Former Special Operations Command honcho Adm Eric Olson Retires Tomorrow

Posted Sep 30, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Sep 30, 2011 at 10:05 PM

Tomorrow, the Bull Frog officially retires.

Adm. Eric Olson, who until Aug. 8 commanded U.S. Special Operations Command, will end his 38-year military career at close of business today and be officially retired as of tomorrow, according to Socom spokesman Ken McGraw.

Olson, 59, had a ceremony in San Diego on Aug. 22, McGraw said.

Olson – known as the Bull Frog for being the longest-serving active duty SEAL – became the first member of the elite Naval Special Warfare unit to take the helm of Socom, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base. In July, 2007, he became the eight commander of Socom – which created in 1987 by congressional fiat in the wake of the disastrous attempted rescue of Iranian hostages.

Adm. William McRaven, who took over for Olson, became just the second SEAL to helm Socom.

At his retirement ceremony, held at the Naval Special Warfare Command HQ in Coronado, CA, Olson said protests againt the Vietnam War were his inspiration for joining the Navy.

According to a Socom press release:

In 1967,  Olson spent the fall semester of his high school junior year in Washington, DC.  On the 21st of October, as a 15 year old, he went to watch the first large protest against the war in Vietnam.

“You’ve all seen the photos – tens of thousands of mostly college students carrying signs on the Mall near the Washington Monument … ‘Make love, not war,’ ‘Hell no, we won’t go,’” he said.
   
Olson told the more than 300 people who attended the ceremony he was impressed how this could take place within a mile of the Capitol and White House.  He said he was proud of his country that day.
   
A month later, Olson visited the Naval Academy for the first time, and that visit, along with witnessing the protest, helped him select his career.

“I had seen something worth defending, and I had seen a path to help defend it,” Olson said.
   
During his senior year at the Naval Academy, Olson said he competed to go directly into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training.  Four days after his selection to enter BUDS, he was in a serious car accident.  After being released from intensive care, he was introduced to Medal of Honor recipient Navy SEAL Lt. Tommy Norris, who was at Bethesda Naval Hospital after being shot in the head in Vietnam.

“He looked terrible; with a gaping head wound, one eye missing and in severe pain,” Olson said. “But he told me the only thing he was sorry about was that he couldn’t continue to serve as a SEAL. 

That was good enough for me.  I recovered from a fractured femur in record time and started BUD/S training less than a year later.”
   
Then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, spoke about Olson and his career at the Aug. 22 ceremony.
   
“Eric considers the hard work and the sweat, the pain and peril of being a special warrior to be a special honor,” Mullen said. “He learned here how to fight, and then took those lessons with him around the world: from leading a small team as they captured 100 Iraqi troops on an oil rig in the Gulf during Desert Storm; to his extraordinary bravery running the infamous Mogadishu Mile in Somalia; to his leadership first as the deputy commander of Special Operations Command and then as the commander … Eric Olson has led this community with a steady hand, doubling its numbers while maintaining it quality,  and now leading a 60,000 person, $10 billion force that is still the best return on investment in the entire armed forces.”

Mullen went on to tell the audience and Olson when the history of the current wars is written, the first, last and most pivotal chapters will be about Olson and the people he has led, trained and mentored.

Olson oversaw a combatant command that gained increasing prominence in the nation’s warfighting efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the May operation – planned by McRaven - that killed Osama bin Laden.

According to Olson’s official Navy bio:

A native of Tacoma, Wash., Olson graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1973 and qualified as a Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) officer in 1974. He has served operationally in an Underwater Demolition Team, SEAL Team, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team, Special Boat Squadron, and at the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. He has commanded at every level.

Olson earned a Master of Arts degree in National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School and studied at the Defense Language Institute. He is a Joint Specialty officer and Political-Military Affairs sub-specialist with emphasis on Africa and the Middle East. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal and Silver Star.