans, including my grandfather, who was a paratrooper in World War II and the most wonderful man I’ve ever known.
But reading this book reminded me of listening to my ex rant on and on for hours about experiences in the Marine Corps with his attitude of how far above he is than “all us pathetic civilians”.
There were a lot of things about this book that just reminded me of this heir of superiority, And it was extremely offputting. Of course, I’m sure I have a much different personal experience to a lot of other people reading this, who may enjoy this book.
And those of us who are civilians owe a lot to many heroes such as my grandfather, And I’m not trying to belittle that.
But one of my all-time favorite genres to read are autobiographies and biographies of World War II and other similar hard experiences from what I would considered to be heroes, although they would never say so themselves because they’re humble.
I just couldn’t get on board with this particular book because I feel like it wasn’t written well, and because of perhaps the attitude with which I felt it was written. And again, that could just be my own very negative personal experience.
But it did still remind me of a boring history book as opposed to a compelling biography/novel. And I’ve read most of the classics such as “A helmet for my pillow”, “Band of Brothers”, etc.
November 10, 2019
An indepth history of the Navy SEALS, along with some very tragic events brought on by the ineptitudes of Washington leadership.
Reading this book will open your eyes to the lies of Benghazi, and how the Obama White House chose to do nothing because it was an election year, despite having at least 5 separate feasible actions that could have been taken militarily that would have saved American lives.
Also you will find out how Joe Biden through one of his constant gaffs exposed the secrecy of the SEALS who took out Bin Laden, which later resulted in the deaths of 16 members of SEAL Team Six and 14 other military personnel.
This book gave me a renewed respect for the SEALS, and those who serve in the military, but also opened my eyes as an American to the establishment politics in Washington.
Reading this book will open your eyes to the lies of Benghazi, and how the Obama White House chose to do nothing because it was an election year, despite having at least 5 separate feasible actions that could have been taken militarily that would have saved American lives.
Also you will find out how Joe Biden through one of his constant gaffs exposed the secrecy of the SEALS who took out Bin Laden, which later resulted in the deaths of 16 members of SEAL Team Six and 14 other military personnel.
This book gave me a renewed respect for the SEALS, and those who serve in the military, but also opened my eyes as an American to the establishment politics in Washington.
January 22, 2020
I really wanted to like this book, but it failed to deliver as advertised and instead read like propaganda for warmongering soldiers hellbent on bashing the Obama administration.
The actual material on real SEAL missions is gripping stuff, and the real meat of the book, but the majority of the text is spent second guessing (undermining) decisions made by the nation’s leaders and top commanders.
Dripping with contempt for hierarchy and failing to acknowledge that there may be other powers with better insight into combat strategy than the warriors themselves, the authors use this platform as a a way to get out their grievances. As such, they do a disservice to the actual servicemen whose stories they should be telling and deprive the reader of that which most of us sought out in this book.
Extremely disappointing.
The actual material on real SEAL missions is gripping stuff, and the real meat of the book, but the majority of the text is spent second guessing (undermining) decisions made by the nation’s leaders and top commanders.
Dripping with contempt for hierarchy and failing to acknowledge that there may be other powers with better insight into combat strategy than the warriors themselves, the authors use this platform as a a way to get out their grievances. As such, they do a disservice to the actual servicemen whose stories they should be telling and deprive the reader of that which most of us sought out in this book.
Extremely disappointing.
July 9, 2019
Cóż powiedzieć ... nudna, czułem się jakbym czytał encyklopedię. Początek był ciekawy, a potem zeszliśmy głęboko pod muł bagienny. Ilość powtórzeń tych samych fragmentów, zakrawa na chorobę Alzhaimera u autorów. Od połowy to książka, paszkwil na administrację Obamy, sponsorowana przez politycznych przeciwników. Dla amerykanów to była zapewne ciekawa pożywka przed wyborami i wkład do sukcesu Trumpa. Dla Polaków to książka od połowy bez sensu i kompletnej wartości - no chyba, że będziecie studiować i doktoryzować się o zamachu na attache w Bengazi. Nie dotykajcie i omijajcie szerokim łukiem. Zdecydowanie nie polecam.
May 16, 2017
Scott McEwen is a fantastic military writer. In his book "Eves on Target" he describes life as a Navy SEAl. In this book, he speaks about the training, operations, and overall brother hood of the U.S. Navy SEALs. This book will open your eyes to the reality that these great men are facing everyday and give you an idea of the mental strength that a SEAL operator has. This book was very interesting for me because I enjoy war and history books. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyes reading about the military or Navy SEALs.
August 31, 2017
Pretty good; there are better, more detailed books about SEALS and their training.
The entire final 1/3 of the book is devoted to the 9/11 2012 terrorist attacks on the US consular station in Benghazi, Libya. The authors are highly critical of the Obama administration's response with an in-depth analysis of the timetable of events and suggesting several military responses which were NOT used. The numerous appendices detail the after-analysis of the Obama administration's response and the investigations into what happened and I found them to be very interesting.
The entire final 1/3 of the book is devoted to the 9/11 2012 terrorist attacks on the US consular station in Benghazi, Libya. The authors are highly critical of the Obama administration's response with an in-depth analysis of the timetable of events and suggesting several military responses which were NOT used. The numerous appendices detail the after-analysis of the Obama administration's response and the investigations into what happened and I found them to be very interesting.
August 23, 2019
McEwen's sniper series is terrific but this is such a biased sham that I (as a supporter of SF) couldn't finish it. It started well with background history on how the Seals came into existence but in short order became a propaganda piece. The author doesn't feel the Seals should be subject to oversight but he spends the second half of the book blaming those in Washington for the Benghazi disaster. I guess he didn't notice how hypocritical that was.
August 26, 2020
Purchase Eyes on Target here for just $8!
Scott McEwan is a fantastic military writer. This book will open your eyes to the reality that these great men facing everyday and give you an idea of the mental strength that a SEAL operator has.
Brooke - The Book Grocer
Scott McEwan is a fantastic military writer. This book will open your eyes to the reality that these great men facing everyday and give you an idea of the mental strength that a SEAL operator has.
Brooke - The Book Grocer
August 28, 2022
Maybe 1/3 of the book is about Navy Seals and even that part feels like just quick introduction to the main topic which is attack on US embassy in Benghazi. There's a lot about politics around that and what happened minute by minute and alternative scenarios that could happen.
If you want to read about SEALs this is not book for you. This is book about Benghazi attack with introduction about SEALs.
If you want to read about SEALs this is not book for you. This is book about Benghazi attack with introduction about SEALs.
May 25, 2025
I really enjoy reading books about the military and Seals in particular but I couldn't finish this book. It was so bad I made an account just to warn people away from it. In chapter two they flat out lied and referred to the Shah- who was a monarch- as democratically elected and that the Ayatollah destroyed Iran's "embryonic democracy". If the authors will stick in such a blatant lie for no real reason other than propaganda I can't trust the rest of what they say.
May 19, 2018
All over the shop. I enjoyed the history and short stories on some of the SEALs successes, but then it just got too political around the Benghazi events. It’s like the authors wanted to write a book but didn’t have enough content so filled it with political views and other rubbish. Overall it’s a meh from me.
September 10, 2018
It is amazing what can be done when you keep your eyes on the target. Sometimes with no support from the people that make the decisions the Seals get the job done. Sometimes with the ultimate cost, their lives.
The history of the Seals and the development into what they are today. They have earned the respect of not only the Navy brass but the whole world.
The history of the Seals and the development into what they are today. They have earned the respect of not only the Navy brass but the whole world.
August 11, 2018
Great book!
Eyes on Target brings many SEAL missions back to memory. Difficult to read because I spent more time wiping my eyes than reading. I am not a SEAL. I am a NAVY man! This book is still a punch in the gut! I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Eyes on Target brings many SEAL missions back to memory. Difficult to read because I spent more time wiping my eyes than reading. I am not a SEAL. I am a NAVY man! This book is still a punch in the gut! I highly recommend this book to everyone.
September 20, 2019
Meh. Started out well, but mostly a rehash of SEAL stories that have been beaten to death already before going full bore politics. While I agree with the politics, I didn't pick up this book to read 150 pages of rants.
January 8, 2024
Enjoyed it, but thought it felt more like a “be nice to SEALs” book. Long on history and short on stories. SEALs are incredible for what they do for our country and I was hoping this book would tell of some exploits that weren’t already movies.
July 18, 2017
Good read
Great book with a lot team history in it. Definition of a seal is answered. If you like the seals and their stories you have to read.
Great book with a lot team history in it. Definition of a seal is answered. If you like the seals and their stories you have to read.
November 2, 2017
Such a love letter to the seals that it was hard to take seriously.
February 15, 2018
A gungho ride all the way. The alternate scenarios take up too much material space. But then mistakes were made
Read
June 7, 2019I though this book was really good because it gave you real life Military stories and real life peoples perspectives
August 18, 2021
NF - Specific battles and history of SEALS, Benghazi
February 1, 2022
Interesting read. Eye opening in many points.
May 11, 2022
Poorly written, uninformative, and mostly just complaining how bad the Benghazi attack was handled.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews