The Men Of The Century: Special Ops - Navy Seal - a full report on trained SEALs

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?Anything could happen. You have to be prepared?, were the words of Seth Hettena. The special operation Navy SEAL is one of the hardest physical and mental training in the American military. Becoming a SEAL very challenging and requires skills in all areas. The SEALs are often called ?quit professionals?, because they are very good at what they do, and do it secretly. They even have to be so secret that they can?t even discuss their duties with their family! Torie Clark made the comment that emphasizes this secret duty quit well: ?We don?t talk about? details for obvious reasons: it puts peoples? lives at risk, and it gives the bad guys a heads up as to what we?re doing.? But when theses special operations team really became into existence, they weren?t as careful. The Sea, Air, and Land team has been going on for nearly fifty years now. They first where known as the Naval Combat Demolition Units, or NCDU. The volunteered NCDUs where made for specifically amphibious landings. Their training was difficult, but nothing like today. They soon merged into what was called the Underwater Demolition Teams. The UDTs were formed during World War II, in September of 1950. Their basic job was to secretly destroy underwater forces or any other threat. After the contributed in the Korean War, John F. Kennedy decided he wanted something else. When troops would march down the shores or inland of enemy territory, they would receive heavy fire and many troops were killed. The president organized the US Navy SEALs. They would be a high trained troop that could do everything from diving to ground combat. Now he could take these forces and destroy any threat secretly, therefore saving many lives of light infantry. During the Vietnam War, their success in these new Sea, Air, and Land special ops troop had proven their capability toward their country. During the war, they noticed a significant change in combat success. But this team was not an easy task to undertake. Now days, a recruit has to be especially fit and mentally though. When they receive a recruit that looks fit verses a small man with tons of confidence and strives to do his best, the smaller one is typically the one who makes it through. Since the team is part of the Navy he has to enlist in the Navy. Next, they must to have perfect eyesight and be under 28 years old, have required eyesight ability, and do a number of physical fitness tests. But that?s only the very beginning. ?By the time you?ve gone through three-fourths of it, every fiber of your muscles are burning, and you still have another quarter to go, and it?s all through sand,? says Navy SEAL Hans Halberstandt. The first thing the SEALs realize is that they are risk takers; therefore need to be prepared for anything. Their basic job is to get to their destination as quick as possible, they leave no trace, and they get out. They do their job well. They train hard! The instructors make the courses as real life as possible. But, physical isn?t the only thing the gets them through, mental fitness is far more important. They train hard because their risky and require hefty amounts of ability. The SEALs oficall website put it like so: ?SEAL training is extremely demanding, both mentally and physically, and produces the world?s best maritime warriors.? The training a SEAL has to go through before they can actually become one, they have to go through something called BUD/S. This training consists of five sections, adding up to approximately thirty three weeks. Indoctrination is the beginning of this fitness training, lasting about five weeks. This is only the beginning of their great task that lies before them. The reason for this stage is to give the recruits in idea of what their required to do. Preparations are made during this time, testing their courage, strength, and determination. The First Phase, or Basic Conditioning, is the second major aspect of the BUD/S training. During this eight week period, the recruits will begin their hardest fitness and mental tests during BUD/S training. Teamwork, physical conditioning, swimming, and running are the most concentrated items of the phase. During the first five weeks, they learn how to save lives and tie knots, and surf passage in small inflatable boats (surfing with rubber boats). Weekly they participate in four mile runs with heavy boots and clothing on, and two mile long swims in the ice cold ocean. Their runs are mostly all in soft sand and have to pass a certain timed limit. As each week progresses, they get tougher and tougher. They are constantly are training, running, climbing, or swimming. If a recruit doesn?t make it through a course, he is ordered to jump into the ocean, and dry off in the sand. They are required to swim fifty yards underwater; often they need to be revived after passing out. After they pass the underwater test, they tie their hands and feet with twine and are placed in water over their heads, forcing them to bob up and down. This is called drown proofing, after a tragic death of a soldier who?s hands and feet were bound and released into a waterway. Another way of trying to prevent drowning is to build up something against hypothermia. Surf torture is an often done test that the whole team is associated in. The whole team wades out in the ice cold water and sits down. After time, the heat flushes out of the body causing intense shivering. But the worst is yet to come. On the fourth week of the First Phase, there is an intense training called Hell Week. Hell Week is the hardest week any recruit will ever go through. They are constantly training. The whole week they get a total of four hours of sleep. 400 ? 600 lb logs are carried as a team, cold, long swims are accomplished, and hefty runs are completed. The members get so tired and worn out, they see people who aren?t there, throw up, and sleep walk. But not everyone makes it through this dreadful week. This week is what really challenges the recruits of how much they are willing in order to become a SEAL. During Hell Week is when the most drop outs occur. At the end of the week, they are required to write down why they want to become a Navy SEAL; after it?s over, the paper is handed back to them. But since they were so tired when they wrote them, they don?t make any sense, therefore reminding them how hard it was during Hell Week. The trainers test them to their limits. And the amazing thing is: the trainers also do the same thing! After Hell week, each recruit that made it through, gains an enormous amount of respect from their trainers and commanders. The Second Phase requires the men to: run faster, swim faster, and complete obstacle courses faster. This is what makes the SEALs separate than other special ops teams. This phase is often called the diving phase, lasting approximately seven weeks. As it?s name states, here they focus on one main thing ? diving. The divers will first begin in a pool. After simple diving becomes second nature to them, they begin to start diving in the ocean. The ocean is nothing like a pool. You have current, temperature, and darkness to consider. You have to remember that ocean isn?t still. Massive waves and thousands lbs of water is constantly shifting. And it?s not warm in the ocean. The average temperature, in California, is below fifty degree?s Fahrenheit. It?s also very dark deep in the ocean, making it very hard to see what you?re doing. Recruit are also trained to fight underwater during this time. They are taught how to tie knots underneath the water, and working with underwater units. This skill is really what the SEALs are known for, and is defiantly one of their special expertises. ?Mistakes made when working with explosives only happen once?, writes trainer Fernbough. The next course the SEALs undertake is the most dangerous out of their training. The Third Phase focuses on land fighting and explosives, and lasts nine weeks. As Fernbough stated, accidences only happen once while working with explosive equipment. But just because they are working on ground combat, explosives, and firearms doesn?t mean that they don?t complete their daily exercises. The recruits are even required to do everything faster and faster. The last four months of training, they leave the guys on an island and show their skills that they learned during training. The last stage of BUD/S is the air jumps. These parachute dives are critical to a SEAL to get in a territory quickly and sufficiently. But when your 23,000 feet up above the ground, the air is extremely thin, and very little amount of oxygen. There?s a little law called: Terminal Velocity. But since the air is so thin, they reach up to 180 mph! And when you?re up that high, it?s really cold! It hangs about at -45 degrees Fahrenheit! It?s also very hard to breathe, because of little or no oxygen. The divers will breathe pure oxygen while in the plane, so they won?t suffocate. The first major jump is called a Halo Jump. This high altitude jump is one of the hardest jumps ever. The men jump out at about 23,000 ft and hit the ground in almost two minutes. Halo stands for: High Altitude, Low Opening. By the time you open your shoot and it catches you, your about thirty five feet from the ground! Now that training is done, don?t be fooled that they don?t go through any more training. A SEAL never stops learning. Being a SEAL is a 100% commitment. Now, you might be wondering; does every recruit make it on a team? No, actually only about one fourth of them become a SEAL. And if you didn?t make it, you do it all over again. But for the successors, they move on. Their first mission is the most critical for their career. If the SEAL at any time is in bad behavior, is immediately kicked of the team. No excuses. That might lead you to the conclusion that not many SEALs exist. That is very true, out of the whole US country there?s only about 2,000 of them. But SEALs are very vital to this country, even though there?s so few. If the US had not come up with this special group of people, our nation would be at great risk. In the news today, you don?t really see that much of the Navy SEALs at work, but really their saving thousands of lives. You might ask: why are these men saving so many lives. You have an area that contains weapons of mass destruction. And if you don?t destroy it, Seattle?s going to vanish; you do the math. Obviously, that?s has no truth of happening, but that?s just an example. These quit professionals do their job, and the do it well. A SEAL is no ordinary troop. He?s a highly trained soldier who knows how to get in, how to leave no trace, how to get out.