When you make your bed first thing in the morning, you start the day with purpose and confidence. 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. An unnerving silence descended as the camera stayed on the admiral's empty chair, his habitual yellow can of Rip It energy drink in the foreground. We actually didnt have a drone. I wonder what you think we can do to convince more people to make their beds every morning? They were children of World War One. But by then he and his young lieutenant had fallen out. 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. (Photo Credit: United States Navy / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) McRaven's plan was successful and bin Laden was killed by SEAL Team 6 on May 2, 2011. Admiral William McRaven should be dead by now, but he's alive, physically fit, mentally sharp and recently retired. We had a helicopter with an optical ball on it that was providing our ISR, our video coverage, if you will. HOOVER: On September 11th, 2001, you were still recuperating from your injuries when you watched the terrorist attacks on this country play out on a television screen in your living room. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. You know, Ive heard you say that you are the quote biggest fan of the millennial generation and generation and Gen Z. What are you trying to tell me there? Caption. Routines, good routines, healthy routines are important. INSKEEP: You tell story after story after story in this book. "He was the boss. You know, he ate as well if not better than a lot of the soldiers that we had. But I knew immediately the guys were okay. He began the new job this summer. Ill lie down next to the body just to see whether or not the remains are a little longer. 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. And even with that giant beard he had, it didnt take long for us to realize that we had the right guy. And every day when I would come in, he would try to engage me. Im listening to the radio. Around that time came a call from Wayne Downing, a retired Army four-star general. 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. there are plenty of public issues right now that i want to ask you about, but i want to defer that for a moment and talk about . Then, I thought, well, you know, thats probably not very distinguished for the three star admiral to be lying down next to the body. HOOVER: 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. McRaven: The SEALs entering the room did absolutely the right thing and shot him, not knowing whether or not he was wearing a suicide vest. 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. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. McRaven charmed the civilians on staff over late-night beers at the Smith & Wollensky steak house. The lead, in fact, had led them to Saddam. Nan McRaven says. MCRAVEN: In Iraq and Afghanistan, of course, you saw these horrific injuries. And as I would find out later, it wouldnt be the last time. Admiral, tell me about that premonition. And in the case of the rescue of Captain Phillips, the guys on scene made all the right calls. 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. So I get hit," he recalls. Thanks to the footage owner for stopping to help.Thomas LeongSi. . "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. "It was hard to watch it from afar, at the White House, but at the time, because I was still broken up pretty bad, I'm not sure I could have done much to help," he says. Having said that, I knew bin Laden was about six foot four And I thought, well Im six foot two. I guess he did.". So, yes, we believed we had bin Laden. I just didnt want that to occur. Speaking to MS News, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to a traffic accident on 1 Mar at about 6.45pm. "[They] kind of snapped me in two," McRaven said. On September 11th, 2001, you were still recuperating from your injuries when you watched the terrorist attacks on this country play out on a television screen in your living room. 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 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. McRaven oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It absolutely was not. Steve Inskeep asked him about a routine parachute jump in San Diego in the year 2001. Then, as commandos set explosive charges around the wounded aircraft: "We're going to destroy the helicopter.". The bad news is that when it opened, it split me like a nutcracker, I guess, and just kind of broke the pelvis, broke my back.". But I also knew at that moment that life was about to change. So he lay down next to the body and sure enough, the body was about two inches longer. 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 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. Thanks so much. "I would contend he was the smartest guy in the room. McRaven says it is just one part of a broader offensive against America's foes. 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. Now, I would offer that I use the word premonition, but it was probably the fact that my brain was connecting the dots. It was July 18, 2001, midway through that quiet summer before the whole world learned Osama bin Laden's name. "That was his favorite!" Lesson #1: Make Your Bed Every Morning. HOOVER: Did you have a moment of relief at that point? we are two days after veterans day and that was the occasion for this event. His only known experience of combat before reaching flag rank came as a SEAL "task unit" leader in the Persian Gulf War. Did we inadvertently kill people we shouldnt have killed? I had received an intelligence brief the night before from one of the great noncommissioned officers that was part of the Saddam hunt. I didnt think much of it. : Basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. INSKEEP: You refer to remembering this incident, this kindness of effectively overlooking the regulations, you think, and how you behaved later as a commander, as the wars began in Iraq and Afghanistan. Take us inside that closet as you watched your SEALS enter Pakistan and clear the compound floor by floor. She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. And every day that I went in, he tried to engage me in a conversation. I'm not exactly sure what's happened. Take a look at this video. I just didnt want that to occur. 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. She was seriously injured in a parachute accident. 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. Like most promising midcareer officers, the 36-year-old McRaven was dispatched to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. In fact, we had a plan with what we were going to do with bin Laden if we captured him. So Im getting radio calls from the ground force commander. I love this sense of kind of duty, honor and country that I saw in this greatest generation. Yeah, theres a lot of people out there that think that this was a kill only mission. The date that seared itself into their collective memory is April 24, 1980. So you visited his room every day to speak with the doctor on guard. 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. I don't know whether I've been knocked unconscious. Starting your day off by completing a task will initiate your momentum to do the next task, and then the next, and so on. Leadership. He went right into Naval Special Warfare, serving in SEAL Team Six under its creator, Richard Marchinko who fired McRaven for being too rigid. Billions of dollars and the labor of countless men and women had led to that day. 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. Now, in the case of Saddam Hussein, it was pretty obvious. You wrote in your book. MCRAVEN: I had a moment of relief, you bet. 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? I mean, he was, to me, the gold standard in Navy SEALs. 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. And some folks were a little dismissive. You know, when we stood up an all volunteer force, I remember thinking initially, well, this will never work. "Frankly, I wasn't sure whether I had been knocked unconscious, so when I had the chance, I pulled my rip cord," McRaven told TIME. . Yeah, well, he knew that I was in charge. No Americans were harmed. 3 Min Read. Patient and ingenious work by U.S. intelligence agencies marked a spot tentative, but more likely accurate than not on the map. It's one of the tales he recounts in his new memoir, titled "Sea Stories: My Life In Special Forces" (ph). Distance?. Did you actually ever think that he would be captured alive? MCRAVEN: 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. What were you feeling in those moments? HOOVER: We all remember those images of Saddam Hussein the moment that he was captured. Making your bed as easy to do. 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. Marcinko fired the 27-year-old McRaven after a year. I mean, if thats not service, I dont know what is. So I saw some young SEALs standing nearby. 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. Today, McRaven calls Marcinko a "charismatic figure" who deserves credit for building an important new unit from scratch. STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: If I don't mistake this, your boss, Admiral Eric Olson, kind of bypassed a form that would say whether you were physically fit or not. 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