Special Operations Command head Adm. William McRaven Time magazine Person of The Year Runner-up

Posted Dec 15, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Dec 15, 2011 at 08:20 AM

Congrats to Adm. William McRaven, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, for being a Time magazine “Person of the Year” runner-up.

The POTY nod went to “The Protestor” in honor of those who sparked the Arab Spring. But Time editors considered McRaven, the man with the plan to take out Osama bin Laden when he was the honcho over at Joint Special Operations Command. McRaven assumed command of MacDill Air Force Base-headquartered Socom in August, taking over from Adm. Eric Olson and joining Olson as the only two Navy SEALs to run Socom.

According to the Washington Post: The protester” this year beat out Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, newly royal Kate Middleton, Navy Adm. William McRaven, and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

“There was a lot of consensus among our people,” Time Managing Editor Richard Stengel told the “Today” show about the choice of the protester. “It felt right.”