It's one of the tales he recounts in his new memoir, titled "Sea Stories: My Life In Special Forces" (ph). They took care to avoid civilian casualties. Image: Wikipedia.org. They have just 500 days until graduation. But they do know you as the make-your-bed guy. Cartwright, the Marine general, says, "If every time you knock one off all they do is replace him, how valuable was that, particularly if you could have been watching him? And I thought it was a fair question, and it's a question that needed to be answered. Judge plans to appoint Special Master to Dominion, Fox News . What happened was the down blast from the helicopter hit this 18 foot high wall, created a vortex, kind of a vacuum over the blades, caused the helicopter to lose lift. It is a small task, but I think an important one. Routines, good routines, healthy routines are important. By the time U.S. intelligence pinpointed its quarry, McRaven was a three-star admiral atop the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the U.S. military's clandestine strike force. Tell me about that moment and what you heard come through the radio after that. If bin Laden had his hands up and he clearly was not a threat which was going to be difficult because you dont know whether or not theyre carrying a suicide vest underneath but if he had come out of that room with his hands up and clearly not a threat, we had an obligation, a legal obligation, a moral obligation to capture him. Admiral William McRaven should be dead by now, but he's alive, physically fit, mentally sharp and recently retired. "He walked again, which was amazing," sister Nan recalls. Admiral McRaven, on this Independence Day weekend, thank you for your service and thank you for sharing your stories from your recent books, Hero Code, Sea Stories and Make Your Bed. Image: MIT News Office. Did you have a sense that you would follow in your fathers footsteps? Then, in 2001, came the parachute accident and the long climb back. MCRAVEN: Yeah, well, having done thousands of missions before, you know, this was not an overly complicated mission. Will they be, you know, somebody of importance? What do we need to do next? McRaven: Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. 3 Min Read. He was a Vietnam vet. Of course, as we began to come in to target the one helicopter loses lift as it got over the target. I never asked him the specific details. What were you feeling in those moments? It was July 18, 2001, midway through that quiet summer before the whole world learned Osama bin Laden's name. General William Westmoreland joined the original firing line with William F. Buckley Jr. in 1979 for a conversation called, quote, the crisis in the US military. You wrote in your book, Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations, quote, I was having one of those feelings, again, inexplicable, powerful, eerie, one I couldnt shake and I certainly couldnt rationalize. Marcinko picked McRaven to lead a team in the hot new command with a purposely wonky name: Naval Special Warfare Development Group. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Admiral William H. McRaven, Address to Class of 2015, 18 January 2014. And was in charge of SEAL Team Six during Neptunes Spear, the daring operation that took out Osama Bin Laden. He was later memorialized in an eponymous film starring Tom Hanks. You know, there are people out there, Admiral, who. In 2001, McRaven was hospitalized after a parachute accident "kind of . So I understood pretty quickly that the guys were a little banged up, but they were OK. And so we went from plan A to plan B. With her father by her side, she laughed off the injury . But after SEAL training, we were stationed at the same team and we became very close friends. November 6, 1955. Admiral McRaven, in an inspiring speech, addressed the Class of 2015 at West Point to celebrate 500th Night. And to this day, Moki oversees the triathlon that we run every year as part of our underwater demolition team and our SEAL fraternity. Taking Apart al-Qaeda "[They] kind of snapped me in two," McRaven said. So I understood pretty quickly that the guys were a little banged up, but they were OK. And so we went from plan A to plan B. Marcinko fired the 27-year-old McRaven after a year. Once there was a President who called for building up the Green Berets in the same speech, in 1961, that called for landing a man on the moon. And he pulls. Leadership. : Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. Yeah, theres a lot of people out there that think that this was a kill only mission. And of course, it started in SEAL training. The bad news is, when a parachute opens, it blossoms.". Im absolutely ok with that. When the lead helicopter lost its lift and crash-landed in an animal pen, one participant in the video call said he thought he might vomit. HOOVER: So upon reaching the third floor, the raids second SEAL, Senior Chief Petty Officer Rob ONeill, came face to face with a, quote, tall, thin man. Admiral McRaven has since retired from the military and is now the chancellor of University of Texas. I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. McRaven oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Now, what I am getting, of course, is reports from the ground force commander when shots are fired. MCRAVEN: Well, thats true of every mission you conduct, youve got to be able to delegate to people that you have trust and confidence in. HOOVER: You know, there are people out there, Admiral, who may not know about the raid on Osama bin Ladens compound or the rescue of Captain Phillips. Again, this was 2003 so the technology wasnt quite as sophisticated as it is today. So now I am tangled up in my parachute, falling towards the ground. And what I told him is, you never know how the missions you conduct are going to change the lives of the people that you save. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. At the time, Admiral William H. McRaven thought that this accident put a definitive end to his career. A hard landing off to the side. But, you know, I think leaders know how to recognize other leaders. After jumping from the plane, McRaven noticed the jumper below him had pulled his chute, and it was coming at him fast. Well, I think its interesting when you think about Westmorelands observation in context. Kurt Ganapathy. So he didnt know my rank or my name. Yeah, I mean, even to this day, the impact of Moki Martin is with me every day. I didnt want to engage with him because, frankly, I didnt want him to, at least psychologically, think that he was a VIP, that he was somebody important enough to be able to engage me in conversation. I didnt want to engage with him because, frankly, I didnt want him to, at least psychologically, think that he was a VIP, that he was somebody important enough to be able to engage me in conversation. INSKEEP: You refer to remembering this incident, this kindness of effectively overlooking the regulations, you think, and how you behaved later as a commander, as the wars began in Iraq and Afghanistan. "If I was a loose cannon, he was too rigid. We know that theyre getting ready to launch aircraft to come intercept us. The master's thesis, which weighs in at 612 pages, proposes a theory of "relative superiority" to explain how a small offensive force can defeat a larger, well-fortified defense, which Clausewitz described as holding a decisive advantage. About Obama, without a question to prompt him, he waxes lyrical and at length. He was later memorialized in an eponymous film starring Tom Hanks. Lesson #1: Make Your Bed Every Morning. Admiral, Youve just written a book, The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived. And your father served in World War Two, and you share memories of him and his fellow service members swapping stories about their missions. INSKEEP: He wasn't in a very good position to negotiate, I suppose. Eight weeks later came the surprise attacks of Sept. 11. Tell us about that. In his 2014 commencement speech, former Navy SEAL Admiral William H. McRaven offered 10 lessons to the University of Texas at Austin graduating class.He outlined the lessons of the bed, paddle, heart, cookie, circus, obstacle, shark, dark moment, song, and bell. I had received an intelligence brief the night before from one of the great noncommissioned officers that was part of the Saddam hunt. I said, good, come here and. (Photo Credit: United States Navy / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) McRaven's plan was successful and bin Laden was killed by SEAL Team 6 on May 2, 2011. What kind of intelligence did we get off the target? So there was always concern about the Pakistanis engaging. McRaven grew up with war stories. In his speech, Adm. McRaven makes use of pathos, ethos, and a strong delivery to make his points about accomplishing small goals to reach a larger one and standing one's ground. HOOVER: In April 2011, while you were serving as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, you were gearing up to take down Osama bin Laden. And just something said, hey, we got to turn around, weve got to get back, because, you know, tonights going to be the night. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. . In a special edition celebrating Independence Day, four-star Admiral William H. McRaven shares stories of heroism from his 37 years of service to America, including details behind the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Osama bin Laden. That is not exactly the same as choosing two commandments to rebut in church, but it is provocative. You were on a helicopter leaving Baghdad and you suddenly wanted to turn it around. But I'm stunned. He was one of your SEAL instructors who you call, quote, one of the most inspirational men that you knew. And as I say in the book, kind of inexplicably, I just had this feeling that this was going to be the night that we got Saddam Hussein. . NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retired Navy Admiral and former U.S. special operations chief William McRaven has no regrets about criticizing President Donald Trump, though he said on Wednesday . I said, good, come here and. WILLIAM H MCRAVEN: And all of a sudden, I realize the guy to the left is underneath me. But at the end of the day, you have to confirm the jackpot. He graduated in 1977 with an ensign's commission, signed up for SEAL training, married Georgeann and deployed to the Philippines. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. He went right into Naval Special Warfare, serving in SEAL Team Six under its creator, Richard Marchinko who fired McRaven for being too rigid. And that little bit of levity kind of helped me through the rest of the night. Did we inadvertently kill people we shouldnt have killed? Retired Admiral William McRaven speaks Wednesday January 10, 2018 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. So I reflect back on that 10 years ago and Im just proud to have been a small part of it. You were hit by a fellow divers canopy. 00:23:10 He knew I'd been in a parachute accident. You were in the joint operation center and you heard the C squadron commander who was on the ground saying, we have Jackpot. Take us inside the Joint Operation Center at that moment. You told the SEAL Team Six, This mission is to capture or kill bin Laden. I kind of tumble through the parachute. He took the special out of special warfare.". Duty is among the virtues that you write about in the hero code. Michael E. Thornton - BUD/S Class 49. In fact, we had a plan with what we were going to do with bin Laden if we captured him. In April, a month before the bin Laden raid, Obama tapped McRaven for his fourth star and nominated him to lead the U.S. Special Operations Command. You said, quote, As a commander, you would like to be in ultimate control of all of the decisions, but the reality is you cant be. (See pictures of the history of special ops.). But when we were in training, he did not hesitate to pick me out of a crowd and turn me into a sugar cookie, as we say, where you roll around in the sand, and that kind of good natured harassment on a routine basis. I'm not exactly sure what's happened. When the chute blossomed the two parts went different ways and took his legs with them. But after SEAL training, we were stationed at the same team and we became very close friends. I was heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D.(?) And I took the opportunity to call up my boys and say, you know, my daughter was with us and explained it to her as well, that her life was about to change for dad. But he was not going to have outside contact with any of his former Iraqi leaders. I need to go personally identify the remains before I can kind of come back and tell you for certain its bin Laden. We put the body bag on the hangar floor and its a rubberized body bag. So it broke my pelvis several inches apart, you know, ripped muscles out of my stomach and my legs, fractured my back, and I landed about two miles from the drop zone. Adm. William McRaven, who oversaw the raid on Osama bin Laden's home, says as it went beyond the planned time, he feared Pakistani forces might find U.S. troops . General and Mrs. Caslen, General and Mrs. Clarke, General Trainor, Col Brazil, Command Sergeants Major Duane . Today on the show, Admiral McRaven and I discuss why something as simple as making your bed every day can lay the foundation for success in every aspect of your life, how a parachuting accident taught him an important lesson on avoiding self-pity and learning to rely on the help of others, and why rolling in the sand as a . You had 60 million dollars for a helicopter, the one we had lost on the raid, and you didnt have ten dollars for a tape measure? And as Ive told folks, it was just the right amount of levity, just at the right time to kind of lower the stress in the room. I need to go personally identify the remains before I can kind of come back and tell you for certain its bin Laden. We put the body bag on the hangar floor and its a rubberized body bag. HOOVER: Admiral, youve led sailors through harrowing missions. He began the new job this summer. MCRAVEN: So by the time the helicopters had passed back over the border, now Im on the video with President Obama and his team. Ill lie down next to the body just to see whether or not the remains are a little longer. William H. McRaven. A small group of men would fly nearly 200 miles through the dark, and then they would kill, or fail to kill, a mortal foe. Will they be the next president or prime minister of Iraq? Moki, to me was this kind of quintessential Navy SEAL. 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