American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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oil and other items both into and out of his country, in violation of the
U.N. sanctions. The U.S. and other allies were stepping up operations
to stop that.
Before we deployed, Taya and I chose to get married. The decision
surprised both of us. One day we started talking in the car, and we
both came to the conclusion that we should get married.
The decision stunned me, even as I made it. I agreed with it. It was
completely logical. We were definitely in love. I knew she was the woman
I wanted to spend my life with. And yet, for some reason, I didn’t
think the marriage would last.
We both knew that there is an extremely high divorce rate in the
SEALs. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard marriage counselors claim that it
is close to 95 percent, and I believe it. So maybe that was what worried
me. Perhaps part of me wasn’t really ready to think about a lifetime
commitment. And of course I understood how demanding my job was
going to be once we went to war. I can’t explain the contradictions.
But I do know that I was absolutely in love, and that she loved me.
And so, for better or worse, make that peace or war, marriage was our
next step together. Happily, we’ve survived it all.
One thing you ought to know about SEALs: when you’re new to the
Teams, you get hazed. The platoons are very tight-knit groups. Newcomers—always
called “new guys”—are treated like hell until they
prove they belong. That usually doesn’t happen until well into their
first deployment, if then. New guys get the shit jobs. They’re constantly
tested. They’re always beat on.
It’s a kind of an extended hazing that takes many forms. For example:
on a training exercise, you work hard. The instructors kick