Best-selling author Jack Carr, a former Navy SEAL sniper and military leader, is currently traveling the country to discuss his new nonfiction book, “Targeted: The 1983 Beirut Barracks Bombing,” the first in a new series on the main terrorist events in the world. .
For him, the new book – a non-fiction work on military history – is the result of the new, highly focused mission he undertook after leaving the world of American special forces and which combined this new life mission with a long-standing passion for writing.
Carr spent 20 years on SEAL teams.
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The veteran’s literary turn resulted in novels starring James Reece, his protagonist, first in “The Terminal List,” then in such New York Times bestselling novels as “True Believer,” “Savage Son “, “The Devil’s Hand”, “In the Blood”, “Only the Dead” and more.
But none of this has been child’s play. It took mental focus, a set of key decisions and perseverance, he explained. (See the video at the top of this article.)
Jack Carr spent 20 years on SEAL Teams – and spoke to Fox News Digital about how he charted a new path in life once he stepped away from military work, something that’s difficult to do and navigate for many, he said. (Jack Carr)
With Veterans Day already on the horizon this fall, Carr spoke to Fox News Digial in an on-camera interview about the importance of anyone transitioning from the military to the civilian world to chart a new path — and how he was able to trace his own. significant path.
As a Navy SEAL task unit commander and sniper, Carr was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
“I can only speak from my own experience,” he said. “But I recognized, as I prepared to leave the SEAL Teams, that it was a difficult place to leave.”
“They may have a hard time leaving that foundation.”
He said, “Which means, someone filed their papers for [move] out [of Special Forces] or move to the private sector. And they may have a hard time leaving that foundation.”
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“It was almost like a cement foundation and their feet were on it and it was drying all around them – and they couldn’t move forward,” he said. “They couldn’t build on that base because they were stuck in there because it was so powerful.”
Carr said: “It lasted five years, ten years, fifteen, twenty years – however long they were in the military in special operations. It was a very impactful few years, and it’s hard to move on. »
Carr, left, said he read many thrillers during his formative years by authors such as Tom Clancy, right, as well as Louis L’Amour, David Morrell, Nelson de Mille and others . They “were my teachers in the art of storytelling,” he told Fox News Digital, giving him the foundation for a new phase of life. (Jack Carr; Getty Images)
The bestselling author noted, “I think professional athletes face it. Amateur athletes face it. College athletes do, too. You know, anyone who makes a transition in life, [after the] the death of a loved one, a divorce, a new job, it could be anything.”
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He added, “But my background is within the SEAL teams. So for me, it was important to identify a mission and a goal for the future.”
“It was important to identify a mission and goal for the future.”
Carr said, “For me, my mission is to take care of my family.”
He told Fox News Digital: “We have a middle child with very severe special needs. He needs full-time care 24/7 forever. So my mission was kind of entrusted.”
Carr’s latest book is his first nonfiction piece, “Targeted: Beirut,” published this month. (Mike Stoner Photography; Jack Carr/Simon & Schuster; iStock)
He continued: “I knew I loved writing. I loved telling stories. I had trained myself from a very young age, inadvertently, just from a fan perspective, reading David Morrell, Nelson de Mille and Tom Clancy and… all these guys who were basically giants in the thriller business back when I was growing up in my formative years.
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He said he gave himself “this education, and they were my teachers in the art of storytelling.”
It was essential, Carr said, “to identify that mission and identify a passion… [for me]writing then mission, taking care of family, then combining those two.”
Carr during his years of military service in the United States of America. (Simon and Schuster)
So, “this passion, this mission can give you a purpose in the future.”
He said: “It’s going to be different for everyone. But for me it was also very important, because I recognized how difficult it was to leave this organization that I was in and turn this page.”
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And so “for me, mission and passion combined – for me anyway. I’m not saying it’s going to work for everyone.”
But “it was a very natural thing for me to do.”
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“And it gave me a purpose in life.”
Brittany Kasko of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
