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. In 2003, you were the commander of Task Force 714 in Iraq. Did we inadvertently kill people we shouldnt have killed? About Obama, without a question to prompt him, he waxes lyrical and at length. And to this day, Moki oversees the triathlon that we run every year as part of our underwater demolition team and our SEAL fraternity. And they were going out every night, you know, trying to stop suicide bombers. They just know me as the make your bed guy. And of course, it started in SEAL training. 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. Having said that, I knew bin Laden was about six foot four And I thought, well Im six foot two. . After jumping from the plane, McRaven noticed the jumper below him had pulled his chute, and it was coming at him fast. He took the special out of special warfare.". "I said to him, 'You can grow up to be 007.' We fly in by helicopters, we assault compounds, we, you know, we grab the bad guy or whatever is required, and we get out. How was it that you came to be inside Iraq, though, on the day that Saddam Hussein was captured? Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. He was arrogant. So I reached for my rip cord, pulled the rip cord, and the pilot chute comes out of the back of the parachute. 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. Four skiffs carrying armed men. I mean, we flew the 162 miles really without incident. But it wasnt the first time Id had a, quote, premonition. 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. Chris Kyle. 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. And on the plaque is a Home Depot tape measure. So if you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. We always find heroes in the next generation that are more than willing to serve and sacrifice. Richard Marcinko, the hard-charging founding commander of Navy SEAL Team 6, the storied and feared unit within an elite commando force that later . 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. 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 they do know you as the make-your-bed guy. I mean, it showed that we as Americans can do the hard things and do them well. When you make your bed first thing in the morning, you start the day with purpose and confidence. Rescued Captain Phillips from Somali pirates, Phillips: The first people I want to thank are the SEALs. What were you feeling in those moments? 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. Speaking to MS News, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to a traffic accident on 1 Mar at about 6.45pm. 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. 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. HOOVER: Did you have a moment of relief at that point? Eight weeks later came the surprise attacks of Sept. 11. On September 1, 2014 . It obviously had a lot of political risk with it, and I dont want to minimize the risk. And I was just honored to be part of the operation. She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. 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. So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. As the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, he led a force of 69,000 men and women and was responsible for conducting counter-terrorism operations worldwide. MCRAVEN: Well, the mission wasnt over yet. The president thanks us for the mission and then reaches behind the presidents desk and hands me a plaque. We had a helicopter with an optical ball on it that was providing our ISR, our video coverage, if you will. McRaven speaks respectfully of Bush as Commander in Chief, saying he "made some very, very tough decisions." You were on a helicopter leaving Baghdad and you suddenly wanted to turn it around. 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. Image: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher William. 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. We werent going to put him in a cell with other people, that his days as the leader of Iraq were over. 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. HOOVER: Duty is among the virtues that you write about in the hero code. McRaven grew up as an officer in the aftermath. 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. 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. At the time, ST-6 was commanded by the legendary (and infamous) Richard . On the downside, "relative superiority" does not last long. 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).. Never once did he say, why me? One of its central messages was intended to caution against a literal idea of combat: "We will not triumph solely or even primarily through military might. Retired Adm. William McRaven earned fame for leading US special-operations forces on some of their most well-known missions. William McRaven: We were doing a freefall. Admiral William McRaven, welcome back to Firing Line for a special edition episode honoring Independence Day. Bin Laden was in American hands, status adjusted: "enemy killed in action." Late in 2010, you know, we were getting ready to pull out of Iraq by early 2011, for the most part, and yet, my guys were still conducting operations in downtown Baghdad. And youve probably seen the iconic photo from Pete Souza. 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. Then: "We're going to push the QRF," the quick-reaction force. And you know what? Patient and ingenious work by U.S. intelligence agencies marked a spot tentative, but more likely accurate than not on the map. william mcraven on his time in the military and his criticism of president trump. Now, when I walked in, I made sure that my name tags were off and my stars were off. But that didn't keep McRaven from rising in the ranks of Navy special operations. Now, a principle of democracy is, for every right there is a duty. 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. n your account of the rescue. Retired Navy Adm. William H. McRaven has written a new book called, "The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived." McRaven knows about heroic deeds, having directed the 2011 U.S . Tell me about the impact that Moki Martin had on you. 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 anybody that claims that theyve got a helmet cam video, nobody was wearing helmet cams. Having said that, I knew bin Laden was about six foot four And I thought, well Im six foot two. The planning and decisionmaking for the bin Laden raid, he volunteers, "was really everything the American public would expect from their national leadership." 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. 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. But that was still many hours after the mission was concluded. The date that seared itself into their collective memory is April 24, 1980. 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 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. . 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. Did you have a sense that you would follow in your fathers footsteps? Of course, as we began to come in to target the one helicopter loses lift as it got over the target. I just didnt want that to occur. Just like that, it was over. He graduated in 1977 with an ensign's commission, signed up for SEAL training, married Georgeann and deployed to the Philippines. 2. 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). We go through this cycle every couple of decades. They are concerned about these things. Routines, good routines, healthy routines are important. Do you mind recounting it? "There was a degree of coming to closure," he says. So if you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. Im absolutely ok with that. 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. I mean, we flew the 162 miles really without incident. Then, in 2001, came the parachute accident and the long climb back. While freefalling, the man ahead of him deployed his parachute too soon, and McRaven collided with the chute as it opened. He began the new job this summer. But I also knew at that moment that life was about to change. I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. "Go forth and be the heroes we need you to be," he told graduates. "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. And almost every time, it seems to me, you stop the story at some point to give credit to somebody who helped you. A Navy SEAL who spent 37 years serving his country. I said, good, come here and. 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. Few believe it will be his last. With her father by her side, she laughed off the injury . MCRAVEN: Yeah, well, he knew that I was in charge. She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. Well, thank you president Powers, Provost Fenves, deans, members of the faculty, family and friends, and most importantly, the class of 2014, it is indeed an honor for me to be here tonight. Admiral William H. McRaven, USN. "So now I am tangled up in my parachute, falling towards the ground. And now I'm tumbling out of control towards the ground.". Admiral, Youve just written a book, The Hero Code: Lessons Learned from Lives Well Lived. And your father served in World War Two, and you share memories of him and his fellow service members swapping stories about their missions. . Thornton is a former Navy SEAL that was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a mission in the Vietnam War. 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. 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 . MCRAVEN: You know, nobody goes through life and is successful all on their own. So there was always concern about the Pakistanis engaging. The standard-issue AMC Eagle wagon was no kind of ride for commandos. And now the Pakistanis, of course, are waking up to the fact that were there. 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. Tell me about that moment and what you heard come through the radio after that. Each chapter of Make Your Bed provides more context and stories for each lesson from the original speech. The zeal and the desire to serve is not present to the extent that it was several years ago. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status. You got to find out, one, is everybody OK? How have you seen this generation rise to the occasion in a way thats perhaps different than General Westmorelands observations? But he was not going to have outside contact with any of his former Iraqi leaders. I think he still felt that he would come back into power. McRaven has a long, storied history with the military. But I would go in every day to check on him. Youre watching PBS. No Americans were harmed. Im ok with that. Steve Inskeep asked him about a routine parachute jump in San Diego in the year 2001. 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. Now, I would offer that I use the word premonition, but it was probably the fact that my brain was connecting the dots. Copyright 2019 NPR. I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement day. 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. But I would go in every day to check on him. But that particular day, I actually had a meeting down in Qatar. 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. So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. I just didnt want that to occur. But in the end, you never addressed him directly. I didnt think much of it. 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 never had his hands raised. How have you seen this generation rise to the occasion in a way thats perhaps different than General Westmorelands observations? Tell us about that. Sometimes you need a boatload of people to help you through. William McRaven was tumbling from the sky, and there wasn't much sky left. But it was a relatively straightforward mission in terms of the first part of it. Distance?. He was a Vietnam vet. It will give you a sense of accomplishment that you will want to continue to feel throughout the day. Stay up to date with what you want to know. One was to parachute in a SEAL . Sign up for notifications from Insider! I knew that there would have to be some sort of follow on action against Al-Qaeda. Firing Line with Margaret Hoover is made possible in part by and by Corporate funding is provided by. Later, William McRaven shares his story of a horrible parachute accident, which leaves him hospitalized for . Admiral Bill McRaven left command of U.S. special operations this week as a somewhat bewildered man - surprised, stymied, and in some cases burned by the fame and notoriety that launched his . Distance?. Billions of dollars and the labor of countless men and women had led to that day. I got on the plane with my aide, Captain Hank Henry. McRaven: He went from being pompous and arrogant to frankly, just being, you know, a tired, corrupt old man. 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. 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. "People like McRaven know that.". You know, he ate as well if not better than a lot of the soldiers that we had. 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. INSKEEP: He wasn't in a very good position to negotiate, I suppose. The bad news is, when a parachute opens, it blossoms. The conversation was . Image: MIT News Office. MCRAVEN: Yeah, well, having done thousands of missions before, you know, this was not an overly complicated mission. Now, when I walked in, I made sure that my name tags were off and my stars were off. MCRAVEN: I had a moment of relief, you bet. 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. Retired Adm. William McRaven and Nicholas Rasmussen, former National Counterterrorism Center director, discuss the raid on the Usama bin Laden compound in Pakistan in commemoration of the 10th . So I reflect back on that 10 years ago and Im just proud to have been a small part of it. But I also knew at that moment that life was about to change. I mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. ), "The President was at all times presidential," he says. Admiral William McRaven should be dead by now, but he's alive, physically fit, mentally sharp and recently retired. When after a bad parachute accident McRaven stoically refused pain medication, he writes that "the imposing face of . 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. So admittedly that particular operation was a lot sportier, a lot further, a lot more political ramifications, a lot riskier for a lot of reasons, but basically similar to things that we do every night. 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. Four-star Admiral William McRaven shares stories of heroism from his service to America. 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. An accident during a routine parachute jump in 2001 kind of snapped me in two, McRaven said in a 2019 interview. I knew that there would have to be some sort of follow on action against Al-Qaeda. His father, a career Air Force officer, was stationed at Pope Air Force Base, now known as Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg. So for 30 days, I came in every day to check on him and then would leave the small room without engaging him. What do we need to do next? to meet with the CENTCOM commander. Yeah, I couldnt hear any of that. I had to fly from Baghdad down to Al Udeid. But it was a relatively straightforward mission in terms of the first part of it. We actually didnt have a drone. "We do raids. We'd had a lot of leads on him, but frankly, none of the leads had panned out. They could see fine out of just one eye. But I'm stunned. 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