Why did American commanders choose Delta Force over SEAL Team 6 to conduct the operation that killed the leader of ISIS?

Many are bound to speculate that the SEAL option was quietly put aside because of the never-ending drama emanating from the Naval Special Warfare (NSW). And the problems in the SEAL community aren’t restricted in the “White” SEAL teams – “White” teams are the acknowledged SEAL teams that aren’t part of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), also known as SEAL Team 6, has had its fair share of issues – issues that came in to the forefront in the immediate aftermath of the last high-profile operation of the Global War on Terror (GWOT).

Operation Neptune Spear, the raid to kill or capture Usama Bin Laden, was conducted by DEVGRU’s Red Squadron. Soon after UBL was dead, an account of the raid appeared in the form of a book written by Mark Bissonnette (he wrote it under the pen name of Mark Owen). Soon thereafter, the “Shooter’s” (Robert O’Neil) account emerged and brought an additional wave of bad publicity on DEVGRU and the NSW community.