Adm. William McRaven

In June 2008, McRaven replaced Gen. Stanley McChrystal as head of the elite unit , and McRaven to have heavily influenced McChrystal's thinking in recommending to President Obama a 40,000 troop surge to the war-torn country.

Before bin Laden's death, McRaven had been recommended for a fourth star and nominated to lead the U.S. Special Operations Command based in Florida.

Described as "quiet, humble, smart," McRaven is intimately familiar with McChrystal's top-secret work as head of JSOC in Iraq, where the unit was credited with the 2006 killing of top al-Qaeda strategist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. Media reports say he's long been in charge of task forces aimed at capturing high-value al-Qaeda targets.

In his current role, McRaven heads the even more secretive Task Force 714, a special-operations group that conducts "high intensity hits" on Taliban targets in Afghanistan. An anonymous National Security Council staffer described the force as "small groups of Rangers going wherever the hell they want to go" in Afghanistan.

"Bill is a great leader but also a pretty big thinker," said Michael G. Vickers, who worked closely with McRaven as the Pentagon's chief civilian officer overseeing special ops during McRaven's time at JSOC. "It's a rare balance of these two skills."

In His Own Words

"I am a soldier," McRaven told the father of two victims Afghanistan after they were mistakenly killed by U.S. forces in 2010, delivering the two sheep, along with $30,000. "I have spent most of my career overseas, away from my family, but I have children as well, and my heart grieves for you."

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