Not so. Zero had ordered the commander not to use deadly force except in a "clear and present danger" to the Captain's life, which is why they didn't fire when he first went in the water. In the end, he acted on his own despite his orders. If anything had gone wrong, Zero would've fried him instead of stealing the credit. Read the whole article:
After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the on-scene commander decided he’d had enough. Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK-47 one captor had leveled at Phillips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.
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