Cover: No Easy Day is scheduled for release on September 4. The Navy SEAL turned author who was there as Osama bin Laden was killed and promised to 'set the record straight' about the mission that led to his demise has been identified as a soldier who has since retired from service. The book's publisher announced on Wednesday that Mark Owen's 'No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden' would tell the real story about the raid in Abottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. The book, to be published under the pseudonym 'Mark Owen,' is scheduled to be released on September 11 - the 11th anniversary of the devastating terror attacks in New York and Washington, DC. But the former serviceman's attempts to remain anonymous were foiled on Thursday, when FoxNews.com identified him as Matt Bissonnette, 36, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, who retired shortly after the bin Laden mission. Publisher Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group, asked news organizations on Thursday to withhold his name. But that didn’t stop the Associated Press, which later confirmed the the FoxNews.com report through their own sources, and circulated the information through its subscribers. The revelation had alarm bells ringing in military circles. Pentagon spokesman Lt Col James Gregory told MailOnline that the release of a former special ops soldier’s identity can be worrisome. He said: ‘We protect the names of our special ops personnel for security reasons. Any time names are revealed, it’s a concern.' Commando: A photo purported to be of Matt Bissonnette was published by Business Insider on Thursday. In the dark: The Pentagon said that it has not seen a copy of the book, despite regulations designed to keep former and current military personnel from spilling military secrets. Lt Col Gregory also joined a chorus of U.S. agencies who claim they had no knowledge of the book before Wednesday, a possible violation of regulations that bar current and former troops from spilling military matters and national security issues. Other departments, including the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and even the White House, were also caught off-guard. That could spell trouble for Bissonnette, who may be subject to federal charges if sensitive information appears in the book. Lt Col Gregory said that since he is now a private citizen, the military could refer the investigation to the Department of Justice. Target: A member of Seal Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden during the elite squad's daring raid of his compound in Abbotabad, Pakistan. Tension: The raid of bin Laden's Abottabad compound was watched by President Obama and his closest advisers in the Situation Room of the White House. But any judicial action would hinge on the content of No Easy Day. 'We. don't know what kind of details [are in the book], so we can't make a. determination over whether it's classified or not,' Lt Col Gregory said. But the publisher maintains that. Bissonnette's writings were properly vetted by a former special. operations attorney, and will not let any military cats out of the bag. Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for the Dutton, the publisher, told Reuters: 'He vetted it for tactical, technical, and procedural information as well as information that could be considered classified by compilation and found it to be without risk to national security.' Terror house: Bin Laden's compound has since been torn down. No Easy Day is co-authored by journalist Kevin. Maurer, has worked on four previous books - including two in the last. year and a half about soldiers in Afghanistan. Maurer. spent the last several years embedded with troops in Iraq and. Afghanistan as a military correspondent for the Fayetteville Observer. The New York Times's Media Decoder blog reported on Wednesday that the book also goes into detail about Bissonnette's incredible training that led him to become a Navy SEAL. The blog added that the book will. culminate with a 'blow by blow' account of the dramatic raid in the. terror leader's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound. No Easy Day's listing on Amazon.com. says that among Owen's hundreds of missions around the world as a SEAL Team. Six commando was the rescue of Capt Richard Phillips from Somali pirates. in 2009. Watching: In this undated image from video seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV programme showing an image of President Obama. Owen's book comes on the heels of. another account of the bin Laden takedown that claims the raid was nixed. three times by Obama, but finally went ahead at the urging of Hillary. Clinton. That explosive allegation is. contained in an expose by journalist Rich Miniter, who argues that the. White House’s carefully-crafted narrative of Obama as a decisive leader. who took out the al-Qaeda leader despite the doubts of advisers is a. myth. Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him was published on Tuesday. A. film about the bin Laden raid, Zero Dark Thirty - from Hurt Locker. director Kathryn Bigelow - is due to be released December 19. Republicans chided the White House earlier this year amid reports that Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal - who both won Academy Awards for The Hurt Locker - were given unprecedented access to classified information. The Obama administration denied the claims. Mission: Bin Laden was killed during the 40-minute operation by the elite Navy SEAL Team Six in his Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound, seen here.
What are the important parts of this article?
Pentagon, CIA and White House among the agencies who have not seen the book, written anonymously by a SEAL Team Six member. Soldier identified as retired Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette. Pentagon says release of his name is a security concern. Bissonnette could face federal charges if classified information is revealed in the book. Will hit bookshelves on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.