The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas Lottery Veteran Recognition: William H. McRaven
11.06.2015 | Football, Texas Athletics
William H. McRaven, Chancellor of The University of Texas System and retired Navy SEAL, will be honored during the coin toss on Nov. 7.
Back before anybody knew about the Navy SEALs, Bill McRaven knew he wanted to be one. The son of an Air Force colonel, and a competitive miler who walked on to The University of Texas track team, McRaven was attracted to the idea of serving with the small, elite group of maritime warriors.
"I knew I wanted to be challenged, go through some sort of physical challenge," McRaven said. "I like challenge, and that's more of what drove me to the military."
At the conclusion of his 37 years as a Navy SEAL, McRaven retired a four-star admiral, who commanded the U.S. Special Operations Command, a force of about 70,000 men and women. And the man who was initially compelled by the physical challenge took a different view of his work and impact.
"I realized that it wasn't jumping out of airplanes and doing the cool things that really mattered," McRaven said. "What mattered was working with people, particularly young men and women and seeing you had an opportunity to change their lives for the better. I had that opportunity every single day in the military."
Upon his retirement from active duty in August 2014, McRaven was invited to bring his servant leader mentality to the UT System. He was named Chancellor of the UT System in January 2015.
On Saturday, as Texas Football hosts Kansas, McRaven will be recognized as the honorary veteran of the game, and will join the teams at midfield of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for the coin toss.
McRaven is unapologetically humble, and is quick to note that there are many deserving veterans who are worthy of this honor. But McRaven's rise through the ranks, and later transition to a civilian higher education leader, is notable, if only to show that the qualities of discipline and routine, so instilled through the military, are capable of producing a person's very best self.
A journalism student at UT and active in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, McRaven graduated in 1977 and was commissioned into the Navy. At that time, the SEALs were a clandestine group of warriors, and true to their stealth nature, had received very little media or public attention, but in 1978, McRaven pursued and completed SEAL training. In 1993 he earned his master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School.
As commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, McRaven organized the May 2011 raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.
"The raids get all of the press," said McRaven, the 2011 runner-up for Time magazine's Person of the Year. "But probably 75 percent of what we do is build coalitions. It's really more about building relationships, and that's the part that is transferrable to higher education. One thing you learn to do in the military is take in information from the resident experts, you learn to weigh that information, and you make decisions. I've been doing that a very long time."
Another thing the military teaches you is how to make your bed. In his 2014 commencement address to the graduates at UT-Austin, McRaven advised that the first step to changing the world is making your bed every morning.
"In basic SEAL training, and I'm sure it's true in all basic training, your bed becomes an avenue through which instructors can teach you and train you why discipline and attention to detail are important," McRaven said. "It's the first task of the day, and gets you moving, but the point was you need to understand why little things matter.
"When you're in combat, every day is filled with chaos. You realize that if you don't do the little things well, whether it's making your bed, or cleaning your weapon, or making sure your parachute is ready to go, people die. So the discipline is important."
McRaven authored "Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice," which is considered a fundamental text on special operations strategy, and he is considered a national authority on U.S. foreign policy who has advised presidents, secretaries of state and other national leaders on defense issues.
Throughout his journey, McRaven has remained faithful to the call to serve, which also became his call to lead.
"(In the military) my responsibility was to the troops, because you realize it's not about you," he said. "It's about your organization and the troops that work for you. As I transition (to the UT System), if I can use the term broadly, the troops to me are the students, the faculty and the senior leaders. Again, my obligation is to make sure that the presidents are successful and by extension of that, the faculty and the students."
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