William H. McRaven

William H. McRaven

Update: 2014-09-13
Share

Description

On May 1, 2011, President Obama and his national security team gathered in the White House Situation Room to watch a commando raid taking place half a world away. As the mission unfolded, the President was in continuous video contact with the senior military officer directing the operation from a base in Afghanistan, Admiral William McRaven. To this task, Admiral McRaven brought three decades of experience in special operations. The first officer to graduate from the Special Operations and Limited Warfare program at the Naval Postgraduate School, he has held commands at every level of the special ops community, from leading a single SEAL platoon, to his final post as Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). His experience includes commands in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, leadership of SEAL Team Three, and of NATO's special operations command (SOCEUR). At USSOCOM, Admiral McRaven oversaw and coordinated elite forces from all branches of the nation's military, including such storied outfits as the Navy Seals, the Army's Green Berets and Delta Force, and the Air Force Special Tactics Squadron. The success, that night in 2011, of the raid that eliminated Osama bin Laden without a single American casualty was due, in no small part, to the unique expertise of the man who organized and executed the plan, Admiral William McRaven. Earlier this year, Admiral McRaven retired from the Navy to become Chancellor of the nine-campus University of Texas system. In this podcast, recorded at the 2014 International Achievement Summit in San Francisco, Admiral McRaven addresses a profoundly simple question, "How do you change the world, when so much lies beyond your control?" Recalling incidents from his own life and service, he demonstrates that we all have opportunities to perform numberless small acts of encouragement, courage and compassion that can have repercussions far beyond our own lives.
Comments 
loading
In Channel
What It Takes

What It Takes

2015-09-1500:29

Frances H. Arnold

Frances H. Arnold

2014-09-1307:09

Robert Lefkowitz

Robert Lefkowitz

2014-09-1319:29

Philip Breedlove

Philip Breedlove

2014-09-1312:48

Tony Fadell

Tony Fadell

2014-09-1315:11

Anthony Kennedy

Anthony Kennedy

2014-09-1309:22

William H. McRaven

William H. McRaven

2014-09-1313:22

Andrew Young

Andrew Young

2013-08-1408:04

Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio

2012-10-2711:27

David Brooks

David Brooks

2012-10-2508:25

Rick Atkinson 2010

Rick Atkinson 2010

2010-03-2415:44

Susan Hockfield

Susan Hockfield

2008-07-0311:25

Rick Atkinson 2008

Rick Atkinson 2008

2008-07-0316:10

loading
00:00
00:00
1.0x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

William H. McRaven

William H. McRaven

Academy of Achievement