Wednesday, March 17 – 6:00 PM

The Hard Way: Life Lessons I Learned in My 30 Years as a Navy SEAL

Captain Rick Woolard, Navy SEAL (Ret.)

Rick Woolard was born in Austin, Texas, raised in Nyack, New York, and is a graduate of Colgate University and the Naval War College. He completed SEAL, Airborne, and Ranger Training and made two combat deployments to Vietnam as a SEAL Platoon Commander in the 1960s.

During his 30-year Navy career, he commanded SEAL Team TWO, SEAL Team SIX, and the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU). Other assignments were with Underwater Demolition Team 21, the Special Boat Service of the British Royal Marines, Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, and US Forces Caribbean; and as Director of Combating Terrorism in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Director of the US Special Operations Command’s Washington Office.

He is credited for driving the initial development of SEAL Combat Swimmer, Sniper, and Winter Warfare capabilities.
Among his military decorations are the Silver Star, Defense Superior Service Medal (two awards), and Legion of Merit; and the Bronze Star with Combat Device and the Purple Heart (three each). After retiring from active duty in 1996, he enjoyed an interesting and varied private sector career. He also served for many years as President of the Special Operations Fund, which helps widows and children of men killed while serving in the national Special Mission Units.

His SEAL experiences appear in several books and documentaries. The 2017 film A Bond Unbroken tells how he and his Teammates found and rescued their Vietnamese combat interpreter 40 years after the war. He singlehandedly spearheaded the construction of the nation’s only Navy SEAL Monument in Virginia Beach in 2017 and is a Board Member of the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, FL.
He has been married to the former Sandra Wright since 1969. They have a daughter, two grandsons, and a son (a SEAL with 11 combat deployments) and live in Virginia Beach and Hutchinson Island, Florida.