Background and career
Christopher Scott Kyle (April 8, 1974 – February 2, 2013) was a United States Navy SEAL sniper and author. Kyle served four tours in the Iraq War. With a claim of 160 confirmed kills in combat, he is one of the most prolific snipers in military history. He was awarded one Silver Star and three Bronze Star medals with "V" devices for valor, in addition to three service medals. Kyle was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2009, and published his bestselling autobiography, American Sniper, in 2012. His autobiography contains several incidents that are unverifiable or that appear to have been fabricated, including shootings in New Orleans and Dallas, and he was sued by Jesse Ventura for defamation. In 2013, Kyle was murdered by Eddie Ray Routh at the Rough Creek Lodge shooting range near Chalk Mountain, Texas. Routh, a former Marine, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. A film adaptation of Kyle's book, directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Bradley Cooper as Kyle, was posthumously released in 2014.
Christopher Scott Kyle was born on April 8, 1974, in Odessa, Texas, the elder of two boys born to Deborah Lynn (née Mercer) and Wayne Kenneth Kyle, a Sunday school teacher and deacon. His father bought Kyle his first rifle at the age of eight, a bolt-action .30-06 Springfield rifle, and later a shotgun, with which they hunted deer, pheasant, and quail. Kyle and his brother Jeff grew up raising up to 150 head of cattle at a time. Kyle attended high school in Midlothian, Texas, and after graduating in 1992, became a professional bronco rider and ranch hand, however his professional rodeo career ended abruptly when he severely injured his arm. He attended Tarleton State University for two years (1992–1994), studying Ranch and Range Management.
Kyle went to a military recruiting office, as he was interested in joining the U.S. Marine Corps special operations. Instead, he was convinced by a U.S. Navy recruiter to try for the SEALs. He enlisted in the United States Navy on August 5, 1998, and began basic training on February 10, 1999. He graduated from basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, in April 1999. He attended additional training as an Intelligence Specialist at NMITC Dam Neck, Virginia, from April to July 1999, and at NPC Millington, Tennessee, from August 1999 to March 2000. Initially, Kyle was rejected because of the pins in his arm, but he eventually received an invitation to the 24-week Basic Underwater Demolition/Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) training (BUD/S) at NAB Coronado, California. Kyle graduated with Class 233 in March 2001, followed by SEAL Qualification Training (SQT) at NAB Coronado from May to August 2001. Assigned to SEAL Team-3, sniper element, Platoon "Charlie" (later "Cadillac"), within the Naval Special Warfare Command, and with four tours of duty, Kyle served in many major battles of the Iraq War. His first long-range kill shot was taken during the initial invasion when he shot a woman carrying a hand grenade approaching a group of Marines. CNN reported the woman was cradling a toddler in her other hand. As ordered, Kyle opened fire, killing the woman before she could attack.
Kyle proved to be an effective sniper in Iraq, with a large number of confirmed and unconfirmed kills. Kyle's shooter's statements (filled out by every sniper after a mission) were reported to higher command, who kept them in case any shootings were contested as outside the rules of engagement. The publisher HarperCollins states: "The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the total number for this book." In his autobiography, Kyle wrote:
The Navy credits me with more kills as a sniper than any other American service member, past or present. I guess that's true. They go back and forth on what the number is. One week, it's 160 (the 'official' number as of this writing, for what that's worth), then it's way higher, then it's somewhere in between. If you want a number, ask the Navy—you may even get the truth if you catch them on the right day. On July 8, 2016, the U.S. Navy corrected Kyle's DD Form 214 regarding some decorations listed on his original discharge document. The original discharge papers issued to him upon leaving the service tally with the account given in his autobiography: two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars with valor. The Navy revised it to one Silver Star and four Bronze Stars with valor. The Navy said "Kyle would have played no role in the production of his personnel files other than signing the DD-214 upon his discharge" and "[a]fter thoroughly reviewing all available records, the Navy determined an error was made" and "issued a corrected copy of the DD-214".
While in training, Kyle used four different rifles in order to know which weapon was the most useful in the given situation. In the field, he used the following:
