Article

2016-04-25 Home Front: WoT

William McRaven: A warrior's career sacrificed for politics

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by newc 2016-04-25 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 Please speak to me of what you think of this Commander. He will be in the next administration no matter who wins.

Posted by newc 2016-04-25 03:04|| 2016-04-25 03:04|| Front Page Top

#2 From others who know him, phrases such as "Great American" come to mind. Nothing heard about his inclusion in the next administration.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-04-25 03:27|| 2016-04-25 03:27|| Front Page Top

#3 McRaven is credited for organizing and overseeing the execution of Operation Neptune Spear, the special ops raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. CIA Director Leon Panetta delegated the raid to McRaven who has worked almost exclusively on counter-terrorism operations and strategy since 2001. [WIK]

On June 13 [2010], Bill McRaven replaced Stan McChrystal as JSOC commander. McRaven was a SEAL officer with a reputation as a deep thinker, based in part on his time at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California, where he designed -- and was the first graduate from - the special operations/low-intensity conflict curriculum. He turned his thesis into a book, SpecOps - Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice,in which he presented his own definition of special operations, one that paid homage to the direct action missions that were the forte of JSOC and the SEALs, but which ignored the unconventional warfare approach that was the specialty of Special Forces.

Sean Naylor, 'Relentless Strike' page 348.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-04-25 09:27|| 2016-04-25 09:27|| Front Page Top

#4 In my humble opinion:

Admiral McRaven read both the tactical and political 'tea leaves.' Complicated by the Obama pull-out, the training of Islamic 'Host Nation' military forces had been costly and had not gained the necessary traction to attain victory.

Taliban and AQ [now ISIS] leadership and networks must be effectively dealt with. In spite of previous, highly publisized failures [Son Tay Raid and Desert One], vertical Envelopment operations such the highly successful 4 July 1976 Raid on Entebbe and the 4 May 1978 raid at Cassinga were re-examined and studied:

Direct Action (DA)

Either overt or covert action against an enemy force. Seize, damage, or destroy a target; capture or recover personnel or material in support of strategic/operational objectives or conventional forces.

Short-duration, small-scale offensive actions.
May require raids, ambushes, direct assault tactics; emplace mines and other munitions; conduct standoff attacks by firing from air, ground, or maritime platforms; designate or illuminate targets for precision-guided munitions; support for cover and deception operations; or conduct independent sabotage normally inside enemy-held territory.

Posted by Besoeker 2016-04-25 09:57|| 2016-04-25 09:57|| Front Page Top

#5 This left me furious. Can anyone name the politicians to whom McRaven refers?

Posted by Phairt Barnsmell9169 2016-04-25 10:25|| 2016-04-25 10:25|| Front Page Top

#6 The article linked in the OP is a great read.

Posted by Crusader 2016-04-25 11:03|| 2016-04-25 11:03|| Front Page Top

#7 Welcome to the kakistocracy.

Expect things to get much, much worse.

Posted by charger 2016-04-25 11:39|| 2016-04-25 11:39|| Front Page Top

#8 I liked him, a great officer. He is a tier one guy so it's not uncommon for them to focus on jsoc event and direct action over the special forces that truly shapes the environment prior to a DA mission. With that he would be an asset to any admin except for hillary's. She is a hack that will make make her decisions like her husband did, all based on public opinion polls.

Posted by 49 pan 2016-04-25 15:53|| 2016-04-25 15:53|| Front Page Top

#9 Hillary and him are close

Posted by newc 2016-04-25 16:50|| 2016-04-25 16:50|| Front Page Top

#10 Hillary and him are close
Posted by newc

Indeed interesting. Source on that one ?

Posted by Besoeker 2016-04-25 17:06|| 2016-04-25 17:06|| Front Page Top

#11 I want to say I heard it on the radio yat are not sure.

When you and a Secretary of State have an irrational boss, it could tend to make you closer in order for a better result is my take on it. I will look to see where I got that.

Posted by newc 2016-04-25 17:40|| 2016-04-25 17:40|| Front Page Top

#12 I got it off of twitter but forgot which user

Posted by newc 2016-04-25 23:12|| 2016-04-25 23:12|| Front Page Top

23:12 newc
23:09 SteveS
22:55 Shipman
22:51 swksvolFF
22:01 swksvolFF
21:47 swksvolFF
21:47 swksvolFF
21:41 Iblis
20:57 Frank G
20:56 SteveS
20:55 trailing wife
20:54 Pappy
20:54 Frank G
20:50 trailing wife
20:50 AlanC
20:48 Frank G
20:46 Thing From Snowy Mountain
20:39 trailing wife
20:37 Frank G
20:26 Jort Wittlesbach4106
19:39 Airandee
19:28 Airandee
18:58 Glens Shirong8156
18:53 Ulereter Ulose6097
Merry-Go-Blog