Bryan Stern remembers the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 not from a television screen, but from the front lines as a first responder in New York City.
More than two decades later, the Tampa-based veteran and founder of Grey Bull Rescue is sharing his behind-the-scenes experience as part of Netflix’s American Manhunt: The Search for Osama Bin Laden.
The docuseries examines the years-long intelligence operation that culminated in the 2011 raid, focusing not only on special forces but on the vast intelligence networks that operated quietly for years before the final mission.
A 17-year intelligence effort beyond the raid
Stern appears in the series alongside members of the U.S. intelligence community who played roles in the global manhunt, emphasizing that the operation was far larger than the final night in Abbottabad.
“What the documentary really does a good job with is showcasing all the literally tens of thousands of people from the intelligence community that worked for years,” Stern said. “The raid on Bin Laden was really the last 40 minutes of a 17-year-long operation.”
READ: LATEST TAMPA BUSINESS NEWS
Though he appears on screen, Stern is quick to redirect attention away from himself.
“There are tens of thousands of people exactly like me, or more accomplished, who had even bigger effects,” he said. “I tried to represent them well. To represent my tribe.”
Intelligence work without recognition
That tribe, Stern said, consists of intelligence professionals who operate ahead of traditional armed forces, often unarmed, alone and without public acknowledgment.
“The intel folks go to all the same places as special operations, just earlier, unarmed and usually alone,” Stern said. “If you get caught, you’re arrested for breakfast, tried for lunch and executed for dinner. And no one throws a fundraiser.”
READ: THE TOP COMPANIES IN TAMPA BAY
Stern served across multiple agencies in the U.S. intelligence community before later founding Grey Bull Rescue, a Tampa-based humanitarian organization that now operates in some of the world’s most dangerous environments.
From intelligence work to Grey Bull Rescue
Grey Bull Rescue specializes in extracting Americans and allies from high-risk situations around the world.
Since its founding, the organization has conducted more than 800 missions across conflict zones and disaster areas, including operations in Gaza, Ukraine, Russia and Venezuela.
“We’re not an Uber service,” Stern said. “Everything we do is very, very hard. There’s nothing cookie-cutter about it.”
READ: THE LATEST ON TAMPA BAY’S REAL ESTATE MARKET
Stern likens Grey Bull’s approach less to combat operations and more to precision planning.
“We’re more Ocean’s 11 than Navy SEALs,” he said. “We don’t go in with machine guns. We operate undetected. The bad guys just scratch their heads and say, ‘How did we lose them?’ That’s the goal.”
Why the story still resonates
Stern’s appearance in the Netflix docuseries came months before renewed public attention surrounding Grey Bull Rescue’s December extraction of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, one of the most dangerous missions the organization has undertaken.
READ THE FULL STORY: Tampa team leads high-risk extraction of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado
Taken together, the two moments highlight the same operating philosophy that has defined Stern’s career: intelligence over force, discretion over visibility and the ability to operate outside traditional military frameworks when conditions demand it.
For Stern, the common thread between his past intelligence work and present-day rescues is responsibility.
“People are in trouble,” he said. “Somebody has to show up.”
A different measure of impact
While popular culture often celebrates fighter pilots and special forces operators, Stern hopes the docuseries helps broaden public understanding of how global security actually works.
“We like to make movies about Navy SEALs and all that, and that’s good,” Stern said. “But this was an intelligence war. And the documentary really showcased the people who don’t usually get their stories told.”
Asked whether his own life could fill a movie, Stern laughed it off.
“We’ve done more than 700 missions and counting,” he said. “You’d need a 700-part miniseries to tell it all.”
For Stern, the measure of success is not recognition, but outcome.
“If no one else is going to show up,” he said, “then I take it upon myself. And that’s okay.”