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I think about how do you introduce an individual whose name
and his face have been on TV
and a well-known throughout the United States in
in just about all parts of the world. He's the
father if you will of the National Counterterrorism Center
He arrived in Saudi Arabia in 1996
after I left and I would just say that I left everything was great.
So not much I can say I was not chief of station but I
but I was there so it looked great when I left, but never mind.
But a couple things: he's a very intelligent gentlemen
obviously he is but I would say that he is a rooter for the New York Giants which I
don't hold against
him, I just you know, question why he does that. Although they did when this past
weekend god bless and they did.
But I, but I want to take this opportunity to
to just say thank you for all that you do and welcome to the podium here
Mr. John Brennan, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Thank you very much.
Good evening everyone and thank you. General Hugo for that
very kind introduction and also
for you many decades a distinguished service to our
nation. My wife Kathleen I are deeply,
deeply honored to be here tonight to salute this year's recipient of
the William J. Donovan Award: Admiral Bill McRaven
And this is a particular privilege for me because Admiral McRaven in this not only
a most deserving honoree he's also a fellow longhorn from the
University of Texas as well as a good friend. Hook 'em!
Before I begin let me say how flattered
I am to be here with such a distinguished group
individuals and I must say from about my heart I've spoken to many
groups before but never before have I been so humbled and
honored to be with such patriots
and distinguished individuals who really have had such a role
in in the support of our nation's security
over the last number decades. Just listening to the stories,
seeing the people that are here, it truly is something that has
made me remember exactly why we are in this business
and I do want to take a minute to
say that clearly no, no time
previous in our history has there been a greater need for intelligence.
And the exploits in the accomplishments
that have been talked about tonight over the past several decades
I think really underscore just how important it is today
that we maintained and strengthened the intelligence mission.
This country has a rich history in intelligence
and we do an outstanding job. And in a time of
unprecedented scrutiny, attention,
misunderstanding, and criticism of intelligence
I do think it is a time for us to acknowledge,
recognize, appreciate, and celebrate the tremendous work that the intelligence
professionals have done of course many years.
We are damn good at intelligence we should be proud of it
and we should not feel badly
for what we do. Whether it be on the intelligence collection front
covert action front, counterintelligence front. Intelligence
professionals have helped keep this country strong great
and we will continue to do so in the future if I have anything to do
with that mission.
I give you my word that I will maintain the a great standards have
excellence professionalism that represents from tonight.
(Applause)
Tonight marks a wonderful occasion
we come together to celebrate not only an exceptional,
an exceptional American, but also a very special organization:
The OSS. Which as you all know was the forerunner
the CIA. And after the OSS was dissolved in 1945 intelligence and
special operations
diverged each taking a separate path occasionally overlapped
with the other but more often than not
move forward independent of the other. But recent history
has reversed that divergence as this nation's response to the attacks on 9/11
brought the two main branches at the OSS back together again.
Intelligence officers and special operators are once again
working hand in hand to take the fight to our adversaries
and they are doing an exceptional job. This (applause)
This makes
the history of the OSS more relevant than ever
to the women and man charged with protecting our nation and it is one of
the reasons that we are so indebted to the organizer this evening ceremony
Charles Pink. Charles has done yeoman's work in preserving the memory the OSS
in educating the American people about its final contributions to our nation's
security.
Even more importantly Charles has reminded us that the story of the OSS
is much more than a fascinating tale from decades past
is also a trove of lessons for the present
and for the future one that all of us
the national security professions would do well to study and thank you Charles.
For me a central lesson at the OSS can be found in its very makeup.
The OSS recruited from all backgrounds in every walk of life as we have her
tonight.
It reached into academia, journalism, Wall Street, the arts,
and of course the military. And it prized officers with the range of skills rather
than
star performers in a single pursuit. Intellect alone was not enough,
nor was physical prowess. As Charles reminded
us tonight the OSS wanted the blend the two.
A PhD who could win a bar fight. At CIA we value people who stand out for the
very same reasons.
Sometimes to include the bar fights. We know that solving intelligence problems
means
bringing to bear a variety of viewpoints and skills.
And that is a philosophy we can trace directly to the wonderful assortment of
personalities
in the OSS. A group that Wild Bill Donovan lovingly called his glorious
amateurs. Another crucial lesson passed down to us by the OSS
is that successful organizations must be willing to take
risks. For OSS officers mistakes were not the enemy.
Mistakes were the neutral byproduct a bold and decisive
action. A signal that you were stretching yourself to the limit.
An officer who never faltered was an officer with the bias
for caution. What the OSS needed was precisely the opposite.
Intrepid spirits who love to experiment,
to improvise, and to roll the dice. William Casey
one of my distinguished predecessors in the director's office at CIA
described his service in the OSS this way: you didn't wait six months for a
feasibility study
to prove that idea could work you gamble that it might work.
I'm sure Bill Casey is rolling over in his grave today. Risk-taking is essential to
good intelligence
and no one knows that better than the OSS veterans
who are with us here tonight. Through your courage and enterprise
you showed what rewards there are in breaking free from convention
and taking a shot it's something new. Even when the odds were stacked against you.
In doing so you establish the traditional risk-taking
that continues to guide intelligence officers and special operators
to this day. For this and for so much more
CIA owes you a tremendous debt of gratitude.
And so tonight I would like to take the opportunity to tell you directly
just how much I appreciate your extraordinary service. Your contributions
to
our agency international have been immeasurable and it is my great
privilege and we have a
all men and women of the CIA who have served with us today as well as with those
who served with us in the past
to extend a special note of
appreciation and recognition for the tremendous work that OSS officers
have done.
Thank you so much.
And so it is hard to think of a more worthy heir
to the legacy to the OSS than the man we honor tonight
Admiral William Harry McRaven.
He may not have a PhD but he is blessed with a razor-sharp mind
and I think we all recognized that he certainly could himself pretty well
in a bar fight. But before I say a few words about Bill
I want to take a moment to say thank you so much
to his family that has supported him over many many years
with the type of love and support that
all of us intelligence professionals know is so integral
to the ability, to our ability to carry out our mission.
And that is to Georgeann, his lovely wife, as well as two of his children who are
here tonight
Kelly and John, and Bill who is serving in the Air Force and Bill's sister Nan
who is with us.
And I would like to again, on behalf of everybody here tonight, say thank you
Georgeann, children
and Nan for the love and support you have given Bill
over the course of many years he is a far, far better man
because a your love.
And Bill McRaven, the Bill McRaven I knew
he is somebody who understands the importance of taking risks
in a great addition of the OSS. In his line of work there is no such thing
as a sure thing. Risk is a fact of life
in special operations with an added
and very serious twist: if things break the other way
lives are lost. Yet despite the high stakes
Admiral McRaven has never allowed himself to play it safe.
In looking back over his career he once made the following observation:
"One thing I've learned over time is that you have to learn to fail.
it is a natural course in combat
that we all make mistakes. If you internalize that
too much, well let that burden become so large
in as a leader you can't make the next
right decision." As many here can attest
making the next right decision is something that has always come naturally
Admiral McRaven. Well almost
always. I think it is fair to say that he made a few false steps
early on. Like many of us it took me awhile to figure out what he wanted to
do with his life.
This is what I am told at least and here's how he recounted his first
semesters
at that glorious institution the University Texas. The direct
and sparingly honest descriptions are vintage McRaven. Quote:
"I started off in premed, did not do well there.
Then I went to business, oh
I was worse in business." As he meandered through his undergraduate years
he dabbled an array of subjects. In fact I'm pretty sure that Admiral McRaven is
the only special operations commander
who thought seriously about becoming an accountant.
But accounting was not his thing either.
So Admiral McRaven in a sign of the infinite wisdom
and foresight that we have come to know him by, decided to enter field
within iron-clad future: newspapers.
Newspapers?
Bill, newspapers. I can just imagine
hoe awful my life would be if you were now a journalist for the national security
beat.
God Almighty! I I'm so glad you're in Special Ops.
In the end Admiral McRaven opted for a career that was a little less stressful
than
all those others. Choosing life of comfort and ease that can only be found in the Navy SEALs.
And, and it is a good thing for all of us and for Americans everywhere that he did.
For there could be no question, no question whatsoever
that our country is safer today because of the service of Admiral McRavan.
He has been one of the bedrock figures of our nation's response
to 9/11. Now I know that he would resist that description.
The fight against al Qaeda and its allies, he would say, has involved
all instruments have national power and no single person or organisation
deserves special acclaim. And in a way he would be right.
Dedicated Americans from organizations across the government
have made major contributions to the effort over the last
dozen years. But is also true that in some respects
this has been the age the silent warrior. Or to use
Admiral McRavens term: the quiet professionals who operate
under his command. Over the past dozen years
a special operators have taken a somewhat counterintuitive idea
and proved its worth beyond any reasonable doubt.
The idea that small agile forces can gain decisive advantage
over larger forces and helped turn the tide
of broad conflicts. As much as anyone
Admiral McRaven has been the driving force behind this achievement.
He was both a thinker who help promote the idea
and the warrior who carried it out. As a graduate student the early 1990s
Admiral McRaven wrote a thesis that explained how effective special
operations are conducted.
In a masterful display of clear and concise writing,
he used 14 words in a thesis to describe what special operators
must have to succeed. Quote "A simple plan,
carefully concealed, realistically rehearsed,
executed with surprise, speed and purpose."
Of course it took him another 600 pages to fully explain what he meant.
But,
some ideas are so complex that they defy even admiral McRaven's gift for brevity.
But drawing on the ideas in his thesis, he later helped advocate an approach to
combating terrorism
that has been the cornerstone of our campaign over the last dozen years.
The notion that to effectively counter the terrorist threat you must take the
fight to the enemy
and indeed we have. Now these and many other ideas that have influenced the
post-9/11
era bear the stamp of Admiral McRaven.
And in the long hard fight since those terrible attacks
the merits of his ideas, as well as the merits US special operations forces as a
whole,
have been more then born out
The ultimate proof of this of course came in May 2011
during the raid that brought justice to Usama bin Ladin.
Much has been said about that operation.
And many factors account for its success. It was the result of years of
painstaking work by people across the government
including of course the outstanding women and men that I have the privilege
to lead
today CIA. But,
CIA officers were not aboard those helicopters that night as they lifted
off for Abbottobad. Nor did CIA command the men
who were. Though many people help prepare for the raid, there was only one person
directing it
once President Obama gave the order to proceed.
And that was Admiral McRaven. Ever humble,
he will tell you that his contribution was minor.
He will stress that the operation itself was less in achievement
than intelligence and policy work that led up to it.
In fact when asked to describe the operation he once chose an adjective
that demonstrates both his modesty and his keen talent for understatement.
He referred to the operation as sporty.
Sporty. As anyone who is privy to the details
of the mission can tell you, this was a dangerous an exceedingly complex
operation. The deliberations over whether to undertake it was difficult
and fraught with uncertainty. But as Vice President Biden has said
there was a key moment in those deliberations, a key moment
when President Obama seem to move a step closer to his final decision.
It was when an unproven look to the president and said:
"Sir we can get this job done."
I had the great honor to be there at the time and I can tell you could hear a pin
drop in that room
when Admiral McReavan said that and was at that time that everyone in that room knew
that the decision was made and we were going forward.
What made it such an important moment was not just the meaning of those words
but the integrity and expertise of the man who said them.
Everyone in that room from the president on down
had an enormous faith and trust and confidence in Admiral McRaven.
And our trust in him was born deep. He had built that trust over time
by virtue of his intellect, his sincerity,
his character, his ingenuity, his resolve,
his composure, and his sheer common sense.
Those of you who know Admiral McRaven personally which surely affirm
that he has all those qualities and more. He is the consummate
man of arms. And if we're going to make this an honest tribute
there is one more thing that must be said: Admiral McRaven
is as decent a person and as nice
a person as you will ever come across.
He is not just a hero, but a full-on good guy.
So I am honored to call him a colleague and a friend
and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity on behalf
the women and men of the CIA, to introduce to all of you
tonight one of this nation's finest patriots.
Admiral William Harry McRaven on behalf the women and men at the CIA
and on behalf of everybody here assembled tonight
thank you for your many, many contributions to this nation's security
and congratulations on being the recipient this year's William J. Donovan
award. (Applause)