So I grabbed Hank and I said, Hank, turn the plane around; we got to get back to Baghdad. As the chief executive officer of the UT System, Chancellor McRaven oversees 14 institutions that educate 221,000 students and employ 20,000 faculty and more than 80,000 health care professionals, researchers and staff. "There now has been an accumulation through the course of 2011 of very significant losses in core al-Qaeda and also the affiliates in Yemen and some of the other offshoots," Petraeus says, citing two al-Qaeda figures, Atiyah Abdel Rahman in Pakistan and Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, whose deaths have not been officially acknowledged as JSOC's work. I don't know whether I've been dazed. They pull it up, and there's Saddam. Four-star Admiral Bill McRaven, former commander of the U.S. Special Operations and Navy SEAL, has led a high-profile careerincluding facing Somali pirates, Osama Bin Laden, and his own commander in chief. MCRAVEN: Yeah, it was actually a C-130. It begins by stating matter-of-factly that Carl von Clausewitz, the Prussian strategist whose On War is a standard text, was wrong about two of his central maxims. Published Dec. 27, 2021 Updated Dec. 31, 2021. MCRAVEN: Well, the mission wasnt over yet. I was heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D.(?) From there he began an extraordinary rise, moving rapidly through command and operational roles. And then as we start to get into the December timeframe, we had another lead. I couldnt see what was going on inside the building. McRaven: I was just honored to be part of the operation. . An accident during a routine parachute jump in 2001 kind of snapped me in two, McRaven said in a 2019 interview. And in the case of the rescue of Captain Phillips, the guys on scene made all the right calls. Kurt Ganapathy. You know, we had a lot of kind of heated discussions in the meetings I was in, but there was never any rancor. "All in all, a pretty good year," McRaven says, "but frankly it has been a big year for us really since 9/11.". And then he fired three rounds. Thank you for your service. Richard Marcinko, the hard-charging founding commander of Navy SEAL Team 6, the storied and feared unit within an elite commando force that later . You know, when we first captured Saddam, he was pompous. When McRaven jumped he found himself falling at 125 MPH and hitting the parachute of another, who had deployed his chute too soon. The sentiments appear to be mutual, for McRaven and his special-operations units. We go through this cycle every couple of decades. So he didnt know my rank or my name. (See TIME's 2008 Person of the Year: Barack Obama. Hes done more from a wheelchair than any men standing erect. But I would go in every day to check on him. I didnt want to because I didnt want him to think that he was somehow important enough to be able to engage El Jefe, as he called me. What do we need to do next? Date of Birth. The commandos dropped into 10,000 feet of free fall, reserving their parachutes for the last moment. "It has been since 9/11 that both their utility and then their expertise have become the cutting edge.". And frankly, I didnt want to engage him in a conversation. Take us inside that closet as you watched your SEALS enter Pakistan and clear the compound floor by floor. 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. At the time, Admiral William H. McRaven thought that this accident put a definitive end to his career. Again, this was 2003 so the technology wasnt quite as sophisticated as it is today. You were hit by a fellow divers canopy. They are concerned about these things. I mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made. We were holding our breath whether he could make it. 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. "Part of the chute wrapped around one leg, the risers around the other, and the good news is that it opened. "That was his favorite!" When McRaven was 10, Sean Connery's James Bond spent a lot of screen time in Thunderball pummeling underwater bad guys and making out with Domino, the underwater hottie. A natural storyteller, he shared highlights from his high-profile career at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum last week. We all remember those images of Saddam Hussein the moment that he was captured. Now, when I walked in, I made sure that my name tags were off and my stars were off. Thanks so much. Judge plans to appoint Special Master to Dominion, Fox News . Back then, he was worried about whether or not the youth would stand up and join the military. That is not exactly the same as choosing two commandments to rebut in church, but it is provocative. And then two days later, when I was back in Washington briefing the Congress, I get a call to come over to the White House. Making your bed as easy to do. What I would offer is I think when he finally realized that he no longer had his palaces, he no longer had his generals, he no longer had his handmaidens, he went from being pompous and arrogant to frankly, just being, you know, a tired, corrupt old man. But, you know, I think leaders know how to recognize other leaders. And to this day, Moki oversees the triathlon that we run every year as part of our underwater demolition team and our SEAL fraternity. You know, you were also in charge of a very successful high seas rescue of Captain Phillips, who was held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia. And we had a plan to do that. Bin Laden was in American hands, status adjusted: "enemy killed in action." But by then he and his young lieutenant had fallen out. 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. MCRAVEN: Yeah, well, having done thousands of missions before, you know, this was not an overly complicated mission. But that was still many hours after the mission was concluded. 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. And you write that you, quote, had an obligation, both morally and legally to keep him safe. 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. Tell us about that. Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images, NOW WATCH: A Navy SEAL commander explains how he learned to never give up, had to watch the American response on television. Oh, absolutely. The Commander in Chief staked his presidency on a military plan with risks that daunted his Secretary of Defense. 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 . And now I'm tumbling out of control towards the ground.". Accuracy and availability may vary. 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. This past May marked 10 years since the historic and heroic mission that you orchestrated, Admiral, what is it like for you to watch President Obama say those words now, 10 years later? This Week on a special, Independence Day Firing Line. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. I wonder what you think we can do to convince more people to make their beds every morning? That was a day that I think motivated all of America to go forth and realize that we had to bring justice to bin Laden, to bring justice to Al-Qaeda and to do what we felt was right for the country. "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. And as I would find out later, it wouldnt be the last time. Admiral, tell me about that premonition. By way of example, O'Connor recounted a story told by Navy SEAL Adm. (retired) Bill McRaven on St. Patrick's Day in Savannah, Georgia, at a Hibernians Society dinner, "a few years back." (Full . The first of Admiral McRaven's 10 lessons is: start your day with one successful task completed, such as making your bed, and you will find the motivation to tackle others. They had doubled their size and tripled their budget since 9/11, and 10 years of high-tempo combat missions had honed their skills in Iraq, Afghanistan and theaters of war they did not usually acknowledge: Somalia, Yemen, Tanzania, Kenya, Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan, where bin Laden's compound was not the first to receive callers from JSOC. 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. In 2001, he became a counterrorism advisor for the National Security Council and soon was fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. Take a look at President Obamas speech to the nation the night of May 1st, 2011. While freefalling, the man ahead of him deployed his parachute too soon, and McRaven collided with the chute as it opened. I had a medical professional, either a corpsman, a medic or a doctor in the room with him 24/7, along with a security guard. Theyre all kind of crammed into this small room with General Brad Webb, who was my liaison to the White House at the time. It absolutely was not. 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. And we had a plan to do that. HOOVER: In your account of the rescue. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status. Yeah, well, obviously, like a lot of people who watched it on TV, it was a horrifying moment for all of us. McRaven says civilians die in fewer than 1% of the raids, a good record in close urban combat, but it still means U.S. commandos are killing noncombatants twice a month. So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. Of course, as we began to come in to target the one helicopter loses lift as it got over the target. n your account of the rescue. But it was probably 15 minutes after that. I loved the sense of patriotism. McRaven: He went from being pompous and arrogant to frankly, just being, : The first people I want to thank are the SEALs. And so I recognize that shots are being fired. Yeah, it was interesting. I said, good, come here and. INSKEEP: He wasn't in a very good position to negotiate, I suppose. He began the new job this summer. And some folks were a little dismissive. commander under the obama administration. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. HOOVER: You know, Ive heard you say that you are the quote biggest fan of the millennial generation and generation and Gen Z. She's been in the hospital for two months and has years of . Hes done more from a wheelchair than any men standing erect. He has unique facial characteristics. I think he still felt that he would come back into power. But at the end of the day, you have to confirm the jackpot. And when it did, the leg with the pilot chute went one direction, and the leg with the risers went the other direction and kind of snapped me in two. Marcinko picked McRaven to lead a team in the hot new command with a purposely wonky name: Naval Special Warfare Development Group. I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. 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. Along the way, McRaven sketches the qualities required to pull off something very much like the bin Laden raid, 18 years in advance: "a simple plan, carefully concealed, realistically rehearsed and executed with surprise, speed and purpose." "I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. Can you reflect on that moment and what it was like for you, what you took in at that moment? Every particular of his missions remains classified. MCRAVEN: Yeah, he wasn't in a real good position to negotiate. As it turned out, in a dark room at night. Retired Adm. William McRaven is a lot of things. And then in 1983, as you mentioned, he had a head-on bicycle accident and then was paralyzed from the chest down and has been since that time. I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. Now available in bookstores everywhere, or go to time.com/specialops to order your copy today. February 22, 2023 6:56 PM. . But having been through these missions before, what I always know is, you know, you really have to sit down with the operators. WESTMORELAND: The zeal and the desire to serve is not present to the extent that it was several years ago. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. He said, well sir Im six two. We had a helicopter with an optical ball on it that was providing our ISR, our video coverage, if you will. The planning and decisionmaking for the bin Laden raid, he volunteers, "was really everything the American public would expect from their national leadership." So anybody that claims that theyve got a helmet cam video, nobody was wearing helmet cams. He was running special operations in Iraq when Task Force 121, a clandestine unit under JSOC, tracked Saddam Hussein to his spider hole. He was arrogant. But he was not going to have outside contact with any of his former Iraqi leaders. Updated at 5:38 p.m. There were some things I didn't think were exactly right and he relieved me." He kept tabs on the SEALs who had gone to war without him. Then, I thought, well, you know, thats probably not very distinguished for the three star admiral to be lying down next to the body. So I reflect back on that 10 years ago and Im just proud to have been a small part of it. For most of the past decade, McRaven hunted down high-value targets overseas. 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. Years ago the author was badly wounded in a parachute accident and he had to go through months of recovery and rehabilitation. I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. But again, to your point, I had a moral and legal obligation to make sure that we took good care of him. (See pictures of the history of special ops. 20. McRaven said in a 2019 interview. You got to find out, one, is everybody OK? Then McRaven swung back into the picture. And that little bit of levity kind of helped me through the rest of the night. I didnt think much of it. We had a helicopter with an optical ball on it that was providing our ISR, our video coverage, if you will. Stay up to date with what you want to know. McCraven is best known as the Navy SEAL commander who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. 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. MCRAVEN: Thank you, Margaret. In 2003, you were the commander of Task Force 714 in Iraq. And, of course, that generation, you know, they were children of the Great Depression. There were more serious charges, one of which eventually landed Marcinko in prison. And was in charge of SEAL Team Six during Neptunes Spear, the daring operation that took out Osama Bin Laden. Do you mind recounting it? HOOVER: Admiral, youve led sailors through harrowing missions. Rescued Captain Phillips from Somali pirates, Phillips: The first people I want to thank are the SEALs. I didnt want to because I didnt want him to think that he was somehow important enough to be able to engage El Jefe, as he called me. Routines, good routines, healthy routines are important. He also survived a gnarly parachuting accident that broke his back and pelvis in 2001 during an exercise near . 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. Around that time came a call from Wayne Downing, a retired Army four-star general. The standard-issue AMC Eagle wagon was no kind of ride for commandos. We actually didnt have a drone. So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. The Navy brass had established a secret counterterrorist unit under Commander Richard Marcinko, a creative, mercurial and extravagantly profane enthusiast of commando arts. Today, McRaven calls Marcinko a "charismatic figure" who deserves credit for building an important new unit from scratch. Retired Adm. William McRaven earned fame for leading US special-operations forces on some of their most well-known missions. Long before the bin Laden raid, the special operators came to believe they had rebuilt themselves as a stealthy, lethal and strategically potent military force. His only known experience of combat before reaching flag rank came as a SEAL "task unit" leader in the Persian Gulf War. And the answer was, millions of men and women, and particularly after 9/11. 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 as I would find out later, it wouldnt be the last time. Admiral, tell me about that premonition. While the rest of the Pentagon is scaling back spending, special-operations forces are asking for more. HOOVER: Did you have a moment of relief at that point? A hard landing off to the side. 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