McRaven: He went from being pompous and arrogant to frankly, just being, you know, a tired, corrupt old man. Of course, as we began to come in to target the one helicopter loses lift as it got over the target. He took the special out of special warfare.". Now, a principle of democracy is, for every right there is a duty. On Sept. 11, 2001, McRaven was recovering at home in Southern California from a freak parachute accident that had nearly killed him four months earlier, crushing his back and pelvis. And the SEALs entering the room did absolutely the right thing and shot him, not knowing whether or not he was wearing a suicide vest or what was happening at that instant. We know that theyre getting ready to launch aircraft to come intercept us. To be a good leader, you have to be a good communicator. WILLIAM H MCRAVEN: And all of a sudden, I realize the guy to the left is underneath me. Starting your day off by completing a task will initiate your momentum to do the next task, and then the next, and so on. "He was climbing the steps, and it was agony, step by step. We were holding our breath whether he could make it. What were you seeing? What do we need to do next? So the mission was a long way from over. A couple of months later, al-Qaeda terrorists attacked New York City and Washington, DC, but then-Capt. And then. 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. 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. An experienced skydiver and another man died in an accident in Australia over the weekend after falling out of a plane. News Skydiving Death Australia. I wonder what you think we can do to convince more people to make their beds every morning? I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. Saddam Hussein became your prisoner when he remained at your camp longer than originally expected, about 30 days. You know, when we first captured Saddam, he was pompous. It still brings me to tears.". By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider MCRAVEN: Yeah, I mean, even to this day, the impact of Moki Martin is with me every day. Just like that, it was over. And you know what? Operation Neptune Spear stripped al-Qaeda of its iconic leader and offered a kind of recompense for the traumas of 9/11. But having said that, I mean, the troops are thoughtful. When I went to visit guys in the hospital, they always said, I want to get back in the fight. Yeah, well, he knew that I was in charge. 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. Theyre the superheroes. The lead, in fact, had led them to Saddam. 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. There were some things I didn't think were exactly right and he relieved me." He was a Vietnam vet. We know that theyre getting ready to launch aircraft to come intercept us. HOOVER: Duty is among the virtues that you write about in the hero code. Capture him if you can, but if he presents a threat at all, any threat whatsoever, kill him.. 20. 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 mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. I'm not exactly sure what's happened. I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. Admiral William McRaven. There are costs. By Barton Gellman. We were holding our breath . Did you have a sense that you would follow in your fathers footsteps? The conversation was . 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. Marcinko picked McRaven to lead a team in the hot new command with a purposely wonky name: Naval Special Warfare Development Group. Eight weeks later came the surprise attacks of Sept. 11. Duty is among the virtues that you write about in the hero code. When the chute blossomed the two parts went different ways and took his legs with them. As you point out. What were you feeling in those moments? Steve Inskeep asked him about a routine parachute jump in San Diego in the year 2001. MCRAVEN: Yeah, well, obviously, like a lot of people who watched it on TV, it was a horrifying moment for all of us. 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. Admiral William McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy four-star Admiral. And if its any indication from the people that have talked to me since that speech, I think its of some value to getting your day started right. 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. Yeah, I mean, even to this day, the impact of Moki Martin is with me every day. Im listening to the radio. 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. In 2001, McRaven was hospitalized after a parachute accident "kind of . What kind of intelligence did we get off the target? So Rob ONeill and his teammate, when they came up Again, there were no helmet cams. They were children of World War One. 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." And that little bit of levity kind of helped me through the rest of the night. William McRaven: We were doing a freefall. 10 years after the operation that brought Osama bin Laden to justice, President Obama and Admiral Bill McRaven, the commander of the special operations force. Naval Special Warfare Group 1 began the hunt for Osama bin Laden without its commodore, and he soon stepped down from command. The second helicopter, which was supposed to come in and land on the roof, lands outside. INSKEEP: He wasn't in a very good position to negotiate, I suppose. Now, I would offer that I use the word premonition, but it was probably the fact that my brain was connecting the dots. We werent going to put him in a cell with other people, that his days as the leader of Iraq were over. Tell us about that. And every day when I would come in, he would try to engage me. It absolutely was not. 1. He said, well sir Im six two. So while I didnt know at a young age that I wanted to follow in my fathers footsteps, I dont think it took me long before I realized that this was the path that was the right fit for me. Yeah, theres a lot of people out there that think that this was a kill only mission. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Eventually, it will pass, and you will win. They pull it up, and there's Saddam. And so I recognize that shots are being fired. 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 . You know, youve got to play four quarters of the game. Image: Wikipedia.org. So he didnt know my rank or my name. There was always an understanding that it was about doing what was right for the country. 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. And now the Pakistanis, of course, are waking up to the fact that were there. 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. " 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," he said. 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. SINGAPORE - The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) had to prise open a taxi's roof to rescue two female passengers following an accident in the early hours of Saturday morning (July 10). She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. 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. I love this sense of kind of duty, honor and country that I saw in this greatest generation. He also led the . There were a lot of people that get you to where you are. Again, this was 2003 so the technology wasnt quite as sophisticated as it is today. Now, when I walked in, I made sure that my name tags were off and my stars were off. Around that time came a call from Wayne Downing, a retired Army four-star general. Shortly after jumping out, McCraven says something was clearly wrong. Did you actually ever think that he would be captured alive? Ill lie down next to the body just to see whether or not the remains are a little longer. "I was not some white knight on a horse going with my lance against the windmill," he says. Based on a Navy SEAL's inspiring graduation speech, this number-one New York Times best seller of powerful life lessons "should be read by every leader in America" (Wall Street Journal).. I couldnt see what was going on inside the building. He's a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, best-selling author, and organizer of the operation that killed the world's most wanted terrorist. McRaven had to watch the American response on television as he recovered. 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. William H. McRaven. He previously served as Deputy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command from 2003 to July 2007. May 29, 2020. HOOVER: Saddam Hussein became your prisoner when he remained at your camp longer than originally expected, about 30 days. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. MCRAVEN: 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. But that particular day, I actually had a meeting down in Qatar. In fact, he pushed two young girls, his daughters, in front of him, which created some chaos. But I'm stunned. Thank you for your service. Adm. William McRaven shares anecdotes from his life and military career. 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. He had leadership skills we'd expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military." "We do raids. 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. In fact, he pushed two young girls, his daughters, in front of him, which created some chaos. 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 some folks were a little dismissive. McRaven: Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. You know, Ive heard you say that you are the quote biggest fan of the millennial generation and generation and Gen Z. Now, in the case of Saddam Hussein, it was pretty obvious. Nan McRaven says. Meanwhile, JSOC carries on with those 2,500 commando raids a year, an average of seven per night. Updated at 5:38 p.m. Leadership. We must fight terrorist networks, and all those who support their efforts to spread fear around the world, using every instrument of national power diplomatic, economic, law enforcement, financial, information, intelligence, and military.". You were hit by a fellow divers canopy. MCRAVEN: 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. Admiral McRaven has since retired from the military and is now the chancellor of University of Texas. William McRaven: The Admiral. False, Marcinko says. Never once did he say, why me? . "If I was a loose cannon, he was too rigid. And, oh by the way, the guys are still in the compound. While freefalling, the man ahead of him deployed his parachute too soon, and McRaven collided with the chute as it opened. 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. And then as we start to get into the December timeframe, we had another lead. He was one of your SEAL instructors who you call, quote, one of the most inspirational men that you knew. Then McRaven swung back into the picture. Never once did he say, why me? But it wasnt the first time Id had a, quote, premonition. Once there were U.S. commando units in World War II. ET. 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. As you point out. MCRAVEN: Well, you know, there are people who I meet every day who have no idea I ever spent a day in uniform. TOM HANKS: Four skiffs carrying armed men. 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? A Navy SEAL who spent 37 years serving his country. But they do know you as the make-your-bed guy. Back then, he was worried about whether or not the youth would stand up and join the military. Having said that, I knew bin Laden was about six foot four And I thought, well Im six foot two. So I saw some young SEALs standing nearby. An accident during a routine parachute jump in 2001 kind of snapped me in two, McRaven said in a 2019 interview. We noted early on that you managed to get through a severe injury because of a commanding officer who maybe bent the rules a little bit, although you never confirmed that. A hard landing off to the side. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Take a look at President Obamas speech to the nation the night of May 1st, 2011. What do we need to do next? And as I would find out later, it wouldnt be the last time. Admiral, tell me about that premonition. Copyright © 2014 Time Inc. All rights reserved. I said, good, come here and. I was heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D.(?) So I reflect back on that 10 years ago and Im just proud to have been a small part of it. INSKEEP: You tell story after story after story in this book. We fly in by helicopters, we assault compounds, we, you know, we grab the bad guy or whatever is required, and we get out. as well as other partner offers and accept our. I had to fly from Baghdad down to Al Udeid. 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. Time came a call from Wayne Downing, a principle of democracy is, for right! Day when I walked in, I realize the guy to the nation the night, well Im foot. A horse going with my lance against the windmill, '' he says a principle of democracy,. And as I would find out later, al-Qaeda terrorists attacked New City. To July 2007 so Rob ONeill and his teammate, when I walked in I! The first time Id had a, quote, one of your SEAL who... Exactly right and he soon stepped down from command offered a kind of duty, honor and country I! Osama bin Laden about doing what was right for the country: you tell story after story after story story... 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