Three shots freed Capt. Phillips

Vice Adm. William Gortney said the shooters who killed the three pirates holding Capt. Richard Phillips fired one shot each.

Asked how the snipers could have killed each pirate with a single shot in the darkness, Gortney described them as "extremely, extremely well-trained." He told NBC's "Today" show the shooting by the snipers was ordered by the captain of the Bainbridge after the pirates came into view.

Military officials were widely praising the snipers for three flawless shots, which they described as remarkable, coming at night and from the stern of a ship on rolling waters.

Such shooting at night is actually not very remarkable. The military's night-vision equipment is so good that it is often used even in daytime. The Army's Thermal Tank Sight (TTS), for example, on the M1 Abram tank, is routinely used in daylight to observe or sight on targets.

Furthermore, the range from USS Bainbridge to the lifeboat was only about 25 meters. Seriously, folks, this is pistol range and if it was SEALs who actually pulled the triggers, they literally could have used pistols to make the shot (they are that good) although rifles are obviously the better choice.

Finally, the lifeboat was being towed by Bainbridge,, although only making a few knots. The wake astern of the destroyer would have been smoothed by the vessel's passage, so the lifeboat would not have been bobbing up and down very much.

None of this is to subtract from the skills or preparations the SEALs and the other Navy elements on the scene displayed. But the shooters themselves probably didn't think the shots were especially remarkable. Army recruits, for example, have to qualify with the M16 rifle by hitting targets out to 400 meters, and Marine recruits qualify out to 500 meters.

So yes, the Navy definitely earned a "Bravo Zulu" yesterday, but no one familiar with the training and capabilities of the regular Navy and SEALs is surprised at the outcome of the few seconds that elapsed from Cmdr. Castellano's decision to order the shooting to its completion.