He said, well sir Im six two. Image: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher William. Jocko Willink. William Harry McRaven (born November 6, 1955) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. It still brings me to tears.". William H. McRaven is a retired four-star US Navy SEAL admiral and author of the number one New York Times best-seller Make Your Bed (2017).During his almost 40 years of service, McRaven became commander of America's anti-terrorist and hostage rescue operations, which included the capture of Saddam Hussein and the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. 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. I had been talking to the leader of the Army Task Force. Once there were U.S. commando units in World War II. Saddam Hussein became your prisoner when he remained at your camp longer than originally expected, about 30 days. And of course, it started in SEAL training. Credits. Did you have a sense that you would follow in your fathers footsteps? WILLIAM H MCRAVEN: And all of a sudden, I realize the guy to the left is underneath me. . I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. Suffice to say, I'm not sure whatever happened to that paperwork, but I continued on in the service, and some things are better left unasked. I mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. "He was climbing the steps, and it was agony, step by step. And then, of course, when we get on target, we didnt know whether or not the entire compound was booby trapped, whether bin Laden was wearing a suicide vest, all those sorts of things added to the risk. Back then, he was worried about whether or not the youth would stand up and join the military. Now, a principle of democracy is, for every right there is a duty. Well, because I was tumbling, the pilot chute came out and wrapped around one leg, and then another part of the parachute called the riser came out and wrapped around my other leg. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. I knew that there would have to be some sort of follow on action against Al-Qaeda. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to retired Adm. William McRaven, who may be best-known as the Navy SEAL commander who oversaw the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, about his new memoir. Theyre the superheroes. He was the son of an Air Force officer who grew up on Pope Air Force Base and joined the Navy through an ROTC program. 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. And in the case of the rescue of Captain Phillips, the guys on scene made all the right calls. 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. So I get hit," he recalls. But having been through these missions before, what I always know is, you know, you really have to sit down with the operators. Im listening to the radio. We were holding our breath whether he could make it. McRaven grew up as an officer in the aftermath. It obviously had a lot of political risk with it, and I dont want to minimize the risk. Or, I have to be careful, Im not sure From the time the mission started I think maybe its 15 minutes when I got the call from the ground force commander, for God and country, Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo. And Geronimo was the code word for bin Laden. And on that night it was McRaven, linked by secure video from Jalalabad to the White House, who briefed the President in real time as the operation progressed. 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. The Commander in Chief staked his presidency on a military plan with risks that daunted his Secretary of Defense. HOOVER: Its quite striking because you write that the command center breaks into cheers, but you, quote, had no sense of relief, no internal exhilaration, no feeling of victory. You know, he ate as well if not better than a lot of the soldiers that we had. Take a look. Tell us about that. And so when I got the call from the squadron commander and he said, we have Jackpot, youre always, as the guy sitting in the rear, youre thinking, ok, this is good news. 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. By the time I landed back in Baghdad, the force was moving towards the target and within, you know, within an hours time, the Armys special operations guys that were working for me had had, in fact, captured Saddam Hussein. "There is nobody in the U.S. government that thinks we can kill our way to victory, certainly not the special-operations guys," he says, "but what happens is, by capturing and killing some of these high-value targets, we buy space and time for the rest of the government to work.". I mean, we flew the 162 miles really without incident. Patient and ingenious work by U.S. intelligence agencies marked a spot tentative, but more likely accurate than not on the map. So whenever people begin to lose hope about the future of the country and whether or not the men and women will continue to serve, I think weve seen this movie before. You wrote in your book. The commandos dropped into 10,000 feet of free fall, reserving their parachutes for the last moment. We actually didnt have a drone. Well, thats true of every mission you conduct, youve got to be able to delegate to people that you have trust and confidence in. And was in charge of SEAL Team Six during Neptunes Spear, the daring operation that took out Osama Bin Laden. And the reason that I am so impressed with this generation, because the 9/11 generation, these young men and women that signed up after September 11th, that raised their hand and said, Im going to join the military, knew that they were taking on the risks, knew that they would probably go to war. There was always an understanding that it was about doing what was right for the country. William McRaven retired from the US Navy as a four-star admiral, as the commander of the United States special operations command and as the longest serving Navy SEAL in the history of our country . Then, in 2001, came the parachute accident and the long climb back. According to Nan McRaven, one of two older sisters, their father Claude regaled the family with accounts of his exploits as a fighter pilot in British-built Spitfires during World War II. Then, as commandos set explosive charges around the wounded aircraft: "We're going to destroy the helicopter.". So I reached for my rip cord, pulled the rip cord, and the pilot chute comes out of the back of the parachute. MCRAVEN: Yeah. As you point out. Just like that, it was over. You know, when we first captured Saddam, he was pompous. But after SEAL training, we were stationed at the same team and we became very close friends. And the answer was, millions of men and women, and particularly after 9/11. The story did not end there. MCRAVEN: I dont know, as a young boy, whether I thought I would follow in my fathers footsteps, what I knew was I loved the camaraderie. Or, I have to be careful, Im not sure From the time the mission started I think maybe its 15 minutes when I got the call from the ground force commander, for God and country, Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo. And Geronimo was the code word for bin Laden. So I think all of those kind of clicked in my mind. Admiral William McRaven commanded the Special Forces who captured Saddam Hussein. And eventually, of course, the SEALs execute a mission that all of these guys, in terms of the tactics of it, had done hundreds of times before. 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 . Unsure of his altitude or even where he was, he still had the frame of mind to reach for his ripcord, and pulled it. 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. They were children of World War One. So whenever a shot is fired, somebody is reporting through the chain. She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. They just know me as the make your bed guy. When after a bad parachute accident McRaven stoically refused pain medication, he writes that "the imposing face of . And then he fired three rounds. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made. Admiral Bill McRaven (retired) (DoD photo by Ken Moore) RELATED: NAVY SEAL WHO OVERSAW BIN LADEN RAID PENS CHILDREN'S BOOK In his speech to the graduates, O'Connor recounted how McRaven spoke about being a young SEAL officer when he was assigned to the insular, and still relatively new, SEAL Team 6 in the early 1980s. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. HOOVER: 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. Then McRaven swung back into the picture. McRaven's special operators, meanwhile, are flying high. Like most promising midcareer officers, the 36-year-old McRaven was dispatched to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Navy Adm. William H. McRaven oversaw missions leading to Osama bin Laden's death. "He was the boss. You know, when we stood up an all volunteer force, I remember thinking initially, well, this will never work. With her father by her side, she laughed off the injury like it was a scratch. The standard-issue AMC Eagle wagon was no kind of ride for commandos. And the reason that I am so impressed with this generation, because the 9/11 generation, these young men and women that signed up after September 11th, that raised their hand and said, Im going to join the military, knew that they were taking on the risks, knew that they would probably go to war. "Special forces have taken greater measures in the last year and a half to reduce civilian casualties," says Erica Gaston, who wrote a report for the Open Society Foundations, "but one night raid in a village can be enough to turn [people] against international and Afghan government efforts. I mean, hes just a remarkable, remarkable inspiration. It was scuba diving that captured young Bill McRaven's imagination. You were on a helicopter leaving Baghdad and you suddenly wanted to turn it around. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. I guess he did.". William McRaven delivered MIT's 2020 Commencement address. His story with the near fatal jump accident and, before that, the ignominious loss of his first command fit the narrative of setback and redemption in the special-operations community writ large. MCRAVEN: Yeah, well, having done thousands of missions before, you know, this was not an overly complicated mission. On the night of the bin Laden raid, there were 13 simultaneous operations in Afghanistan by clandestine "special-mission units" under JSOC, according to McRaven and Petraeus. Do you mind recounting it? He kept tabs on the SEALs who had gone to war without him. But occupied France and John F. Kennedy are not what usually come to mind when special operators look for a reference point. . I was heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D.(?) Published Dec. 27, 2021 Updated Dec. 31, 2021. And some folks were a little dismissive. Adm. William McRaven shares anecdotes from his life and military career. So, you know, there are times when you have to realize that the work you do, if it is good and honorable and it is trying to save people's lives, you have to take some comfort in the fact that that is good work. Downing wanted McRaven on his staff. "Part of the chute wrapped around one leg, the risers around the other, and the good news is that it opened. 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