(CNN) - The former Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden has been identified for the first time as Rob O'Neill.
The revelation on the military website SOFREP came ahead of a Fox News interview in which Mr O'Neill is expected to discuss the May 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where the terror mastermind was killed.
The 38-year-old is described as a veteran Navy SEAL who had concluded several tours of duty, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Montana native earned two Silver Stars and four Bronze Stars with Combat "V" among other decorations, the report said. He left the service after 16 years.
His decision to come out as the killer of al Qaeda leader bin Laden was made in part because he lost some military benefits, having left the SEALs before a full 20 years of service, according to the report.
He did so fully aware of the risks he faced.
"People are asking if we are worried that ISIS will come and get us because Rob is going public," his father, Tom O'Neill, told the Mail Online.
"I say I'll paint a big target on my front door and say 'come and get us'."
Mr O'Neill had already spoken to Esquire magazine in a piece published last year, but his identity had not been revealed and he had been identified only as "The Shooter".
In that interview, he said he had joined the US Navy at the age of 19 following a heartbreak. He described the top secret lead-up to the raid, his training and finally the mission.
"I'm not religious, but I always felt I was put on the Earth to do something specific. After that mission, I knew what it was," he told Esquire.
US Navy SEALs, both on active duty and retired, possess highly sensitive information about tactics and techniques that are central to the success of their secret and often dangerous missions overseas.
That is why they are obliged to sign non-disclosure agreements when they enter service and when they leave.
Another member of the team, Matt Bissonnette, who wrote a first-hand account called No Easy Day under the pseudonym Mark Owen, is under criminal investigation.
