United States Navy SEALs

The United States Navy Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) forces are the Special Operations Forces of the U.S. Navy, employed in unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, Counter-Terrorism, and special reconnaissance operations. In many countries, US Navy SEALS would be described as naval commandos.

Those qualified to become Navy SEALs are authorized, after completing Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL school (BUD/S) and a specialized program known as SQT (SEAL Qualification Training), to wear and display the Special Warfare Badge, also known as the SEAL Trident. This badge (sometimes called “the Budweiser” for its resemblance to the Anheuser-Busch eagle logo) serves as the insignia for the SEALs as a whole and is one of the most recognizable warfare insignia among U.S. Special Operations Forces. It is usually worn along with the U.S. Navy paratrooper wings, which are awarded after 10 jumps. In order to blend in with units they are supporting, Navy SEALS wear modified versions of all service Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs). However, during the Vietnam War, SEAL members wore 'tiger stripe' camouflage uniforms, often with civilian blue jeans and 'coral' sneakers, for patrol missions. On base, they wore standard uniforms with a black beret during the early years (when they patrolled alongside the Swift and STAB boat units of the 'Brown Water Navy' and tiger-striped 'boonie' hats in later years.

During the Vietnam War, UDTs performed reconnaissance missions and SEALs carried out numerous offensive operations. Concurrently, Naval Operations Support Groups were formed to aid Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs), SEALs, and two other unique units—Boat Support and Beach Jumpers—in administration, planning, research, and development.

History

• Summer 1941: Training began for units referred to as Amphibious Scouts and Raiders.
• Spring 1943: The first group of volunteers selected from the Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees). They were organized into special teams called “Navy Combat Demolition Units” (NCDUs) and were trained at Waimānalo, Hawai'i and Fort Pierce, Florida. The units reconnoitered and cleared beach obstacles for troops going ashore during amphibious landings, and evolved into Combat Swimmer Reconnaissance Units, often known as frogmen. Some of these frogmen were recruited from breath-holding divers who dived for abalones on the California coast before the war. The NCDUs distinguished themselves during World War II in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
• 1947: The Navy organized its first underwater offensive strike units.
• 1950 June – 1953 June: During the Korean Conflict, these Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) took part in the landing at Inchon as well as other missions including demolition raids on bridges and tunnels accessible from the water. They also conducted limited minesweeping operations in harbors and rivers.
• 1960’s: Each branch of the armed forces formed its own counterinsurgency force. The Navy used UDT personnel to form units called SEAL teams.
• 1961, May 25: President John F. Kennedy speaks before the U.S. Congress authorizing the establishment of the Navy SEALs.
• 1961 December: Navy SEALs are officially approved for operations via the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke.
• 1962 January 1, 1300 hrs: SEAL Team ONE was commissioned in the Pacific Fleet and SEAL Team TWO in the Atlantic Fleet. These teams were developed to conduct unconventional warfare, counter-guerrilla warfare and clandestine operations in both blue water and brown water environment.
• 1963: First Vietnam War-detachment of elements of SEAL Team One in Da Nang, Vietnam to serve under the command of the CIA Chief of Station
• 1964: SEALs became a component of the Commander-in-Chief (CINC) of Vietnam’s theatre forces.
• 1967: The Naval Operations Support Groups were renamed “Naval Special Warfare Groups” (NSWGs) as involvement increased in special operations.
• 1983: Existing UDTs were renamed as “SEAL teams” or “SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams” and the requirement for hydrographic reconnaissance and underwater demolition became “SEAL missions”.
• 1987: SEAL team SIX became DEVGRU (DEVelopment GRoUp).
• 1987-04-16: The Naval Special Warfare Command was commissioned at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego, California. Its mission is to prepare Naval Special Warfare forces to carry out their assigned missions and to develop special operations strategy, doctrine, and tactics.
• 2002 March; Operation Anaconda in the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
• 2002; (Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines) -Captured/Killed key ASG Terrorist leader.
• 2003 March; participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Navy SEAL Teams and Structure

A SEAL Team is comprised of three 40-man Task Units. Each Task Unit consist of a Headquarters element consisting of a Task Unit Commander (O-4), a Task Unit Senior Enlisted (E-8), a Targeting/Operations Officer (O-2/3) and a Targeting/Operations Leading/Chief Petty Officer (E-6/7); Under the HQ element are two SEAL Platoons of 16 men (2 officers, 14 enlisted SEALS and sometimes 2 enlisted EOD Operators making the platoon of 18); and support staff. Each Task Unit can be easily split into 4 squads or eight 4-man fire teams for operational purposes. The size of each SEAL “Team” with Task Units and support staff is approx. 300 personnel. The typical SEAL platoon of 16 men has an OIC (Officer in Charge, usually an O-3), an AOIC (Assistant Officer in Charge, usually an O-2), a platoon chief (E-7), a LPO (Leading Petty Officer, E-6) and the rest range from E-6 to E-4 (most are E-5). Occasionally there is a "third O". Usually the third O is an O-1 and on his first operational deployment. This makes the platoon consist of 3 officers and 13 enlisted personnel.

Task Unit core skills consist of: Sniper, Breacher, Communicator, Maritime/Engineering, Close Air Support, Corpsman, Point-man/Navigator, Primary Driver/Navigator (Rural/Urban/Protective Security), Heavy Weapons Operator, Sensitive Site Exploitation, Air Operations Master, Lead Climber, Lead Diver/Navigator, Interrogator, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Technical Surveillance and Advanced Special Operations.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2006, there are eight confirmed Navy SEAL Teams. The original SEAL Teams in the Vietnam War were separated between West Coast (Group ONE) and East Coast (Group TWO) SEALs. The current SEAL Team deployments are from Teams 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10. The Teams now deploy as Naval Special Warfare Squadrons. Any Team can deploy anywhere in the world. Each of these 8 teams is commanded by a Navy Commander (O-5), and has a number of operational SEAL platoons and a headquarters element.

• “Little Creek” is a naval base in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Training

SEAL recruit training has these components, lasting 48 weeks (or 11 months):

• 27 weeks Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado (San Diego, CA)
• 3 weeks of additional airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
• At Coronado, 19-week SEAL Qualification Training (SQT).

After this, the trainee is officially named a SEAL.^[1]

Assignment to BUD/S is conditional on passing the PST, which requires the following minimums:

• 500-yard swim using breast or side stroke in under 12:30
• At least 42 push-ups in 2 minutes
• At least 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes
• At least 6 pull-ups (no time limit)
• Run 1.5 miles in boots and long pants in under 11:30
• Members’ vision must be no worse than 20/20 in both eyes. Vision must be correctable to 20/20. SEAL candidates may qualify for PRK surgery to correct their vision

Again, the above are the minimum requirements necessary to qualify for BUD/S. Prospective trainees are expected to far exceed these minimums. Competitive scores (according to Stew Smith, an ex-SEAL) are as follows:

• 500-yard swim using breast or combat side stroke in 7:00-8:30 minutes
• 80 push-ups in 2 minutes
• 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes
• 15-20 pull-ups from a dead hang (no time limit)
• Run 1.5 miles in boots and long pants in 8:30-10:00 minutes

Upon arrival at Naval Special Warfare Command, check-ins for BUD/S are immediately placed into a pre-indoctrination phase of training known as 'PTRR', or Physical Training Rest and Recuperation. PTRR is also where all of the 'roll-backs' are placed while waiting to be put into a class. Once additional medical screening is given, and after enough BUD/S candidates arrive for the same class, organized physical training begins.

BUD/S consists of a five-week 'Indoctrination Course', known as INDOC, followed by three phases, covering physical conditioning (eight weeks), diving (eight weeks), and land warfare (nine weeks) respectively. Officer and enlisted personnel go through the same training program, and it is designed to develop and test their stamina, leadership and ability to work as a team.

In the first phase BUD/S students are divided into 'Boat Crews' which can consist of six to eight men. However, although some exercises will be undertaken as boat crews (such as 'log PT', which requires boats crews to exercise with logs that weigh 150 pounds each, and 'Surf Passage', where boat crews must navigate the Pacific surf in inflatable boats), the first phase of BUD/S also consists of a series of demanding individual physical tests including frequent sets of push-ups and sit-ups, ocean swims and timed four mile runs in boots and long trousers (to be completed in 32 minutes). The first phase is most well known for 'Hell Week', which usually occurs during the third week. During this period, from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon, trainees get a total of approximately four hours of sleep, (exactly how much depends upon the schedule set by the instructors, and how closely the trainees can be kept to that schedule) while subjected to intense physical stress. Trainees are almost always wet, cold and covered in sand which leads to trainees developing what is known as 'Hell Week shuffle', which is a way of walking that keeps salt-stained clothing away from chafed skin. The last day of Hell Week is known as 'So Sorry Day', during which the BUD/S students are made to crawl and slither their way through scum-covered water in the 'demo pits' as automatic weapons fire blank rounds over their heads and artillery simulators explode around them.

SEAL training and duty is voluntary. Many BUD/S students find that they do not have the desire to continue to endure the physical and mental strain of training, and subsequently drop on request (DOR), from the course. The tradition of DOR consists of dropping one's helmet liner next to a pole with a brass ship’s bell attached to it, and ringing the bell three times. Classes typically lose around 70–80% of their trainees — either due to DORs or injuries sustained during training, but it is not always easy to predict which of the trainees will DOR during BUD/S. SEAL instructors say that in every class, approximately 10 percent of the students simply do not have the physical ability to complete the training. Another 10–15 percent will definitely make it through unless they sustain a serious physical injury. The other 75–80 percent is 'up for grabs' depending on their motivation. There has been at least one BUD/S class where no one has completed the program. Most trainees are eliminated prior to completion of Hell Week, but trainees will continue to DOR in the second phase or be forced to leave because of injuries, or failing either the diving tests or the timed runs and swims. In fact, the instructors tell the students at the very start of BUD/S that the vast majority of them will not successfully complete the course and that they are free at any time to drop out (via the bell) if they do not believe they can complete the course.

A trainee who DOR’s from First Phase before the completion of Hell Week and reapplies to the BUD/S program must start from the beginning of INDOC (if they are accepted). Any BUD/S trainee who drops on request after Hell Week goes through the same out-processing as a trainee who quits before or during Hell Week. If they reapply to BUD/S they would stand a very good chance of being accepted, but they must complete Hell Week again. However, those who have completed Hell Week, but cannot continue training due to injury are usually rolled back into the next BUD/S class after Hell Week (those who are seriously injured must leave BUD/S and reapply and also complete Hell Week again). There are many SEALs who have attempted BUD/S two or even perhaps three times before successfully completing training. There is only one person who has successfully completed Hell Week three times. He completed training after his third application to BUD/S^{[citation needed]}.

After BUD/S, enlisted students must then attend the Army Airborne School for three weeks of static line parachute training and physical conditioning (this conditioning is relatively undemanding compared to BUD/S). Freefall parachute training is conducted at Navy’s Strategic Air Operations (SAO) school in the desert outside of San Diego. Until 2003, the Army trained Navy Special Warfare teams to freefall. The new school allows more SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC) to become free-fall and HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) qualified than ever before. Finally, the last requirement before going to a team requires students to go through SEAL Qualification Training, or SQT, which is a 15-week course of advanced training which builds on the skills developed during BUD/S. After completion of SQT training, students are then offically considered SEALs and are awarded the SEAL pin, or Trident.

Upon assignment to a team, the new SEALs will be assigned to a Platoon as an Operator. Once in a Task Unit/Platoon, the Operator will train for an 18-month period (work-up) before a six month active deployment which is followed by six month 'stand down' period.

Phase One of a work-up is called the Professional Development Phase (PRODEV). PRODEV is a 6-month block where Operators gain critical skills required by the Task Units/Platoons for deployment. Operators can expect to acquire the following core skills:

• Sniper
• Breacher
• Surreptitious Entry
• Electronic and Media Exploitation
• Technical Surveillance
• High Threat Protective Security (PSD)
• Advanced Weapons Training
• Advanced Driving Skills (Urban/Rural/Security)
• Advanced Climbing/Rope Skills
• Advanced Air Operations: HALO/Jumpmaster/Parachute Rigger and Packer
• Ranger School (U.S. Army)
• Diving Supervisor
• Range Safety Officer
• Instructor School
• Leadership School
• Foreign Weapons
• Explosive Ordinance Disposal
• UAV Operator
• Language School
• Advanced Special Operations

Phase Two of a work-up is called Unit Level Training (ULT). ULT is a 6-month block where the Task Units train in their core mission areas (Land Warfare, Close Quarters Combat, Urban Warfare, Maritime Interdiction, Combat Swimmer, Long Range Interdiction, Air Operations, Special Reconnaissance and Maritime Operations, Advanced Marksmanship/Heavy Weapons).

Phase Three of a work-up is called Squadron Integration Training (SIT). SIT is the last 6-month block where the Task Unit conducts advanced training as well as integrates all supporting attachments (N-codes (N1-N8), Special Boat Squadrons, Medical Teams, EOD, Interpreters, Intelligence/HUMINT Teams, Cryptological Support Teams, etc). A final Certification Exercise is conducted with the entire SEAL Team to synchronize Task Unit operations under the Task Group umbrella. Following CERTEX, a SEAL Team becomes a SEAL Squadron and deploys to the area of operations for 6-10 months. The Task Units will be assigned an area of operations and work under a Squadron Headquarters Unit called a Task Group.

Insert non-formatted text here US Army Special Forces related Troop Terms are: AOB for Task Group; FOB for Task Unit; ODA Team for Platoon; Troop for Squad.

Famous Navy SEALs

• Roy Boehm — first commanding officer of SEAL Team Two, considered godfather of all SEALs
• Rudy Boesch — competitor in the TV reality shows Survivor and Survivor: All-Stars
• Christopher Cassidy — BUD/s class 192, NASA astronaut
• Dennis Chalker — plankowner of SEAL Team SIX and Red Cell
• Dick Couch — Vietnam War veteran, author, BUD/s Class 45 in 1969
• Scott Helvenston — known as the youngest SEAL in history to complete BUD/S; famous for being ambushed, killed and his body mutilated in Fallujah, Iraq (March 31, 2004).
• Gary Jackson — president Blackwater USA, a private military contractor
• Bob Kerrey — Medal of Honor recipient; Democratic U.S. Senator from Nebraska (1989–2001); and president of The New School since 2005
• Richard Marcinko — founder of SEAL Team SIX and Red Cell; and co-author of NY Times bestseller Rogue Warrior
• Tom McGrath — commander of SEAL Team Four during the Operation Just Cause
• Chuck Pfarrer — SEAL Team SIX Operator; screenwriter with credits including The Jackal, Darkman, Red Planet, Virus, Hard Target, Navy SEALS; and author of the NY Times bestseller Warrior Soul and the reality-thriller Killing Ché
• Neil Roberts — participated in Operation Anaconda and was killed in action after falling out of an ambushed helicopter
• Scott Wirtz -- member of SEAL Team FIVE and member of the joint US Army Ranger/Navy SEAL mission to rescue Jessica Lynch; currently employed by Blackwater USA
• Theodore Roosevelt IV — Vietnam-era SEAL great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, BUD/s class 36
• William Shepherd — first American commander of the International Space Station
• Jesse Ventura - served with UDT 12, was a professional wrestler, and 38th governor of Minnesota
• Hershel Davis - Grandfather of SEALs during the 80s & 90s; Master Chief of Blackwater USA (PSC).
• Bob Gormly - Commanding officer of Seal Team 6 during the invasion of Grenada, author of Combat Swimmer
• Richard Machowicz - aka "Mack," ex-Navy SEAL and founder of Bukido training system and host of Discovery Channel's Futureweapons
• Kim Erskin - led team in Grenada to secure radio tower but came under attack and extracted his team safely
• Michael A. Monsoor - Jumped on an enemy grenade during a firefight to save fellow SEAL operators.

See also

• United States Army Special Forces
• Underwater Demolition Team
• United States Special Operations Command
• United States Special Operations Forces
• U.S. Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance
• Red Cell
• Air Force Air Commandos
• Delta Force
• Special Air Service
• Special Boat Service
• Frogman
• Mark V SOC
• Operation Anaconda
• Canadian Special Forces Canada's JTF2
• Z Special Unit
• United States Navy#Special warfare
• United States Navy SEALs in fiction
• DEVGRU

References

• Navy Fact File: Navy SEALs. San Diego: Naval Special Warfare Command – Public Affairs Office, United States Navy (2005-03-03). Retrieved on 2006-06-25.

• McCoy, Shane T. (August 2004). “Testing Newton's Law,” All Hands Magazine, p.33.

• Obringer, Lee Ann. How the Navy SEALSs Work. How Stuff Works. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.

• Sasser, Charles W. Encyclopedia of The Navy SEALs, Facts on File, 2002. (ISBN 0-8160-4569-0)

• SAMWolf. (May 20, 2004). The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Marshall Islands Campaign. FreeRepublic.com

Further reading

• Bahmanyar, Mir. US Navy SEALS. Osprey Publishing, 2005. (ISBN 1-84176-807-3)

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