Clint Eastwood’s new film “American Sniper” is set to begin production today in Morocco, and it will feature an Alabama connection that few people are aware of.
The movie will focus on the life of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, commonly referred to as “the most lethal sniper in American military history” with 160 confirmed kills and 255 claimed kills. So legendary were his exploits on the battlefields of Iraq that insurgents dubbed him the “Devil of Ramadi.” His longest confirmed kill was from an incredible 2,100 yards — roughly 1.2 miles. He was shot twice and involved in six IED attacks during his four tours in Iraq. For his service and valor he received two Silver Stars, five bronze stars, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals and a Marine Corps Commendation.
Upon returning to his home state of Texas, Kyle took an active role in helping fellow veterans — especially those with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — get re-acclimated to life at home. But in February of last year, Kyle and a friend of his named Chad Littlefield were gunned down at a shooting range by 25-year-old Marine veteran Eddie Ray Routh, while they were trying to help smooth his transition back into civilian life.
Before he was tragically killed, Kyle penned an autobiography called “American Sniper” detailing his transition from Texas rodeo cowboy to sniper. The upcoming film of the same name is being directed by Clint Eastwood and will star Bradley Cooper (American Hustle, The Hangover, Limitless) as Chris Kyle and Sienna Miller (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) as his wife, Taya Renae Kyle.
In addition to the movie stars, at least one real-life Navy SEAL will play a significant role in the film. Kyle’s close personal friend and fellow SEAL Team 3 sniper Kevin “Dauber” Lacz (pronounced “lace”) is serving as one of the movie’s technical advisors. In short, Lacz will be showing the actors how it’s done in real life. On top of that, he’ll have an on-screen role in the film playing himself.
Lacz is Alabama’s connection to what is undoubtedly the year’s most anticipated military-related film. Now retired from the SEALs, Lacz currently works for Birmingham, Ala.-based defense contractor XTreme Concepts.
XTreme focuses primarily on providing venture capital to early stage companies focused on defense initiatives, but they also offer security services and employ a host of former U.S. special forces operatives, including SEALs and Green Berets.
“It’s important to us that we play an integral role in putting veterans to work,” XTreme Concepts CEO Landon Ash told Yellowhammer. “The sacrifices these guys and their families make secure the freedoms the rest of us enjoy. So when they come home, we feel like it’s our responsibility to provide a job for as many of them as possible.”
Ash said “American Sniper” is moving forward quickly, as is usually the case with Eastwood-directed films.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be involved in this project,” said Ash. “Dauber’s already in Morocco where they’re shooting a lot of the film. We know it’s in good hands with Clint Eastwood at the helm.”
Yellowhammer also had an opportunity to speak to with Lacz’s wife, Lindsey, Sunday evening. She detailed the unlikely sequence of events that led to her husband not only becoming the technical assistant on the movie, but also landing an on-camera role.
“Back in early 2012 when Warner Brothers optioned the rights to the film’s script, I was bored and Googled the screen writer and ended up finding him on Facebook. I sent him a message and told him my husband was in the book and basically asked him not to screw it up,” Mrs. Lacz said. “These men are impressive enough as they are, there’s no need to make it something it’s not. I figured I’d never hear back from him, but he actually messaged me back almost immediately and Kevin and I developed a friendship with him. Several months before Chris (Kyle) was killed, Kevin began helping out a lot on the technical stuff for the screen play. After Chris died, they moved Kevin into the advisory role. When he went out to train Bradley Cooper, they ended up asking him to audition to actually be in the movie. That wasn’t at all what we expected.”
Mrs. Lacz also filled us in on more of the back story between her husband and Chris Kyle, and on how Dauber ended up in the SEALs to begin with.
“One of Kevin’s best friend’s father was killed in one of the towers in 9/11. At the time he was going to school at James Madison University, but he decided he wanted to go into the military. He had no idea what job he wanted to do, though. When he went to the recruiter’s office, he saw a SEAL poster on the wall. He always says, ‘When I saw the poster of a frog man coming out of the water I knew that was it. That’s what I wanted to do.’
“He ended up in SEAL Team 3, Charlie Platoon, which is where he linked up with Chris,” she continued. “They deployed together to Ramadi. Mickey Monsoor, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, was over there, too, in their sister platoon. Chris ended up getting moved to Delta platoon, but he wanted to make sure someone he was already close to would be there with him. He tells a great story in his book about how he went into the office and moved Kevin’s name on the board over to Delta platoon with him, so they could be together. He wanted to serve with him.”
Mrs. Lacz said that Dauber got connected to the Alabama-based XTreme Concepts team through the company’s COO, Bradley Stegmeier, who is also a former SEAL. Stegmeier was in a leadership position inside SEAL Team 3 while Dauber was serving.
“We got a call from Brad and part of what they were looking for was someone with some medical experience,” she said. “Prior to becoming a SEAL, Kevin had been a corpsman, part of the Navy’s medical personnel. When he got out of the SEALs, he went to the University of Connecticut and got his bachelors degree in political science, but then decided to go to PA (physician’s assistant) school at Wake Forest. So when Brad was looking for someone with some background in medicine, it was a good fit.”
Mrs. Lacz said Dauber is enjoying the opportunity to be in the movie and tell their story.
“Overall, Kevin just really enjoys being involved with the SEAL community. Being on the SEAL teams is so demanding and requires so much time away from home. So we decided if we were going to have kids, we’d need to go in another direction. But he loves having those experiences with them. This movie is a great opportunity to continue that connection.”
A release date for “American Sniper” is not yet set, but it could be in theaters as early as the fourth quarter of this year.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
