INA Cadets Meet Adm William McRaven, Man Behind Killing of Bin Laden

Recently, we posted about two cadets who represented INA at a leadership conference at USNA. The conference was held in United States Naval Academy, Annapolis. It was aimed to deliberate on leadership challenges faced by military leaders in recent times.

Cadet Paritosh Singh and Cadet Rohan Singh Pal from INA accompanied by their Squadron Commander Lieutenant Commander Sandeep G Nair represented INA.

Less they knew that they would meet the man who changed the face of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Admiral William McRaven.

About Admiral William McRaven:

William McRaven is known for his leadership of the military operation that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. He graduated from UT in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies.

McRaven has served in the United States Navy for 37 years and has contributed to a variety of projects, including the development of an “Iron Man” advanced combat suit. McRaven currently commands 67,000 special operations forces around the world.

During the Iraq War, McRaven led the shadowy Task Force 121, which tracked down Saddam Hussein in December 2003. Much of the public credit for Saddam’s capture went to conventional army units, but it was, in fact, the Special Operations forces under McRaven’s command who did much of the work to find the Iraqi dictator.f

But it was the killing of Osama Bin Laden that ensured his place in the pages of history. He was the head of the Joint Special Operations Command, stationed in Afghanistan.

Despite his chosen career path, his journalism degree did not go to waste. In 1995, he wrote a book that has become compulsory reading for special operations commanders.

The author, who by this time was a senior member of the Seals, identifies six principles for success: simplicity, security, repetition, surprise, speed and purpose.

After the operation, Adm. William McRaven handed over the reins of Special Operations Command to his successor, Gen. Joseph Votel.