Naval Special Warfare Training Pipeline
SEAL
training, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S), is one of the most
physically and mentally challenging training programs the US Armed Forces has
to offer. BUD/S training lasts
twenty-six weeks and is only the first stage of training to become a SEAL. Both officer and enlisted men attend BUD/S
together. BUD/S is located in Coronado,
California and is divided into three phases.
Generally, only thirty percent of a BUD/S class remains for the entire
26-week program.
BUD/S Training
Phase One
Phase one
is eight weeks with the difficulty of training peaking at the fifth week. This fifth week, "Motivation
Week," is considered the toughest week of BUD/S and is better known as
"Hell Week." Phase one is
designed to select personnel that the trainers feel would be successful SEALs
and to eliminate those who do not meet the exceptionally high standards of the
SEALs. Most SEALs believe that if one
quits BUD/S, the one would quit during a real-world mission.
Trainees
are formed into boat crews of six men, sometimes less, depending on the number
of drop-outs. These crews train
together throughout this first phase unless re-organized due to attrition. Extremely tight teamwork is developed in
these crews through boat races, log PT and the stress and general misery of the
program.
Motivation/Hell
Week is 120 hours (five-and-a-half days) of constant activity. Only four hours of broken sleep are
permitted for the entire period of time.
SEAL instructors evaluate each trainee on their ability to handle the
stress of training under extreme sleep deprivation and demanding physical and
mental activity.
Phase Two
Phase
two, the dive phase, is seven weeks long.
During this phase, the trainees learn about open circuit and closed
circuit Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) systems. Open circuit systems use conventional tanks
with compressed air and a regulator. Closed
circuit breathing systems reuse the air exhaled by the diver. These re-breather systems use chemical
scrubbers to remove carbon dioxide and replenish the air with pure oxygen. Closed circuit breathing systems do not
produce bubbles, providing for a higher degree of stealth.
Minimum
passing times are lowered for runs, swims and the obstacle course for this
phase.
Phase Three
Phase three consists of ten weeks of
Demolitions and Land Warfare training.
Trainees learn land navigation, small unit tactics, demolitions,
repelling, patrolling and firearms expertise.
The final five weeks of this phase are spent on San Clemente Island,
where candidates apply their training in practical and simulated combat
environments.
Post-BUD/S
Following
the completion of BUD/S, more training is required to be awarded official
status as a SEAL. Candidates must
attend jump school in Fort Benning, Georgia, complete four months of SEAL
Tactical Training (STT) and complete a six-month probationary period with a
SEAL or SDV Team. After finishing the
probationary period and passing an oral review board, a candidate will be
authorized to wear the Naval Special Warfare insignia, nicknamed the
"Trident" or "Budweiser."
From the Fourth-class Professional Reference Manual,
spring 1999.
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