The commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command denies allegations made in an Esquire feature article that the SEAL team member who claims he first shot Osama bin Laden was left in the dark about what benefits were available to him after he left the service.

"This former SEAL made a deliberate and informed decision to leave the Navy several years short of retirement status," Rear Adm. Sean Pybus, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, wrote in a statement. "Months ahead of his separation, he was counseled on status and benefits, and provided with options to continue his career until retirement eligible. Claims to the contrary in these matters are false."

Pybus said he is "very disappointed with the few people who use their SEAL cachet for self-serving purposes, particularly through falsehoods and certainly when the safety and security of themselves and their active-duty teammates and families are put at risk."

However, he said the Navy will help the former SEAL "address health or transition issues, as we would for other former members."

"Naval Special Warfare has bright and motivated people engaged in difficult, but satisfying work. They are very familiar with their compensation and options," he wrote.

On Wednesday, during his final press conference, outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta also spoke out about the Esquire article -- which he acknowledged he did not read -- by saying there are service members engaged in acts of bravery every day. 

Panetta cited former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, the newest recipient of the Medal of Honor. "This kid is out there in the middle of nowhere with 300 Taliban charging him, and he's tremendously courageous and tremendously brave in taking them on and saving not only his fellow soldiers, but ultimately saving that base. Acts of that kind of bravery and courage go on often every day in a war zone."

Panetta said it's "difficult to think" that everybody "who performs in that kind of fashion" ought to get a "separate fund to try to assist them." He added that "the reality is, men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to sacrifice for this country." 

The SEAL in question, identified as "The Shooter" in the Esquire article, said he feels abandoned by the military.

In the article, titled "The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden ... Is Screwed," he described the killing of bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 in detail and also talked about his struggles to find work and protect his family since retiring in September, four years short of pension eligibility. 

Related: SEAL who shot bin Laden living 'like a mafia snitch,' reporter says 

TODAY.com's Scott Stump contributed to this report.

The U.S. Navy SEAL killed on Sunday during a hostage rescue operation in Afghanistan is Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, 28, a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Monday.

Checque was a member of SEAL Team Six, the special operations unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year, though it was not immediately clear if he took part in that raid.

Checque, who was from Monroeville, Pa., and stationed in Virginia Beach, Va., joined the military in 2002, and has been part of Naval Special Warfare Command since 2008, according to the DoD.

He was awarded a Bronze Star and two other awards for combat valor.

In a statement Sunday evening, President Barack Obama said: "Yesterday, our special operators in Afghanistan rescued an American citizen in a mission that was characteristic of the extraordinary courage, skill and patriotism that our troops show every day."

"Tragically, we lost one of our special operators in this effort," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, just as we must always honor our troops and military families."

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issues a statement on Sunday, prior to the release of Checque's identity, commending the team for rescuing Joseph and extending condolences to the family, teammates and friends of the soldier who died in the mission.

"(The team) put the safety of another American ahead of their own, as so many of our brave warriors do every day and every night," Panetta said. "In this fallen hero, and all of our special operators, Americans see the highest ideals of citizenship, sacrifice and service upheld. The torch of freedom burns brighter because of them."

The rescue operation was launched when coalition forces reported that American doctor Dilip Joseph, who had been abducted by the Taliban on Wednesday, was in imminent danger.

Joseph, who worked with the non-profit Morning Star Development of Colorado Springs, Colo., as a medical adviser, was kidnapped along with two Afghan staff members — one working on the medical team, the other a member of the support team. On Saturday evening, the other two men were released. They made their way out of the area and were taken to a police station. 

Contact between the hostages, their captors and the non-profit's crisis management team started immediately, Morning Star said.

"Our relief in the safe rescue of Mr. Joseph is now tempered by our deep grief over the loss of this true hero," the organization said in an additional statement on Monday. "We offer our deepest condolences to his family and to his fellow team members.  We want them to know that we will always be grateful for this sacrifice and that we will honor that sacrifice in any way we can."

Morning Star did not release the names of the Afghan nationals because "these two men live and work in the general region of the event," the organization said in a statement on Saturday.

At least six people were reported killed in the operation to rescue Joseph. 

The abducted men were returning from a visit to one of Morning Star's rural medical clinics when the kidnappers stopped their vehicle in Kabul province, and were then taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border, the group said.

NBC News' Kari Huus and Reuters contributed to this report

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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said revelations in a book written by a retired Navy SEAL on the raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden could put future operations in jeopardy and suggested that the writer should be punished for writing the best-seller. 

In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Panetta was asked if he thinks the writer should be prosecuted. "I think we have to take steps to make clear to him and to the American people that we're not going to accept this kind of behavior," Panetta said.

Panetta was referring to "No Easy Day," the newly published account of the raid that led to bin Laden's killing in May 2011 in Pakistan. The book was written by a retired SEAL under the pseudonym of Mark 0wen. The author has denied the book contained any information that could adversely affect national security.

Ex-Navy SEAL faces legal jeopardy for writing about bin Laden raid

Panetta said that if the Defense Department failed to take any action in response to the book, "then everybody else who pledges to ensure that that doesn't happen is going to get the long signal, that somehow they can do it without any penalty to be paid." 

Asked if the revelations could put future such operations at risk, Panetta said, "I think when someone who signs an obligation that he will not reveal the secrets of this kind of operation, and then does that and doesn't abide by the rules, that when he reveals that kind of information, it does indeed jeopardize operations and the lives of others that are involved in those operations."

Commander: Navy SEALs reveal too many secrets

The secretary stopped short of accusing the author of revealing classified information, but said Pentagon officials "are currently reviewing that book to determine exactly, you know, what is classified and what isn't, and where those lines are."

Panetta said the book, which went on sale this week, raises troubling national security questions. The book is the top seller on online retailer Amazon.com.

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"Well, I think when somebody talks about the particulars of how those operations are conducted, it tells our enemies, essentially, how we operate and what we do to go after them," he said.

Last week, the commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command sent a letter to members of the special operations community warning them to stop releasing details about their secretive world.

"We do NOT advertise the nature of our work, NOR do we seek recognition for our actions," wrote the commander, Rear Adm.Sean Pybus wrote.

The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube contributed to this report.

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A former Navy SEAL who participated in the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout last year said the al-Qaida leader was shot dead because his arms were hidden and he may have been holding weapons.

Appearing Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” the author of the recently released book, “No Easy Day,” said one SEAL fired after seeing a man's head poking into a hallway. He said he and another SEAL shot bin Laden again after finding him on his bedroom floor with a bullet in his skull, because bin Laden's hands were hidden.

Navy SEAL charity turns down proceeds from bin Laden book

That's more detail than was included in the book, written under the pseudonym Mark Owen.

CBS altered Owen’s appearance and voice for the broadcast.

Commander: Navy SEALs reveal too many secrets

Pentagon officials say bin Laden was only shot after fleeing into his bedroom, and have threatened legal action against Owen for possible releases of classified information.

Owen denies claims of political motivation for the book.

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