United States Navy SEAL selection and training
The average United States Navy SEAL spends over a year in a series of formal training environments before being awarded the Special Warfare Operator Naval Rating and the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) 5326 Combatant Swimmer (SEAL) or, in the case of commissioned naval officers, the designation Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer. All Navy SEALs must attend and graduate from their rating's 24 week "A" School known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school, a basic parachutist course and then the 26 week SEAL Qualification Training program.[1] All sailors entering the SEAL training pipeline with the Hospital Corpsman rating or those chosen by Naval Special Warfare Command must also attend the 26 week Special Operations Combat Medic course and subsequently earn the NEC SO-5392 Naval Special Warfare Medic before joining an operational Team. Once outside the formal schooling environment SEALs entering a new Team at the beginning of an operational rotation can expect months of training interspersed with leave and other time off before each 6 month deployment.
Screening
Rate of advancement from contacting recruiter[2]
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Percentage who |
| Signed enlistment |
79 |
| Graduated recruit training |
58 |
| Completed SEAL pre-indoctrination |
90 |
| Completed SEAL indoctrination |
85 |
| Completed BUD/S phase 1 |
33 |
| Completed BUD/S phase 2 |
87 |
| Completed BUD/S phase 3 |
96 |
| Graduated Airborne School |
100 |
| Completed SEAL Qualification Training |
99 |
Entering training to become a Navy SEAL is voluntary, and officers and enlisted men train side-by-side. To volunteer, SEAL candidates must be male, between 18 and 28 years old and US citizens in the U.S. Navy. For a period of two years members of Coast Guard were allowed to attend SEAL training until the exchange program was suspended in 2011.[3] Waivers are available for 17 year olds with parental permission and on a case by case basis for 29 and 30 year olds.[4] Academically, all applicants must have the equivalent of a high school education, score a minimum of 220 on the ASVAB and be proficient in all aspects of the English language. Medically, all potential applicants must have at least 20/75 vision, correctable to 20/20, be able to pass the SEAL Physical Screening Test and have no recent history of drug abuse. Lastly applicants must have "good moral character" as determined by his history of criminal convictions and civil citations.[5][6]
Assessment
Assignment to BUD/S is conditional on passing the Diver/SEAL Physical Screening Test (PST). Prospective trainees are expected to exceed the minimums. The minimum requirements are 500 yd (460 m) swim using breast or Combat sidestroke in under 12:30 with a competitive time of 10:00 or less, at least 42 push-ups in 2 minutes with a competitive count of 79 or more, at least 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes with a competitive count of 79 or more, at least 6 pull-ups from a dead hang (no time limit) with a competitive count of 11 or more, run 1.5 mi (2.4 km) in boots and trousers in under 11:30 with a competitive time of 10:20 or less.[7][8]
SEAL training
The SEAL training course consists of 4–12 weeks at the Naval Special Warfare Preparatory School for all enlisted men[9] followed by a three week Indoctrination program for all personnel.[10] Once passing all the initial screening the applicants attend the 25 weeks Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Special Warfare Center, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California. Following graduation from BUD/S is 26 weeks at SEAL Qualification Training including Tactical Air Operations, cold weather training and SERE).[1][11]
Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S)
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 Rehabilitation and Remediation. 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 three-week 'Indoctrination Course', known as INDOC, followed by three phases, covering physical conditioning (seven weeks), diving (eight weeks), and land warfare (ten weeks) respectively. Officer and enlisted personnel go through the same training program. 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. Although some exercises will be undertaken as boat crews (such as 'log PT', which requires boats crews to exercise with logs that weigh 150 lb (68 kg) 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 4 mi (6.4 km) runs in boots and long trousers, in soft sand (to be completed in 32 minutes). The first phase is most well known for "Hell Week", 132 hours of continuous physical activity, which now occurs during week three. A student may drop on request (DOR) from the course at any time. 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 (the bell was taken away for a few years in the 1990s, then later brought back).[12]
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. Winter class drop out rates are usually higher due to the cold. 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 if they do not believe they can complete the course.[12]
A trainee who DORs 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, or the respective phase in which they were rolled. There are many SEALs who have attempted BUD/S two and even three or more times before successfully completing training.[12]
| BUD/S Training |
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First Phase A Navy SEAL Instructor in Class 245 provides a lesson to his trainees on listening to instruction.
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First Phase Trainees endure surf torture. Medal of Honor recipient Michael Monsoor is shown on the far right.
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First Phase Trainees covered in mud.
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First Phase Team focused physical training with telephone pole sized logs is common.
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Second Phase Trainees have their arms and legs tied as a part of "drown proofing" training.
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Second Phase A BUD/S instructor attacks a trainee in the pool to simulate a combative drowning victim.
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Second Phase Trainees start diving in the pool.
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Second Phase Students do a safety check on their gear before making a dive.
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Third Phase A student detonates an explosive charge on San Clemente Island as part of his basic demolitions training.
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Third Phase A trainee is illuminated by a flare during a live fire exercise on San Clemente Island.
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Third Phase A student plots coordinates on his map during an individual land navigation exercise in Mount Laguna.
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SEAL Qualification Training (SQT)
After Selection in BUD/S, graduates attend SEAL Qualification Training (SQT), which is the NEC 5326 awarding schoolhouse of NSW. SQT is an arduous 26-week program[1] consisting of the basic and advanced skill sets required to be a SEAL. The BUD/S graduates attend a sequential course consisting of: SERE, Tactical Air Operations (Static Line/Freefall), Tactical Combat Medicine, Communications, Advanced Special Operations, Cold Weather/Mountaineering, Maritime Operations, Combat Swimmer, Tactical Ground Mobility, Land Warfare (small unit tactics, light and heavy weapons, demolitions), armed (CQD) and unarmed combatives (MMA/USA/USMC style), Close Combat Weapons and Assaults/Close Quarters Combat.[13] The emphasis in SQT is in building and developing an individual operator (NCO and Officer) capable of joining a NSW Troop with minimal deviation in operational capability. The students are broken into 20 man Platoons with two 10-man squads. Each Platoon is assigned a PLT Mentor/Chief to evaluate their performance throughout the pipeline.
The course teaches standardized Naval Special Warfare Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) as they relate to current NSW mission sets. SQT attrition is somewhat low following BUD/S selection numbers, but does still see roughly 5–10 student rolls per class due to performance and 1–2 drops per class due to failure to grasp tactics or exhibit the required leadership traits desired in the Teams.[14]
SQT staff consist of three Platoons or Phases of cadre in each of the core training sets (Maritime Assault, Urban Assault, Rural Assault /Land Warfare). Each Phase is run by a post Platoon (PLT) Chief Petty Officer (E-7/E-8) and consist of two squads of instructors. The Headquarters element consist of a OIC (Post Platoon O-3/O-4), a Training Officer (CWO-3/CWO-4), a Senior Enlisted Adviser/Curriculum Manager (Post Troop (TRP)SEA), a Operations/Training Chief (Post Platoon Chief E-7/E-8) and a civilian deputy operations manager. SQT also employs former SOF operators in civilian weapons and tactics instructor positions. The civilian instructors come from all USSOCOM branches and help introduce the students to other US SOF units and doctrine and to foster joint SOF brotherhood.
Upon completion of SQT students are awarded the Navy NEC 5326, the designation device (Navy SEAL Trident), assigned to a SEAL Team, and are operationally deployable as SEALS. 20% of graduates deploy immediately to combat with their assigned team with the rest joining the new Teams/Squadrons in the IDTC pipeline.
As of the 2006–2009 transition, enlisted members of the SEAL community are identified with the occupational rating of Special Warfare Operator (SO) and the (SEAL) warfare designator. For example, SO1(SEAL/FPJ) John Smith is identified as Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Petty Officer John Smith and is both SEAL and Free Fall Parachutist qualified.
| SEAL Qualification Training |
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Students simulating moving comrades during a live fire exercise on Camp Pendleton. |
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Students at SQT conduct a room clearing exercise.
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SQT students navigate the surf off the coast of NAB Coronado during a maritime operations training exercise. |
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SEAL Troop (TRP) Training
Following SQT, new SEALs will receive orders to a SEAL Team and assignment to a Troop (TRP) and subordinate Platoon (PLT). New operators will join their Platoon wherever they are in their deployment cycle. The normal workup or pre-deployment workup is a 12 to 18 month cycle divided into three phases. Phase one of a work-up is called the Professional Development Phase (PRODEV). PRODEV is several months long where individual operators attend a number of formal or informal schools and courses. These schools lead to required qualifications and designations that collectively allow the platoon to perform as an operational combat team. Depending on the team's and platoon's needs, operators can expect to acquire some of the following skills ( Items in parentheses are Joint SOF Unit Course equivalent):[15]
- Scout/Sniper (SOTIC)
- Breacher (Barrier Penetration/Methods of Entry)
- Surreptitious Entry (Mechanical and Electronic Bypass)
- NSWCFC(Naval Special Warfare Combat Fighting Course)
- Advanced Special Operations (MSO)
- Technical Surveillance Operations
- Advanced Driving Skills (Defensive, Rally, Protective Security)
- Climbing/Rope Skills
- Advanced Air Operations: Jumpmaster or Parachute Rigger
- Diving Supervisor or Diving Maintenance-Repair
- Range Safety Officer
- High Threat Protective Security (PSD) – (US/Foreign Heads of State or High Value Persons of Interest)
- Instructor School and Master Training Specialist
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator
- Language School
- Joint SOF and Service Professional Military Education (JPME)
Phase two of a work-up is called Unit Level Training (ULT). ULT is a 6-month block run by the respective Group (NSWG1/NSWG2) Training Detachment, where the TRP/PLT's train in their core mission area skills: Small Unit Tactics, Land Warfare, Close Quarters Combat, Urban Warfare, Hostile Maritime Interdiction (VBSS/GOPLATS), Combat Swimming, Long Range Target Interdiction, Rotary and Fixed Wing Air Operations, and Special Reconnaissance.
Phase three of a work-up is called Squadron Integration Training (SIT). SIT is the last 6-month block wherein a Troop conducts advanced training with the supporting attachments/enablers of a SEAL Squadron: Special Boat Teams (SWCC),Intelligence(SI/HI/ETC)Teams, Cryptological Support Teams, Communications (MCT/JCSE) Medical Teams, EOD, Interpreters/Linguist, etc. A final Certification Exercise (CERTEX) is conducted with the entire SEAL Squadron (SQDN) to synchronize Troop (TRP) operations under the Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) umbrella. Following CERTEX, a SEAL Team becomes a SEAL Squadron and is certified for deployment.
Once certified, a SEAL Team/Squadron will deploy to a Joint Special Operations Task Force or Area of Responsibility to become a Special Operations Task Force (SOTF), combine with a Joint Task Force (JTF) or Task Force (TF) in support of other National Objectives. Once assigned, the Troops will be given an Area of Operations (AOR) where they will either work as a centralized/intact Troop or task organize into decentralized elements (PLT-20/SQD-10/TM-5) to conduct operations. NSW Troops have ranged in size from 60 personnel to over 200 and can consist of SEAL's and any USSOCOM operational element and enablers. A SEAL Team/Squadron deployment currently is approximately 6 months, keeping the entire cycle at 12 to 24 months.
| SEAL Troop (TRP) Training |
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US Navy SEALs demonstrate VBSS techniques for the 2004 Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. |
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Two SEALs in diving gear scout a beach during an exercise.
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See also
References
Further reading
External links
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