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William McRaven Four-Star Admiral; Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command

In his 1996 book Spec Ops, William McRaven identifies six principals that define a successful mission, including simplicity, speed and surprise. When his team of Navy SEALs flew into Abbottabad in search of Osama Bin Laden, they were armed with all six, but perhaps most important was purpose--a tactical art surely, with a larger meaning more difficult to define.