Who Dares Wins

Back to Back Q’s for me but Sunday is pretty easy, except I was 55 seconds after 0630. Still by the official clock in my car, I flew into the parking lot and told Roscoe, JJ and Winehouse to take off. Hunchback had his 2.0 and Scrat who has more posts than Allen Tate this year. Flintstone came in later than me, but he was rucking since he put in 15 miles yesterday. Since I was the Q, I felt obligated to run the main loop and not the wus route. So, I compromised and took the short cut down Hudson and onto the greenway. I jumped ahead of the real runners, but I did finally run the gut-check this summer – not great, but completed – Who Dares Wins as the story goes.

Turns out Gavel was on the course early and it was nice to have him join us for Q-Source. Had a girl in training at Starbucks so it took a minute before we could begin.

We’re reading The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by Admiral William McRaven. I had the pleasure to cover Chapter 8 Who Dares Wins. The title comes from a British officer named David Stirling who created a mission to defeat German holds in North Africa in 1942. The mission was to have machine gun mounted Jeep raids go into enemy territory to take out positions and men using his Special Air Services (SAS). Stirling was asked to develop a motto for his team which he chose “Who Dares Wins.”

McCraven used the term before sending 24 Navy Seals on a covert mission called Operation Neptune’s Spear. You may be more familiar with the outcome of the mission than the name itself, which culminated in the death of Osama bin Laden. Leading up to May 1, 2011, the US had gathered intelligence on a unique compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where a tall figure would briefly walk outside of the 3-story building in circles. The “Pacer” as he was known on the images was purported to be non-other than bin Laden however the accuracy of the information ranged from 40 to 80% depending on the small number of individuals that were briefed, including President Obama. McCraven was brought in to design the mission which had 165 phases. There was high risk should the mission fail, but McCraven planned for every possible contingency, including if one of the two helicopters were to crash (which one did).

Obviously this illustration is a fantastic point to describe the ultimate risk and reward. This could translate into your life if you were considering a job change, a life change, maybe opening a business, or making an investment. You must carefully weight the risks and decide your tolerance should the objective fail. We often read about the founders of companies that bet on themselves and ultimately won, but the reward didn’t come without failures and learning along the way. Obama had the ultimate decision to approve the mission. He was reminded that he’d made a pledge to the American people that if given the opportunity, he’d bring bin Laden to justice. In this window of time, the intelligence was never 100%. But McCraven planned the mission so well, the President was confident Seal Team 6 could execute the plan and capture or kill the Pacer. His decision paid off and the mastermind was brought to justice by American forces.

Who Dares Wins – try that on the next time you’re faced with a decision.

I read the backstory for Operation Neptune’s Spear at Politico. Interesting at the time was the Press Correspondent’s Dinner that Donald Trump was the “roastee.” Also some of the familiar names that were providing counsel to the President. One in particular seemed to be more concerned if the mission failed, the possible impact for the President’s opportunity at re-election. I guess that person was less concerned with avenging justice for the American people and more about his own interests. See if you can figure out who it is, or read for yourself:

‘I’d Never Been Involved in Anything as Secret as This’ – POLITICO