EXOTIC WARFARE
Courage • Persision • Disipline • Pride
The Call For Frogmen; The U.S Navy Seals
Because of the changing face of warfare that came along with the conflict in Vietnam, Navy Seal teams one and two were established in 1962 in answer to President Kennedy’s desire for the development of unconventional warfare capability. The first Seals teams were constructed by using the members of Amphibious Scouts and Raiders teams, already trained in underwater demolitions as well as many other skills today’s Seals posses. They were trained to reconnoiter beaches and locate obstacles in their waters and to carry out demolitions of the obstacles, and hold their position on the beach to ensure the safe landing of later arriving waves of assault teams.
These new Seal teams were designed to carry out many different kinds of missions in which special abilities were needed, such as diving, surveying, mine sweeping, explosives, hand to hand fighting, and other special tactics, as well as the mastery of special weaponry in order to effectively counter guerrilla forces in Vietnam. Their abilities were not at all limited to the aforementioned. In fact the reason for the creation of such teams was to ensure supreme abilities to infiltrate and work clandestinely in such environments in which larger unit sizes would undoubtedly be noticed by the enemy. So it was imperative that they each be highly versatile and their skills be honed beyond perfection due to the fact that they would operate in very small units with the objective to accomplish great feats.
In 1963 the newly assembled Seal teams, or Green Faced Devils, as they were soon to become known as, received the thumbs up from President Kennedy to enter the Vietnam War. Their first assignments in the war were as advisors to the South Vietnamese to help develop their skills in clandestine maritime warfare units, as well as training the Biet Hai Commandos to learn to operate much like our Under Water Demolition (UDT) teams. At that time the Seals were under the command of the CIA Chief of Station. In 1964 they were an important component of the Commander in Chief in Vietnam. Shortly thereafter, in 1966, Seal Team One saw direct action in the Rung Sat Special Zone.
It didn’t take long for the Navy Seals to become feared by their enemies, and for the great mysticism that still surrounds them to this day, to set in. They continued their missions in counter guerrilla warfare and as Special Force Advisors until the early 1970’s
The Seals, or Sea, Air, and Land teams have been a very valuable part of every war, conflict, or special mission ever since their initiation into the United States Armed Forces, including conducting or aiding in anti-drug missions.
The Seals have grown in size considerably and have come to be known for their great valor and to have the most stringent and brutal training of all Special Warfare Units in the world. The first and most important assets they attain are pride, honor, and teamwork.
Many young service men are enrolled into the elite BUD/S Training Academy each year to have a chance at becoming frogmen. Unfortunately, women can not become Seals in accordance with the Ground Combat Exclusion Law, which was passed by U.S. Congress. However, they can become part of other special warfare units, even Explosives Ordinance Disposal Units, which are dive or underwater related.
A Seal team is made up of eight to ten boat teams. For operational purposes each boat team consists of a deadly four man fire team. It takes two officers and fourteen enlisted men to form a platoon. At the point of their origin during The Vietnam War, The Seals were split into two groups. Seal Team One would operate from the West Coast of the United States and cover the waters of the Pacific Ocean, while Seal Team Two operated on the East Coast covering the Atlantic Ocean. At the present there are eight confirmed Seal Teams. They are as follows, one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, and ten. They each can operate anywhere in the world under the command of the Navy Commander.
You may wonder what happened to teams six and nine. The reason they were not listed is the fact that they were never confirmed by the Navy or by the Pentagon. Many rumors are told and written of the mystical Seal Team Six, but as to weather they actually exist or not, there is only one way to truly find out. Put your boots on and Join the United States Navy and ask for Commanding Officer Du Jour who will be glad to show you around BUD/S Seal Team proving ground. Contrary to your mothers endless rant about staying healthy by staying warm and dry when you were a child and to get plenty of rest, these men will let you get as wet and dirty as you like and then some, and you never have to sleep. Above all that fun, you will be more physically fit and immune to the common cold as ever, and it requires no chicken noodle soup, but what mom doesn’t know wont hurt her.
At the BUD/S training facility, each prospective Tadpole, or Basic Underwater Demolition/ Seal students will meet the challenge of a life time, being tested both mentally and physically to the point at which you question your own sanity. Just so you know they are all a little “not right”. You start at the fourth of four phases just to see if you have what it takes, then it’s back to phase one. Once in phase one, after a leisurely cruise around the Gator Beach by foot both night and day at high speed and a beautiful tour of San Diego Bay one to two miles at a time in the fastest possible time, by breast or side stroke, they let you partake in a little drown proof training, as well as some good old fashioned surf torture, just to keep your spirit up. You never really liked listening to Mom’s boring rules anyway right? Good thing for that because here comes Hell Week. Oh, it’s just another stroll on the beach where you carry your boat on your head, whenever you are not paddling the “hell” out of it, covered from head to toe with sand. You are having so much fun by now you forget to sleep for most of the week. If you happen to not like the wonderful time you are having, you can always drop your helmet in the sand next to a pole and ring the ole brass bell three times and they will let you return to the fleet. Needless to say, many students do not make it through, in fact only about 5% actually do. Some students join BUD/S two or three times before making the grade. If you are one of the rarest mammals on earth and continue on, you will soon realize that the once thought, humanly impossible is indeed possible and will feel darn good about it. You have learned much about team work, leadership, and confidence. Soon, after many more torturous and eventful days and nights of phase two and three, you will arrive at graduation day with what they call a thousand mile stare, and are closer than ever to receiving your Navy Seal Trident or “Budweiser”. However you are still a long way away from discovering the facts about the mysterious Seal Team Six. Now that you have successfully completed BUD/S training, you are off to Strategic Air Operations School (SAO) which lasts three weeks. That’s not quite it, if you call right now the Navy will also throw in some SEAL Qualification Training (SQT), which takes fifteen weeks to complete. It is then and only then, you are considered a Seal and are finally awarded your Seal Trident. The hard work still continues. Now you are placed in a Seal Team and must train and hone your skills together as a unit. That team becomes your new family. Parachute Jump School, Basic Intelligence, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Naval Gunfire Support, Combat Medicine, and Escape SEAL CADRE Training are part of an eighteen month training period with your new team before your first six month deployment. A Seal is not considered experienced before completing at least three deployments.
Becoming a United States Navy Seal is not just a job or training program, it is a huge commitment and a way of life. If you ever happen to run into Seal Team Six, tell’em I’m on my way.
If you are not or have never been a Navy Seal and have never met one up close and would like to, then just spread the lie that you are or were a Seal and your dream or worst nightmare may soon come true.
