A Colorado construction worker spent years attempting to capture Osama bin Laden alone

Wars & Conflicts · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Gary Brooks Faulkner, a former construction worker with no military training, launched eleven separate, often bizarre attempts to track down Osama bin Laden. Armed with a sword, a pistol, and a Bible, he traveled to Pakistan repeatedly, convinced he was on a divine mission to save the world from catastrophe.

Following the September 11 attacks, Gary Brooks Faulkner became obsessed with finding Osama bin Laden. His efforts were marked by a series of impractical and often dangerous schemes. These included attempting to sail across the Pacific in a 21-foot yacht, which was blown off course by a hurricane, and trying to hang glide into Pakistan after practicing in Israel, an attempt that resulted in broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Faulkner, who suffered from chronic kidney disease, believed he was acting on a mission from God to prevent a nuclear attack on Mecca.

In June 2010, during his eleventh and final attempt, Pakistani authorities arrested Faulkner in the Bumburet Valley near the Afghan border. He was carrying a samurai sword, a .30-caliber Chinese pistol, night vision goggles, and religious texts. While in custody, he was questioned by police in Peshawar, who initially found his claims of hunting bin Laden humorous. Despite the gravity of his mission, he was released without charges after ten days and returned to his home in Greeley, Colorado. He later claimed that his presence in the mountains had forced bin Laden to move, eventually leading to the successful 2011 raid by SEAL Team Six.

Faulkner’s life outside of his self-appointed mission was equally turbulent. He held prior convictions for burglary, larceny, and domestic-violence assault. In 2011, he faced legal trouble again after firing a warning shot during an eviction dispute, leading to a felony summons for possessing a weapon as a previous offender. His story, which inspired the 2016 film Army of One, remains a strange footnote in the post-9/11 era. Despite his lack of military experience and his erratic methods, Faulkner maintained that he played a pivotal role in the eventual capture of the world's most wanted fugitive.

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