Opinion
McRaven: Claims of Wokeness Infiltrating the Military Are Blown Out of Proportion
“There's this concern about wokeness but I will tell you that when a survey has been done regarding, you know, talking to the young kids, why did you join? Where did wokeness fall out? Yeah, it was not high on their concerns, and I will tell you in my discussio…”
Opinion
McRaven: US military today is probably finest in world history
“In terms of the quality of the military, I would tell you, I still think that the military that you see today is probably the finest military in the history of the world.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McRaven: High-risk detainees were never released during his Iraq command
“Where there were detainees that we held that we thought were, should never be released in the entire time I was in Iraq, we certainly didn't release them. Some of them went to went to Guantanamo.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McRaven: Special Operations Was Never Unduly Constrained by Rules of Engagement
“I never really felt that we were constrained. I mean, every time we had a bad guy that we thought we needed to go capture we were always in a position to do that. And we did it a lot.”
Opinion
Adm. McRaven: Military must fast-track promotions for exceptional young talent
“So yes, we've got to figure out a way to recognize talent early and figure out how it moves quicker through the chain of command.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McRaven: US is still struggling with hypersonic missile technology
“So when you look at hypersonic missiles out there, we're still struggling with a little bit of hypersonic technology.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McRaven: Russia Modernized Tanks and Aviation but Failed on Soldiers and Tactics
“We've been watching the Russian modernization program over the last 10 or 15 years, you know, and so, I mean, they went from the, you know, T-seventy-two, T-eighty, T-ninety tank, they've modernized their aviation fleet and everything else. I mean, we saw this…”
Assertion Supported
McRaven: Russian Generals Died on Front Lines Due to Flawed Command Systems
“Their command and control systems were not very good. Of course, a lot of their generals had to come, come to the front lines and they were eliminated on the front lines because their command and control systems weren't good.”
Opinion
McRaven: Millennials and Gen Z are not soft, entitled snowflakes
“I'm the biggest fan of the millennials and the Gen Z that you'll ever meet. And that surprises a lot of people because there is this narrative out there that the millennials and the Gen Z are these soft, entitled little snowflakes. Well, I'm quick to point out…”
Insight
McRaven: Organizations rarely encounter situations someone inside hasn't seen before
“And I would always bring in the men or the women that had the experience, that had seen this before, because rarely in warfare, and I would offer rarely in, whether it's diplomacy or rarely in the corporate world, Is there a situation that somebody in your org…”
Assertion Supported
McRaven: Bin Laden raid helicopter crashed due to wall-induced rotor vortex
“The down blast from the helicopter hit that concrete wall and created a vortex, basically a vacuum over the top of the lift, of the blades. And so the pilot kind of lost lift and then careened off into the what we refer to as the animal pen.”
Assertion Supported
McRaven: 24 personnel deployed on the ground during bin Laden raid
“Well, we had about 12 guys in hel, 24 guys on the ground total.”
Insight
McRaven: Making your bed creates momentum to accomplish daily tasks
“Because when you get up and you make your bed and you, again, you take a little pride in it, then it kind of motivates you to do another task and another and another.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
McRaven: Saddam Hussein never made his bed in US custody
“I would go in every day that we had Saddam to check on him to make sure that you know, he was appropriately taken care of. And his bed was always kind of rumpled, not made.”
Assertion Supported
Adm. McRaven: Military is actively recruiting from the commercial tech sector
“The military has You know, we've been looking at a lot of ways to recruit, you know, great young men and women from the tech world to kind of help the military deal with some of the tech challenges that they're dealing with.”
Adm. Bill McRaven