William H. McRaven, University Of Texas Journalism Major, Commanded Mission That Killed Bin Laden

The man whose team took down Osama bin Laden is a 1977 graduate of the University of Texas-Austin. His degree from the school? Journalism.

William H. McRaven, a San Antonio native, commanded the special forces operation that eventually killed Osama bin Laden.

"I was fascinated that somebody with a journalism degree had gone to special forces and been a SEAL," Bobby Inman, a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, told the Daily Texan. "He has demonstrated that he is truly a distinguished graduate of the university."

McRaven is a Vice Admiral in the Navy, a Navy SEAL and was a participant in the Naval ROTC program while at college. In the course of his career, he has won the Bronze Star and Defense Superior Service Medal.

Clearly, McRaven has used his communications degree to his advantage.

Newsweek reported on McRaven's fortitude in 2004:

McRaven also literally wrote the book on Special Ops, a 1995 history of surgical strike teams from the Nazi rescue of Mussolini in 1943 to the 1976 Israeli raid on Entebbe. And his thesis at naval postgrad school is now mandatory reading for Special Ops commanders. "Bill is reputed to be the smartest SEAL that ever lived," says a former commander who knows McRaven well. "He is physically tough, compassionate and can drive a knife through your ribs in a nanosecond."

Journalism: perhaps the most translatable degree ever.

Comments

[MBPolymath]

12:13 PM on 05/06/2011

One's major is not synonymous with destiny. Just because he didn't major in business, science, or something else largely deemed more "practical" doesn't mean it wasn't possible for him to find success in life. This article was a little pointless.

[AFrosty1]

06:19 PM on 05/05/2011

A good journalist would know, and not make the mistake of saying that a service member "won" a medal. To a man, they will take offense and tell you that they didn't "win" anything......it wasn't a contest.

They are "recipients" of their awards.

[Sisa]

06:56 AM on 05/05/2011

Hey did they send 8x10 glossies of this guy and his family long with their addresses to al Qaeda .... Why is this being revealed?

[hagagaga]

08:31 AM on 05/05/2011

Same reason why after Saddam Hussein was captured, we had pictures of JSOC's commanding officer (LTG McChrystal, you may have heard of him), but the guys who captured him (1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta) had their faces blurred out.

[Sisa]

06:53 AM on 05/05/2011

So the same thing you have going for you...... A. S. S

[booktone]

09:04 AM on 05/05/2011

Has it occurred to you that strapping on a weapon and accompanying Special Ops on a mission is not exactly in the President's job description?

I swear, if Obama personally discovered a curte for cancer, you folks in the Fox / Rush / Hannity universe would scream that he's costing oncologists their jobs.

[leftheaded]

06:32 AM on 05/05/2011

Makes sense--the media is trying so hard to sell this story. And they're doing a good job.

[WarriorLemming]

02:17 AM on 05/05/2011

I salute you, William H. McRaven, sir. And your Commander-in-Chief, President Obama--two exemplary Americans.

Vets For Obama 2012!

[Mikekingjr]

01:15 AM on 05/05/2011

A fellow UT-Austin grad? Hook 'em, indeed!

[eco124]

10:31 PM on 05/05/2011

Then saw em off-short!

[Olivia Green]

12:54 AM on 05/05/2011

Finally! Someone who doesn't humiliate we Texans for being a native.

[AngryBuddist]

12:57 AM on 05/05/2011

I would be happy to do that if someone else was ingracious enough to forget to!

[Tuigim]

12:44 AM on 05/05/2011

Take down = Assassinate
How very military!
Justice ✓
Vengeance X

Immature terms of deception for an immature sense of morality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6riY-103vbc

[AngryBuddist]

12:52 AM on 05/05/2011

Who walked away?

[FrankinSac]

01:07 AM on 05/05/2011

It's what is done in war.

[Golly26]

12:37 AM on 05/05/2011

Chuck Norris coulda hang glided in and done the whole mission in under 2 min. all on his own.

[FrankinSac]

01:07 AM on 05/05/2011

With maybe three re-takes.

[P Markham72]

12:24 AM on 05/05/2011

Wow, great. I'm thinking the Vice Admiral didn't go storming the hacieda with the rest of the seals though.

[persuter]

10:52 AM on 05/05/2011

This article is a bit ridiculous, really - McRaven is the head of the Joint Special Operations Command, i.e., all our spec ops troops, not just DEVGRU. There are thousands of soldiers from all branches of the military under his command.

[Dogvane]

12:17 AM on 05/05/2011

I have nothing but respect for that man. I can't help it. (and I'm really, really glad he's on our side).

[Xylem44]

11:50 PM on 05/04/2011

I would buy his book.

[waldopepper]

11:46 PM on 05/04/2011

A guy with a pocket protector. Fitting.

[jflorish]

11:32 PM on 05/04/2011

I'm bummed that stealth helicopter was left behind, it will surely end up in china just like the plane did. Even though they blew it up, many of those parts remained and are highly classified.

[waldopepper]

11:47 PM on 05/04/2011

China knew all about it already. They have no doubt penetrated many cyber systems that have all the details.

[N8tracks]

11:55 PM on 05/04/2011

This isn't the first chopper we lost.

[Dogvane]

12:27 AM on 05/05/2011

But it is different from the other ones we lost, apparently. A little more state-of-the-art than the ol' Sikorskys and Hueys.

[jflorish]

06:33 PM on 05/06/2011

It is the first stealth one we lost.