The Man who got UBL

[JJ_BPK]

A hero is born..

Thank you Adm McRaven..

The Man Who Got bin Laden: The Most Deadly Would-be Journalist in the World
Posted by Mark Thompson Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm

The man who commanded the SEAL team that hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden studied to be a reporter. If the Pulitzer Prize board establishes a new category -- for killing the world's most wanted terrorist -- it's a safe bet Bill McRaven will win it next spring.

Vice Adm. William McRaven, himself a SEAL, was on the ground in Afghanistan as bin Laden met his end, linked electronically to CIA chief Leon Panetta at agency headquarters in Langley, Va. "I have to tell you that the real commander was Admiral McRaven," Panetta told PBS Tuesday night. "He was on site, and he was actually in charge of the military operation that went in and got bin Laden."

So just who is this reporter-turned-frogman-turned-giant-killer? He currently heads the military's 4,000-strong and secretive Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. Assuming Senate confirmation, he'll soon pick up his fourth star and head to Florida to run U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. That will make him the Pentagon's top commando among the 57,000 people working for SOCOM. He's married, with several kids.

McRaven hedged his bets while studying journalism at the University of Texas in Austin before graduating in 1977: he also was a member of the Navy ROTC program. "You wouldn't expect a journalism major," former deputy CIA chief and ex-Navy admiral Bobby Inman told the San Antonio Express-News, "to end up running special forces."

But it looks like McRaven picked the right career path: in his 35-year career, McRaven went from being a SEAL platoon commander, to heading a SEAL team, to running U.S. special operations in Europe. But he didn't give up everything he learned in journalism school: in 1996 he published Spec Ops, a book on the art of special operations based on eight case studies. He concluded the keys to successful missions are Simplicity, Security, Repetition, Surprise, Speed and Purpose.

McRaven is highly-regarded in the dark world of special operations for improving the JSOC targeting center created by Stanley McChrystal, the Army general who retired last year after Rolling Stone quoted his staff making disparaging comments about top members of the Obama Administration. The unit has gotten high marks for compressing the nation's flow of military and civilian intelligence into targets, times and places for action. In other words, he has spent years "shortening the kill chain," linking curiosity, detection, tracking and destruction. (More on Time.com: See photos of the White House Situation Room)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in announcing McRaven's promotion in March, said McRaven "has led a JSOC team that has been ruthlessly and effectively taking the fight to America's most dangerous and vicious enemies." As JSOC chief, he commands what the public knows as SEAL Team 6 -- the toughest, most skilled SEALs -- but officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or simply DevGru.

McRaven deployed SEAL Team 6 to great effect early Monday in Pakistan. Back at CIA headquarters, Panetta and his team monitored McRaven's men from a windowless seventh-floor conference room. As he and his team waited for McRaven to report on whether bin Laden was indeed at the compound, Panetta says the room was tense. “I kept asking Bill McRaven, ‘O.K., what the hell's this mean?,' ” Panetta told Time's Massimo Calabresi. When McRaven finally said they had gotten “Geronimo,” their code name for bin Laden, “all the air we were holding came out,” Panetta says. Not a bad day's work for a would-be journalist. Sure as heck beats writing about it. (More on Time.com: See photos of bin Laden's death in headlines)

Read more: http://battleland.blogs.time.com/201...#ixzz1LQbWPmiV

[Roguish Lawyer]

Thread related to his book here: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ead.php?t=2483

Story makes it sound like he pulled the trigger.

[Richard]

Or the dog who got OBL...

UCAV - Unleashed Canine Attack Vehicle

Richard

Hero Dog Helped Snare Osama
Sun, 4 May 2011

The explosive-sniffing dog was strapped to an assault team member as they took on one of their greatest challenges to date.

He was part of the operation in which the elite US Navy Seals lowered themselves down ropes from three Black Hawk helicopters into the terrorist supremo's hideout in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday.

The world's most wanted man, 54, was shot dead by a Special Forces marksman during the raid.

Heavily armoured hounds — equipped with infrared night-sight cameras — have been used in the past by the top-secret unit.

The war dogs wear ballistic body armour that is said to withstand damage from single and double-edged knives, as well as protective gear which shields them from shrapnel and gunfire.

German Shepherds have been leading the way in SAS raids in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

Wearing oxygen masks, the pooches have been trained to jump from aircraft at 25,000ft, before seeking out insurgents in hostile environments

The animals will attack anyone carrying a weapon and have become a pivotal part of special operations as they crawl unnoticed into tunnels or rooms to hunt for enemy combatants.

The cameras on their heads beam live TV pictures back to the troops, providing them with critical information and warning of ambushes.

Dogs were also used in the capture of Saddam Hussein and in the killing of the Iraqi dictator's two sons.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-war-hero.html

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

I know WHY he was there but a Vice Admiral on the ground during such an operation? Was that a wise choice? I believe in leading from the front but that might be overkill.

He was in A-stan - not Pakistan.

Richard

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

Thread related to his book here: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...ead.php?t=2483

Story makes it sound like he pulled the trigger.

I agree.

TR

[Utah Bob]

Adm McRaven (code name Rock Hard) is my new bestest hero.

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by Brush Okie

I know WHY he was there but a Vice Admiral on the ground during such an operation? Was that a wise choice? I believe in leading from the front but that might be overkill.

Anyway good job men. Burn in hell bin laden, you piece of shit.

It's like a "party to beam down" on Star Trek...take the commanding officer, the 2IC, ship's engineer, the doctor, and one extra to play the part of the designated victim.

[aaronw]

I dont know where he was, who was there or any of that stuff.. I do know that I've seen numerous GO's go out on objectives. Not as the GFC.. Just to get out and have some fun I presume.. Stay connected to the boys.. The examples I've seen were very competent folks. I dig it.

[ES 96]

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

... and one extra to play the part of the designated victim.

...wearing a red shirt

[japatzke]

After his speech Sunday evening, I expected a big picture of BHO to accompany that title!

***sarcasm off now***

[Dusty]

If bin Laden had a couple put in his noggin, the actual shooter would be the hero IMO.

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by Dusty

If bin Laden had a couple put in his noggin, the actual shooter would be the hero IMO.

Right on Dusty............

Big Teddy

[JJ_BPK]

While reading the latest WH rendition of whet did or did not happen at UBL's compound, I got curious about something in the WH War Room picture that purports to be BHO and his team watching the action,, that was not live,, maybe..


Take a look at this blow-up of the left side the the picture...

It's a little grainy,, but I think one can conclusively see

WHO WHACKED UBL...

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by Richard

Or the dog who got OBL...

UCAV - Unleashed Canine Attack Vehicle

Richard

Hero Dog Helped Snare Osama
Sun, 4 May 2011

The explosive-sniffing dog was strapped to an assault team member as they took on one of their greatest challenges to date.

He was part of the operation in which the elite US Navy Seals lowered themselves down ropes from three Black Hawk helicopters into the terrorist supremo's hideout in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan, on Sunday.

The world's most wanted man, 54, was shot dead by a Special Forces marksman during the raid.

Heavily armoured hounds — equipped with infrared night-sight cameras — have been used in the past by the top-secret unit.

The war dogs wear ballistic body armour that is said to withstand damage from single and double-edged knives, as well as protective gear which shields them from shrapnel and gunfire.

German Shepherds have been leading the way in SAS raids in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

Wearing oxygen masks, the pooches have been trained to jump from aircraft at 25,000ft, before seeking out insurgents in hostile environments

The animals will attack anyone carrying a weapon and have become a pivotal part of special operations as they crawl unnoticed into tunnels or rooms to hunt for enemy combatants.

The cameras on their heads beam live TV pictures back to the troops, providing them with critical information and warning of ambushes.

Dogs were also used in the capture of Saddam Hussein and in the killing of the Iraqi dictator's two sons.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-war-hero.html

More on attack dogs...... See article on War Dogs

www.foreignpolicy.com
Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they're a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan........

Big Teddy

[stickey]

I was at the barber/salon once at BAF and ADM Mcraven came in, sat down with his assistant (Army MAJ). He jumped line. The man who got UBL jumps lines.