DescriptionThe United States Navy SEALs are an elite group of teams in the Naval Special Warfare program. The were created on the belief that future wars would be fought on the home turf of the enemy in all elements. So, John F. Kennedy decided to have an elite group that can opperate in all elements under all conditions. From this, the SEAL teams were born. SEAL stands for Sea, Air, and Land, the 3 elements in which they can work. Trainees have to go through a harsh, extensive, brutal training program called BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL Training), in Coronado, California. In the Vietnam War, they were known as The Men with green faces. These men have protected and saved the lives of many American soldiers by recovering information from the enemy and exposing their plans. Without the, many more American lives would have been lost.
Training
This page will include the very painful, hard, and extensive training tadpoles go through before they become SEALs. The cours they go through is BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training).
BUD/S Entrance Exam
1. Pass a diving physical exam
2. Have eye sight no worse than 20/40 in one eye and 20/70 in the other and correctable to 20/20 with not color blindness
3. Minimum ASVAB score: VE+AR=104, MC=50 (for enlistees)
4. 28 years old or less (pretty stict on this)
5. Only men are eligable
5. Pass the following physical fitness test:
•500yd swim using the breat or side stroke in 12:30 - ten minute rest
•Minimum of 42 pushups in 2 minutes - two minutes rest
•Minimum of 50 situps in 2 minutes - two minute rest
•Minimum of 8 pullups - no time limit - ten minute rest
•Run 1.5 miles wearing boots and fatigues in 11:30
First Phase
The first phase of BUD/S is mostly physical training. This training includes: Two and three mile timed runs, PT, 1-2 mile swims with fins, and run the obsticle course almost daily. As the weeks go by, the minimum requirements wil go pu. THe skills learned in the first phase are life saving, knot tying, underwater knot tying, basic first aid, and surf passage in IBSs (Inflatible Boat Small). During the sixths week of the first phase, the famous and torturous Hell Week takes place. Hell Week takes place over 5 days, and tadpoles only get a total of 2 hours of sleep. During this week, 30% of the class drops out. Boat crews carry boat everywhere they go. Somethings that takes places during Hell Week are:
•Rock protatge on the rocks in front of the Hotel Del Coronado
•Boat paddle around Coronado Island
•Timed swims and runs
•Obsticle course running with the IBS
•Running down the Silver Strand with the IBS
•Low crawling throught the famous Imperial Mud Flats, the demo pits, and steel piersThe final three weeks of the first phase is spent teaching the basics of what the old UDT did during WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam.
Second Phase
The training in the second phase becomes harder. There are four mile swims, 12 mile rucksack hikes, PT becomes more intense, and soft runs become harder and more frequent. In the second phase, tadpoles learn how to dive with the Navy's open and closed circut equipment.
Third Phase
The third phase of BUD/S is the Land Warfare Phase. They learn how to use the M-16, pistols,, M-60, M-79 and M=203, 40mm grenade launchers, hand grenades, Anti-Tank weapons, field explosives, and hand to hand combat. Of course the physical training contiunes. The training picks up to: 5.5 mile ocean swims and 14 mile runs. The first four weeks are spent on the Coronado Strand learning the basics of land warfare. Then the tadpoles move to San Clemente Island. This is where the SEALs get to test out their demolition and warfare abilities. On San Clemente island, students also learn how breath-hold dive up to 20ft. The class will alos conduct night combat beach reconnaissance, prepares hydrographic chars, and then retrun the following night to place explosives on objects and then blow them up. The final thing during BUD/S is FTX or Field Training Exercise. It is held over 5 days and nights. This will test the skills they learned during BUD/s.
After 6 1/2 months, the tadpoles reach Graduation day, the moment they all have been waiting for, and are now SEALs. After they graduate, they are off to the Army Jump School at Ft. Benning, Ga. Once they are finished there, they will get their assignments to either east coast or west coast to a SEAL or SDV unit. But their training isn't over. They now have to go to platoon training. They learn warfare for every environment, and they also will go to Chocolate Mountain Shooting Range and shoot thousands of thousands of rounds of ammunition. After about a year or so of training, a tadpole is molded into a SEAL and finely tuned. They are now ready for action.