Biography
Robert O’Neill is a writer, TV news commentator, and former United States Navy SEAL. Following his participation with SEAL Team Six in Operation Neptune Spear in May 2011, O’Neill became a media hot potato when he asserted that he was the only person to have killed Osama bin Laden.
After completing his education at Montana Technological University, he attended Butte Central High School in 1994.
O’Neill Age
He is 48 years old as of 10 April 2024. He was born on 10 April 1976 in Butte, Montana, United States.
O’Neill Wife
O’Neill wed in March 2004 and has two children at least. However, by February 2013, he and his spouse had officially separated.
O’Neill Parents and Siblings
Robert’s parents are Tom O’Neill, Jim Johnson, and Diane Johnson. O’Neill referred to his Butte upbringing as “idyllic”.
O’Neill Height and Weight
O’Neill stands as a height of 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 76 kg (168 lb).
Killing Osama bin Laden
Rob O’Neill asserted in a 2013 anonymous interview that he had killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011 during Operation Neptune Spear. But other ex-special forces members who objected to his breach of a code of silence prohibiting them from publicly claiming credit for their deeds disclosed his name. After he and an unidentified SEAL Team Six member cornered bin Laden, O’Neill claimed to have shot the terrorist leader in the head to kill him after the other SEAL missed with a shot.
According to Matt Bissonnette, a fellow SEAL, the deadly bullets were actually fired by the unidentified point man. According to a former SEAL Team 6 member interviewed by The Intercept, bin Laden was wounded in the chest and leg by the raid’s lead assaulter, and by the time O’Neill reached the terrorist leader, he was bleeding out on the ground and may have already passed away. According to a different SEAL, O’Neill simply approached the unmoving al-Qaeda chief and fired twice in the head.
The US federal government had not as of August 2020 either validated or refuted O’Neill’s allegations. All SEALs were urged by Rear Admiral Brian L. Losey and Force Master Chief Michael Magaraci to uphold their code of silence, which is a lifetime duty that they must follow both inside and outside of the military. O’Neill acknowledged that it was a tough secret to maintain but took pride in his choice to claim to have killed bin Laden.
O’Neill Career
O’Neill revealed to Esquire that following a breakup, he ended up at a US Navy recruitment center. O’Neill declared his desire to become a sniper and, on January 29, 1996, he enlisted in the Navy SEALs. At Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, O’Neill reported for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S). He completed BUD/S class 208.
O’Neill told The Montana Standard in 2013 that he was part of SEAL Team Six’s “lead paratrooper” in the rescue of Richard Phillips from the Maersk Alabama hijacking and that he assisted in the rescue of SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Afghanistan. These missions served as the basis for the 2013 films Captain Phillips and Lone Survivor, respectively.
O’Neill, however, did not have a “singular role” on either mission, according to the former SEAL Team Six leader, who stated in 2014 that “everything we do is as a team” and that O’Neill’s precise position on any of these missions is immaterial.
O’Neill was awarded three Presidential Unit Citations, two Silver Stars, four Bronze Star Medals, a Joint Service Commendation Medal (with “V” device), and two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals (with “V” device) throughout his enlistment.Serving with SEAL Teams Two, Four, and Six, he rose to the position of senior chief petty officer in the military.O’Neill was still a member of SEAL Team Six in Virginia Beach, Virginia, upon his departure from the Navy on August 24, 2012. He had completed six months and fifteen days of naval service.
“Adrenaline when people are shooting, and I knew that could lead to complacency because if I am not afraid of, that I might wind up doing something stupid thinking that I can’t get hurt,” O’Neill stated in a 2014 interview, explaining why he left the military. O’Neill calculated that he made US$60,000 (or $79,629 in 2023) a year with the Navy and SEALs.
O’Neill tweeted a selfie of himself sitting on a Delta Air Lines plane without a face mask on August 20, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The caption read, “I’m not a pussy,” and it was followed by another that read, “Thank God it wasn’t @Delta flying us in when we killed bin Laden… we weren’t wearing masks.”
Later, he tweeted that Delta had blacklisted him. In May 2023, O’Neill again turned to Twitter, this time criticizing the Navy’s supposed lack of preparedness against China on the grounds that drag performer and active-duty sailor Joshua Kelley had served as a “digital ambassador” for the service in 2022. He said, “I can’t believe I fought for this bullshit.”
O’Neill Net Worth
O’Neill has an estimated net worth of $3 million.
