Finishing School Earning the Navy Seal Trident

The Prerequisites THE BASIC COURSE There are a number of things a young man must do before he begins the serious business of SEAL finishing school. Before the Navy or Naval Special Warfare will invest the time and money to train a man to be a Navy SEAL, they want to know two things: Is he smart enough and is he tough enough for this business? SEAL candidates are screened carefully for mental aptitude, and most have the required mental ability. Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, or BUD/S, is designed to test whether these SEAL hopefuls have the toughness. What we are talking about here is what the SEALs call Hack It School, or Pain 101. In the culture of the Navy SEAL teams, it all begins at BUD/S. Perhaps no other military training carries with it the mystique--and pain--associated with this training. The Warrior Elite focused on this basic course. It is the crucible that takes qualified young sailors and naval officers and makes them candidates for SEAL training. Note that I used the term candidates for SEAL training. But BUD/S is where the real making of a Navy SEAL begins. Granted, the price of admission to the qualification course is steep. The coin of this culture is counted in terms of sweat and pain. Men are vetted in BUD/S for their commitment and determination; it's a measure of heart. It is an accomplishment in itself to successfully complete BUD/S, but the basic course is no more than an admissions slip to advanced SEAL training--the finishing school. The eternal debate about BUD/S is whether this is a training program or a testing ground. In reality, it is both. First of all, it is an elaborate, tradition-bound screening process that seeks to find men who would rather die than quit. This is accomplished with a punishing diet of physical conditioning, cold water, and lack of sleep--the same conditions in which Navy SEALs are expected to operate. BUD/S trainees learn early on that unless they can come to terms with being cold and miserable for extended periods of time, they don't belong here. The training is brutal by design. BUD/S also lays the foundation for basic SEAL operational skills. Many of these skills are fundamental, military/special operations tradecraft, and others are maritime-centric skills. The Navy SEAL is a versatile animal, capable of many of the disciplines of other SOF (special operations forces) components. The other SOF components, such as the Special Forces, the Rangers, and the Air Force Special Tactics Teams, also conduct diving and small-boat training, but no special operator in the SOF community is as comfortable in the water as a SEAL. For the others, water is an obstacle; for SEALs, it is a refuge. While SEAL capabilities do not stop at the water's edge, SEALs are, and will remain, the primary special operations maritime force. Before a man can become a SEAL, he must first become a frogman. He must excel in a variety of military skills, but it is essential that he be comfortable in and under the sea. Again, it all begins at BUD/S. This basic course, start to finish, is a thirty-week endurance test. The attrition is dramatic as many young men discover that they have neither the heart nor the physical stamina for this life. Only about one man in five who passes the screening test and is admitted to BUD/S training will qualify to wear the Navy SEAL Trident. BUD/S is conducted at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California. The Center, as it is called, is on the Naval Amphibious Base, a naval base that straddles a sand spit that connects the near-island of Coronado to the city of Imperial Beach, situated just north of the U.S.-Mexican border. This famous sand spit is know as the Silver Strand, or simply the Strand. INDOC BUD/S training is conducted in three phases: First Phase--physical conditioning; Second Phase--diver training; and Third Phase--land warfare. In order to prepare trainees for phase training,Couch, Dick is the author of 'Finishing School Earning the Navy Seal Trident', published 2004 under ISBN 9781400046546 and ISBN 1400046548.