There was always an understanding that it was about doing what was right for the country. Yeah, well, obviously, like a lot of people who watched it on TV, it was a horrifying moment for all of us. But I knew immediately the guys were okay. Marcinko fired the 27-year-old McRaven after a year. I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. HOOVER: Admiral, youve led sailors through harrowing missions. Patient and ingenious work by U.S. intelligence agencies marked a spot tentative, but more likely accurate than not on the map. And I really didnt have any relief in terms of the mission until after all the helicopters had come back across the border, the Afghan border and were landing at the back at our base. 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.. So I saw some young SEALs standing nearby. And I really didnt have any relief in terms of the mission until after all the helicopters had come back across the border, the Afghan border and were landing at the back at our base. But again, to your point, I had a moral and legal obligation to make sure that we took good care of him. Firing Line with Margaret Hoover is made possible in part by and by Corporate funding is provided by 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. Like most promising midcareer officers, the 36-year-old McRaven was dispatched to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. To be a good leader, you have to be a good communicator. . The second helicopter, which was supposed to come in and land on the roof, lands outside. The good news is, as I fell a couple hundred feet or a thousand feet or so, the parachute finally opened. Leadership. He also explains how giving up isn't an option no matter what you're going through. 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. It obviously had a lot of political risk with it, and I dont want to minimize the risk. Why is that, Admiral? The Navy brass had established a secret counterterrorist unit under Commander Richard Marcinko, a creative, mercurial and extravagantly profane enthusiast of commando arts. 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. We always find heroes in the next generation that are more than willing to serve and sacrifice. And of course, it started in SEAL training. Lesson #1: Make Your Bed Every Morning. Admiral William McRaven (ret), former commander of Special Ops during OBL raid, writes: "Truth be told, I am a pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, small-government, strong-defense and a national . You were hit by a fellow divers canopy. Yeah, it was interesting. . The accident happened while he was participating in a Naval Special Warfare exercise involving a 1,000-foot free-fall jump. And they were going out every night, you know, trying to stop suicide bombers. HOOVER: And you think that contributed to his decline in custody? They were children of World War One. And then he fired three rounds. 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. Im absolutely ok with that. Having said that, I knew bin Laden was about six foot four And I thought, well Im six foot two. Every particular of his missions remains classified. Steve Inskeep asked him about a routine parachute jump in San Diego in the year 2001. 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. So a static line parachute is where you hook up inside the aircraft, the freefall you jump out with a parachute on your back. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. 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. Bush famously kept a list of al-Qaeda leaders in his Oval Office desk drawer and drew an X over each face as the target was captured or killed. She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. . MCRAVEN: Yeah, he wasn't in a real good position to negotiate. William H. McRaven. But I would go in every day to check on him. His father, a career Air Force officer, was stationed at Pope Air Force Base, now known as Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg. 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. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. 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. "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. So I reached for my rip cord, pulled the rip cord, and the pilot chute comes out of the back of the parachute. Bring us back to this moment, will you, Admiral? I mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. I unzip the body bag and without getting too graphic he obviously didnt look too good, he had a couple of rounds in his head the beard was a little smaller, I think, than what we usually anticipate. They were children of World War One. Billions of dollars and the labor of countless men and women had led to that day. I mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. 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. The fact of the matter is, the law of armed conflict and the rules of engagement were pretty clear. They just know me as the make your bed guy. Jocko Willink. 00:23:10 He knew I'd been in a parachute accident. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. You know, when we stood up an all volunteer force, I remember thinking initially, well, this will never work. 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? We always find heroes in the next generation that are more than willing to serve and sacrifice. There were some things I didn't think were exactly right and he relieved me." . Having said that, I knew bin Laden was about six foot four And I thought, well Im six foot two. A couple of months later, al-Qaeda terrorists attacked New York City and Washington, DC, but then-Capt. 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. Tell me about that moment and what you heard come through the radio after 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. All the men went off to World War Two, and then they came back and rebuilt the country. McCraven is best known as the Navy SEAL commander who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. : Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. 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 . So I saw some young SEALs standing nearby. ", A Fourth Star And so I really didnt kind of come off the business end of this mission probably until later that evening when finally I was able to hit the rack. The bad news is, when a parachute opens, it blossoms.". US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven speaking at UT Austin's 2014 commencement. While the rest of the Pentagon is scaling back spending, special-operations forces are asking for more. So anybody that claims that theyve got a helmet cam video, nobody was wearing helmet cams. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. And just something said, hey, we got to turn around, weve got to get back, because, you know, tonights going to be the night. He began the new job this summer. Eventually, it will pass, and you will win. You were hit by a fellow divers canopy. Did you have a sense that you would follow in your fathers footsteps? In 2001, he became a counterrorism advisor for the National Security Council and soon was fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq. We had a helicopter with an optical ball on it that was providing our ISR, our video coverage, if you will. Theres a lot of things that go on post operation. McRaven, who served as the ninth commander of the U.S. Special Operations command from . His only known experience of combat before reaching flag rank came as a SEAL "task unit" leader in the Persian Gulf War. Four skiffs carrying armed men. And so I recognize that shots are being fired. HOOVER: Saddam Hussein became your prisoner when he remained at your camp longer than originally expected, about 30 days. Marcinko rented Mercedes sedans with Navy funds, a friend of McRaven's says, "just because he could." When McRaven jumped he found himself falling at 125 MPH and hitting the parachute of another, who had deployed his chute too soon. . So anybody that claims that theyve got a helmet cam video, nobody was wearing helmet cams. 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. 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. In a new book from TIME, Special Ops: The Hidden World of America's Toughest Warriors, international editor Jim Frederick reports on the secret world of the U.S. military units. 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. A Navy SEAL who spent 37 years serving his country. So I grabbed Hank and I said, Hank, turn the plane around; we got to get back to Baghdad. and a grotesque 2001 skydiving mishap that separated his pelvic muscles from the bone. "There was a degree of coming to closure," he says. MCRAVEN: Oh, absolutely. But once again, as I mentioned, with Saddam Hussein, you know, until you can do the forensics on the remains, check the fingerprints, check the DNA, do the facial recognition, you know, Im reluctant to have said, hey, weve got jackpot on this one. Moki, to me was this kind of quintessential Navy SEAL. 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. So now I am tangled up in my parachute, falling towards the ground. McRaven had to watch the American response on television as he recovered. "If I was a loose cannon, he was too rigid. I mean, it showed that we as Americans can do the hard things and do them well. The DIB, on which McRaven served, was created during the Obama administration by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Well, the mission wasnt over yet. On the downside, "relative superiority" does not last long. HOOVER: Bring us back to this moment, will you, Admiral? In 2014 Admiral William H. McRaven gave the commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin. 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. may not know about the raid on Osama bin Ladens compound or the rescue of Captain Phillips. I never asked him the specific details. Admiral William H. McRaven, USN. Thanks to the footage owner for stopping to help.Thomas LeongSi. General and Mrs. Caslen, General and Mrs. Clarke, General Trainor, Col Brazil, Command Sergeants Major Duane . Later, William McRaven shares his story of a horrible parachute accident, which leaves him hospitalized for . Rescued Captain Phillips from Somali pirates, Phillips: The first people I want to thank are the SEALs. He served in the first Gulf War and wrote the book on special warfare, "The Theory of Special Operations." Now, in the case of Saddam Hussein, it was pretty obvious. President George W. Bush had asked Downing to inaugurate a new position as Deputy National Security Adviser for Combatting Terrorism. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made. All the men went off to World War Two, and then they came back and rebuilt the country. McRaven: Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. 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? Downing wanted McRaven on his staff. These lessons helped Admiral William McRaven overcome SEAL training and found that they applied to overcome life's challenges. He was one of your SEAL instructors who you call, quote, one of the most inspirational men that you knew. And even with that giant beard he had, it didnt take long for us to realize that we had the right guy. 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. And to this day, Moki oversees the triathlon that we run every year as part of our underwater demolition team and our SEAL fraternity. 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. ET. Caption. . It was July 18, 2001, midway through that quiet summer before the whole world learned Osama bin Laden's name. February 22, 2023 6:56 PM. . And every day that I went in, he tried to engage me in a conversation. It absolutely was not. 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. He's sure he would have surrendered to self-pity and . And so what we had to do pretty quickly was to make sure he understood that he was a prisoner of the United States and we were going to treat him well. INSKEEP: Admiral, one other thing occurs to me. HOOVER: You write about a skydiving accident that you were in in 2001 that nearly cost you your life. 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. But, you know, I think leaders know how to recognize other leaders. And, of course, that generation, you know, they were children of the Great Depression. The drill was to jump at 13,000 feet and once you dropped to 5,500 feet, you pulled your ripcord. 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? McRaven oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Capture him if you can, but if he presents a threat at all, any threat whatsoever, kill him.. In fact, he pushed two young girls, his daughters, in front of him, which created some chaos. 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 then. He kept tabs on the SEALs who had gone to war without him. Image: Wikipedia.org. Courage. By Barton Gellman. 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. In 2001, McRaven was hospitalized after a parachute accident "kind of snapped me in two," McRaven said in 2019. 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. it showed that we as Americans can do the hard things and do them well. The conversation was . 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. Admiral McRaven also explains how it isn't necessary to change everyone's lives for the world to change. The good news is, as I fell a couple hundred feet or a thousand feet or so, the parachute finally opened. So he lay down next to the body and sure enough, the body was about two inches longer. And frankly, I didnt want to engage him in a conversation. You told the SEAL Team Six, This mission is to capture or kill bin Laden. Hes done more from a wheelchair than any men standing erect. HOOVER: We all remember those images of Saddam Hussein the moment that he was captured. Plenty of junior officers admired McRaven's stand, but most, as one puts it, "thought that was the end of his career." Then: "We're going to push the QRF," the quick-reaction force. 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. I mean, hes just a remarkable, remarkable inspiration. Adm. William McRaven shares anecdotes from his life and military career. So the mission was a long way from over. The compound could still be booby trapped. But the fact of the matter is, I didnt want to engage with him. He was a Vietnam vet. Admiral McRaven, in an inspiring speech, addressed the Class of 2015 at West Point to celebrate 500th Night. But having been through these missions before, what I always know is, you know, you really have to sit down with the operators. But that didn't keep McRaven from rising in the ranks of Navy special operations. It was scuba diving that captured young Bill McRaven's imagination. But new leaders always stepped in. Then, I thought, well, you know, thats probably not very distinguished for the three star admiral to be lying down next to the body. McRaven signed up for Navy ROTC at the University of Texas, wooed Georgeann Brady at Alpha Delta Pi and majored in journalism at the peak of the profession's post-Watergate lan. General Stanley McChrystal as JSOC's top commander. And almost every time, it seems to me, you stop the story at some point to give credit to somebody who helped you. 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. Shortly after jumping out, McCraven says something was clearly wrong. Retired Adm. William McRaven earned fame for leading US special-operations forces on some of their most well-known missions. You write about a skydiving accident that you were in in 2001 that nearly cost you your life. But in the end, you never addressed him directly. Tell me about the impact that Moki Martin had on you. Im listening to the radio. Routines, good routines, healthy routines are important. Take us inside that closet as you watched your SEALS enter Pakistan and clear the compound floor by floor. I mean, there were risks every time we came close to the Pakistani border or crossed the Pakistani border, the Pakistanis were not concerned at all about engaging us. I mean, there were risks every time we came close to the Pakistani border or crossed the Pakistani border, the Pakistanis were not concerned at all about engaging us. "Go forth and be the heroes we need you to be," he told graduates. So there was always concern about the Pakistanis engaging. Did we inadvertently kill people we shouldnt have killed? Now, what I am getting, of course, is reports from the ground force commander when shots are fired. And as I was descending, I noticed that there was . Theres a lot of things that go on post operation. ), (See TIME's 2008 Person of the Year: Barack Obama. ), "The President was at all times presidential," he says. We all remember those images of Saddam Hussein the moment that he was captured. Then, in 2001, came the parachute accident and the long climb back. Do you mind recounting it? On May 1, with President Obama's go-ahead, it was McRaven who commanded the helicopter assault against the al-Qaeda leader's redoubt in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Did you have a moment of relief at that point? And we had a plan to do that. And so I recognize that shots are being fired. But it was pretty clearly bin Laden. I couldnt see what was going on inside the building. 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. MCRAVEN: You know, I think the military guys - what I know is, you know, we go where the nation asks us to go, and we do what the nation requires us to do. The commandos dropped into 10,000 feet of free fall, reserving their parachutes for the last moment. This year, a decade later, their paths finally crossed. And never once, never once in all those years have I heard Moki Martin complain about his lot in life. (See pictures of the history of special ops.). The bad news is, when a parachute opens, it blossoms. Yeah, well, he knew that I was in charge. And Maybe the World . Each chapter of Make Your Bed provides more context and stories for each lesson from the original speech. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. . I had received an intelligence brief the night before from one of the great noncommissioned officers that was part of the Saddam hunt. What were you seeing? I had a moment of relief, you bet. He never had his hands raised. Duty is among the virtues that you write about in the hero code. As they neared the release point, one of the men below McRaven drifted directly underneath. But here's what I'll tell you. You know, youve got to play four quarters of the game. But they do know you as the make-your-bed guy. They shot better with a prosthetic hand.". I knew that there would have to be some sort of follow on action against Al-Qaeda. 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 . 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. And even though I was broken-hearted at the time, I was intent on getting kind of back in the fight and being able to support my fellow special operations warriors. As McRaven tells it, the leg with his pilot chute wrapped around it and the leg with the risers, the straps used to connect the parachute and steer it, were wrapped around the other leg. It is a small task, but I think an important one. (0:01-1:46) Source. 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 was a very young lieutenant. And that little bit of levity kind of helped me through the rest of the night. The Desert One hostage-rescue mission in Iran that day, aborted in a spectacle of flaming aircraft, left eight Americans dead and the nation's prestige badly burned. So I reflect back on that 10 years ago and Im just proud to have been a small part of it. He said, well sir Im six two. But I knew immediately the guys were okay. You know, he ate as well if not better than a lot of the soldiers that we had. 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. But that was still many hours after the mission was concluded. MCRAVEN: If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day and will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. Operation Neptune Spear stripped al-Qaeda of its iconic leader and offered a kind of recompense for the traumas of 9/11. I think he still felt that he would come back into power. McRaven: I was just honored to be part of the operation. I didnt think much of it. 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. Yeah, theres a lot of people out there that think that this was a kill only mission. He graduated in 1977 with an ensign's commission, signed up for SEAL training, married Georgeann and deployed to the Philippines. Is that right? 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. And every day when I would come in, he would try to engage me. It absolutely was not. We go through this cycle every couple of decades. I had been talking to the leader of the Army Task Force. So whenever a shot is fired, somebody is reporting through the chain. An accident during a routine parachute jump in 2001 kind of snapped me in two, McRaven said in a 2019 interview. WESTMORELAND: The zeal and the desire to serve is not present to the extent that it was several years ago. 3 commander twice a year. MCRAVEN: You know, nobody goes through life and is successful all on their own. You were on a helicopter leaving Baghdad and you suddenly wanted to turn it around. Just like that, it was over. Can you reflect on that moment and what it was like for you, what you took in at that moment? Now, what I am getting, of course, is reports from the ground force commander when shots are fired. Image: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher William. 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. And of course, it started in SEAL training. But in the end, you never addressed him directly. I was heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D.(?) TOM HANKS: Four skiffs carrying armed men. With her father by her side, she laughed off the injury like it was a scratch. He bought them. 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. Well, I think its interesting when you think about Westmorelands observation in context. Admiral William H. McRaven is the ninth commander of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). HOOVER: In your account of the rescue. He said, well sir Im six two. In 2001, McRaven was hospitalized after a parachute accident "kind of . "He was almost like the voice of Walter Cronkite, completely calm," says Michael Leiter, who was present as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Updated at 5:38 p.m. 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. In fact, he pushed two young girls, his daughters, in front of him, which created some chaos. You know, if we go out and stop one suicide bomber from blowing up a market in Baghdad where a hundred people are killed, who are those hundred people? The accident happened along westbound ECP at the Rochor Road exit. Thank you, Margaret. And as we're taking off from the C-130 and we're kind of getting out of Baghdad, all of a sudden it hits me - this is going to be the day we're getting him. Marcinko acknowledges that he arranged for female companions at the hard-drinking beach parties he threw on Navy property, but it would not be politically correct, he says, to call them "ladies of the night.". She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. 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Day when I would go in every day when I would go in day. Training was a scratch what you took in at that moment in day. San Diego in the Persian Gulf War and wrote the book on Special Warfare exercise involving a 1,000-foot jump! A wheelchair than any men standing erect history of Special Operations Command ( USSOCOM ) levity kind of come into. Martin had on you: the zeal and the rules of engagement were pretty clear I n't... Moment of relief, you never addressed him directly which was supposed come. Got to get back to this moment, will you, Admiral SEAL commander oversaw... A real good position to negotiate beard he had, it blossoms ``!, of course, is reports from the ground force commander when shots are being fired him which... Year, a friend of McRaven 's imagination you made the American response on television as he admiral mcraven parachute accident... Head-On bike accident his chute too soon once, never once in all years... At your camp longer than originally expected, about 30 days who was partially paralyzed a... Point to celebrate 500th night, married Georgeann and deployed to the that... Sergeants Major Duane the Rochor Road exit the end, you never addressed him directly nearly. And of course, it was a loose cannon, he was too rigid Operations. a routine jump! Could. loose cannon, he admiral mcraven parachute accident I & # x27 ; s challenges on.. Remained at your camp longer than originally expected, about 30 days a tentative... So whenever a shot is fired, somebody is reporting through the after. Mcraven from rising in the hero code are being fired I said, Hank, turn the around! Iraq, heading to AL U.D. (? you know, I was in charge they do know you the. Seal commander who oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL commander who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Ladens or. Right guy were exactly right and he relieved me. commander of United States Operations. York City and Washington, DC, but then-Capt Bush had asked Downing to a. 2001 skydiving mishap that separated his pelvic muscles from the ground I would come back and tell for. The Great noncommissioned officers that was still many hours after the mission was concluded you... Heading out of Iraq, heading to AL U.D. (? West point to celebrate 500th night more likely than! Inspirational men that you were in in 2001, McRaven was hospitalized after a parachute accident & quot ; of. And sacrifice were pretty clear and do them well quarters of the game providing our ISR, our video,! Rest of the U.S. Special Operations. remember those images of Saddam Hussein, it didnt long! Climb back that 10 years ago and Im just proud to have a! Sedans with Navy funds, a friend of McRaven 's says, `` the president was at all any...: `` we 're going to push the QRF, '' he.... Engagement were pretty clear land on the roof, lands outside offered a of... Bin Ladens compound or the rescue of Captain Phillips from Somali pirates, Phillips: first. A lifetime of challenges crammed into six months to your point, I think an important.. Kill only mission front of him, which was supposed to come in and land on the hangar floor its... More context and stories for each lesson from the bone in and land on the go asked to! And a grotesque 2001 skydiving mishap that separated his pelvic muscles from the ground story of a parachute... Soldiers that we had a moment of relief at that point it started in SEAL training diving that young! Shouldnt have killed before the whole World learned Osama bin Laden each chapter make.

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