Downing wanted McRaven on his staff. Admiral McRaven, in an inspiring speech, addressed the Class of 2015 at West Point to celebrate 500th Night. Tell me about the impact that Moki Martin had on you. He has unique facial characteristics. In 2001, McRaven was hospitalized after a parachute accident "kind of snapped me in two," McRaven said in 2019. 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. The Navy brass had established a secret counterterrorist unit under Commander Richard Marcinko, a creative, mercurial and extravagantly profane enthusiast of commando arts. But occupied France and John F. Kennedy are not what usually come to mind when special operators look for a reference point. HOOVER: So you visited his room every day to speak with the doctor on guard. Well, thats true of every mission you conduct, youve got to be able to delegate to people that you have trust and confidence in. Youre watching PBS. : Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. "Look how much of their leadership we've taken apart and how long it's taken, and the movement is still not dead," says Wade Ishimoto, a former Delta Force intelligence officer. 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. WESTMORELAND: The zeal and the desire to serve is not present to the extent that it was several years ago. And youve probably seen the iconic photo from Pete Souza. And you write that you, quote, had an obligation, both morally and legally to keep him safe. They shot better with a prosthetic hand.". Theres a lot of things that go on post operation. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made. The fact of the matter is, the law of armed conflict and the rules of engagement were pretty clear. So Im getting radio calls from the ground force commander. So I grabbed Hank and I said, Hank, turn the plane around; we got to get back to Baghdad. So for 30 days, I came in every day to check on him and then would leave the small room without engaging him. No Americans were harmed. Im ok with that. Just like that, it was over. Will they just be a great mother or father that raises another kid who raises another kid? 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. What were you seeing? His father, a career Air Force officer, was stationed at Pope Air Force Base, now known as Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg. As commander of Naval Special Warfare Group One, Captain McRaven was leading a 1,000-foot freefall exercise in the summer of 2001, when an accident occurred that could easily have cost him his life. 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. Did we inadvertently kill people we shouldnt have killed? So you visited his room every day to speak with the doctor on guard. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. And was in charge of SEAL Team Six during Neptunes Spear, the daring operation that took out Osama Bin Laden. Judge plans to appoint Special Master to Dominion, Fox News . In fact, we had a plan with what we were going to do with bin Laden if we captured him. 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. Will they be, you know, somebody of importance? Im ok with that. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. . If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. We go through this cycle every couple of decades. On the downside, "relative superiority" does not last long. "He was almost like the voice of Walter Cronkite, completely calm," says Michael Leiter, who was present as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. About Obama, without a question to prompt him, he waxes lyrical and at length. MCRAVEN: Oh, absolutely. We werent going to put him in a cell with other people, that his days as the leader of Iraq were over. 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. So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. And sometimes, you know, not our place to overthink it and to trust and rely on the decision-makers who were elected by the American people. Well, the Joint Operation Center, we refer to it as the JOC, was probably about a hundred people that are sitting in a room with a lot of computers. 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. I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. And I think he was probably glad I didn't ask him. With her father by her side, she laughed off the injury . INSKEEP: You tell story after story after story in this book. William McRaven: We were doing a freefall. It is a small task, but I think an important one. . Admiral William McRaven, now retired, thought commanding the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, would be the crowning achievement of his 37 years as a Navy SEAL."I . Yeah, well, he knew that I was in charge. And now I'm tumbling out of control towards the ground.". At the time, Admiral William H. McRaven thought that this accident put a definitive end to his career. You know, he ate as well if not better than a lot of the soldiers that we had. 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. He never had his hands raised. But it wasnt the first time Id had a, quote, premonition. During a routine exercise, while serving as a Navy captain with decades of command of SEALs around the world, Admiral William H. McRaven was involved in a parachute accident: he fell more than 1,200 metres before the parachute deployed! MCRAVEN: Thank you, Margaret. You wrote, quote, as long as I could wiggle my toes, I was going to stay a SEAL. You share the story of Moki Martin, the Vietnam era SEAL, who was partially paralyzed from a head-on bike accident. But I also knew at that moment that life was about to change. I couldnt see what was going on inside the building. There were some things I didn't think were exactly right and he relieved me." A natural storyteller, he shared highlights from his high-profile career at a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum last week. Well, I think its interesting when you think about Westmorelands observation in context. You were hit by a fellow divers canopy. Patient and ingenious work by U.S. intelligence agencies marked a spot tentative, but more likely accurate than not on the map. US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven speaking at UT Austin's 2014 commencement. He served in the first Gulf War and wrote the book on special warfare, "The Theory of Special Operations." I wonder what you think we can do to convince more people to make their beds every morning? Leadership. The story did not end there. 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. and a grotesque 2001 skydiving mishap that separated his pelvic muscles from the bone. 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. Never once did he say, why me? Toward the end, with the assault team moving from room to room, McRaven stepped unexpectedly away from the screen. And in the case of the rescue of Captain Phillips, the guys on scene made all the right calls. Hes done more from a wheelchair than any men standing erect. To be a good leader, you have to be a good communicator. Admiral William H. McRaven, Address to Class of 2015, 18 January 2014. The date that seared itself into their collective memory is April 24, 1980. 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. Chris Kyle. Yeah, I would say its a little surreal, but, you know, I go back to that whole operation and Ive offered to the American people, regardless of what side of the political aisle you might be on, you know, you would have been proud of the national security team the president, the vice president, secretary of state, secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, director of national intelligence director of the CIA all of these men and women that came together to do what was right by the nation. 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. Few believe it will be his last. And then as we start to get into the December timeframe, we had another lead. "I said to him, 'You can grow up to be 007.' And that little bit of levity kind of helped me through the rest of the night. But I would go in every day to check on him. Retired Adm. William McRaven, shown here in 2014 addressing the Texas Board of Regents in Austin, Texas, is one of five prominent former defense officials who have been named to the inaugural . SEAL training was a great equalizer. Bring us back to this moment, will you, Admiral? And Ive seen it in this current generation, the millennials and the Gen Z. We werent going to put him in a cell with other people, that his days as the leader of Iraq were over. This is a disturbing phenomenon to me because I dont believe our democracy long range is going to work unless theres an attitude in our society and particularly among our young, that they have an obligation of service. 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. But they do know you as the make-your-bed guy. Will one of those hundred people be the person that cures cancer? As it turned out, in a dark room at night. He was running special operations in Iraq when Task Force 121, a clandestine unit under JSOC, tracked Saddam Hussein to his spider hole. And Maybe the World . And I certainly didn't make it to where I was as a result of my own wonderful talents. HOOVER: You write about a skydiving accident that you were in in 2001 that nearly cost you your life. So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. You told the SEAL Team Six, This mission is to capture or kill bin Laden. Stay up to date with what you want to know. 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. I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. Television, film and video games have infused popular culture, and the political debate, with the power of special warfare to get the job done on the cheap. ADM McRaven's 500th Night speech, titled A Sailor's Perspective on the United States Army, was transcribed and released by West Point. McRaven grew up as an officer in the aftermath. It's one of the tales he recounts in his new memoir, titled "Sea Stories: My Life In Special Forces" (ph). And as I was descending, I noticed that there was . Ill lie down next to the body just to see whether or not the remains are a little longer. 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 mean, who in the world is going to join the military for relatively low pay, to put your life at risk, et cetera, et cetera? But it wasnt the first time Id had a, quote, premonition. Well, you know, there are people who I meet every day who have no idea I ever spent a day in uniform. Retired Adm. William McRaven earned fame for leading US special-operations forces on some of their most well-known missions. This is a disturbing phenomenon to me because I dont believe our democracy long range is going to work unless theres an attitude in our society and particularly among our young, that they have an obligation of service. You got to find out, one, is everybody OK? McRaven made headlines in August when he wrote an op-ed condemning President Trump saying, "Revoke my security clearance, too." Now Fox News is reporting that last month, just a few days after penning the op-ed, McRaven left a prominent post with the DIB over the incident.. We always find heroes in the next generation that are more than willing to serve and sacrifice. Retired Admiral William McRaven speaks Wednesday January 10, 2018 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. I was heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D.(?) What kind of intelligence did we get off the target? And I said to him, he ate as well if not better a... Two, '' McRaven said in 2019 you 're on the downside, `` the Theory special. Theory of special Operations. Admiral McRaven, Address to Class of 2015 at West to! Marked a spot tentative, but I also knew at that moment that life about... 2014 commencement she laughed admiral mcraven parachute accident the target a small task, but more likely than. 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