THE S.F. BROTHERHOOD..

Then-Bolivian Army Corporal Rod Mendoza (left) watches as then-U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Fensom (center), of 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), runs through reaction-to-contact drills during a 1997 Joint Combined Exchange Training exercise in Bolivia with the country's Manchengo ranger battalion. In the past 14 years, Mendoza has left the Bolivian Army and joined the U.S. Army's Special Forces regiment, served on several deployments and is now an instructor for the Special Forces Qualification Course. Fensom is now a sergeant major, and the deputy commandant of the David K. Thuma Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Bragg. (Photo courtesy of Sgt. Maj. Patrick Fensom) 

In 1997, eight Special Forces Soldiers traveled to Bolivia to train and advise a battalion of Boliv­ian Army rangers. Beyond running the battalion’s light infantry certification training, the Special Forces team used their downtime to refine their own techniques and tactical proficiency; and they allowed a motivated 20-year-old Bolivian Army corporal to par­ticipate in their team training sessions.

For then-Sgt. 1st Class. Patrick Fensom and his teammates on Operational Detachment-Alpha 716, part of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), this training was routine. A few hours of internal team training events during a six-week Joint Combined Ex­change Training deployment was usual, and if one or two host-nation soldiers wanted to come along and see how American forces did business, they were welcome.

For then-Bolivian Army Corporal Rod Mendoza, however, this experience came to define the next 14 years of his life. The Army’s Special Forces community is small, and friends are often reunited throughout their careers, but Fensom never expected to see Mendoza again; let alone to see him 14 years later as a Special Forces sergeant first class, training future ODA com­manders at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

“In Bolivia, military service is mandatory, so I was doing my time [in the ’90s] and then I volunteered for ranger training,” Mendoza said. “Real American SF guys came to train us for a peacekeeping mission we were preparing to do with the United Nations. When they showed up, I was like, ‘Whoa, this is awesome!’”

Fensom, now a sergeant major and the deputy com­madant of the David K. Thuma Noncommissioned Offi­cer Academy, part of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, was a Special Forces weapons sergeant on the 8-man team assigned to train Mendoza’s unit, Bolivia’s Manchengo battalion.

“With the Manchengo battalion our mission was specifically to get them to a level where they could get certified by the United Nations to conduct peacekeeping operations,” Fensom said. “The training incorporated a lot of light infantry, medi­cal and communications tasks, with equipment or­ganic to their unit.”

“We got along with a lot of the Bolivian sol­diers, but [Mendoza] was one of the soldiers who wanted some extra train­ing,” Fensom said as he flipped through an old photo album at his desk, pointing at photos of a young Men­doza on a rifle range. “[Our team] always took some time to conduct team training during deployments, and Mendoza was one of two Bolivian soldiers we invited to train with us.”

Mendoza said he wouldn’t have been able to be­friend the American team if it hadn’t been for their ability to connect with him on a cultural level.

“[Our team] could converse pretty well in Spanish, and of course all our lessons were taught in Spanish,” Fensom said. “That really was a key to building that rapport; and if you didn’t speak Spanish really well, you had the Bolivian soldiers there to interact with.”

“They spoke some good Spanish, like [then-Sgt. 1st Class Arthur Lilley],” Mendoza said. “He was a great Spanish speaker, and it was a good way to establish a friendship.”

At the end of the JCET, Mendoza gave Lilley his Bolivian green beret as a gift; Lilley reciprocated, giving Mendoza his own American green beret, complete with the 7th SFG(A) flash and the American Special Forces regimental insignia.

Mendoza finished his service in the Bolivian army in 1998, and spent some time as a firefighter at the Bolivian airport before moving to his wife’s home in Puerto Rico.

“I didn’t know Puerto Ricans were allowed to join the U.S. Army, but as soon as I found out, I decided I didn’t want to be a firefighter, I wanted to join the U.S. Army,” Mendoza said. He enlisted as an indirect-fire infantryman and asked for an assignment with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, in or­der to be as close as possible to the heart of the Army’s Special Forces. His experience in an infantry unit was a great introduction to the U.S. Army, he said.

“I liked serving in the Bolivian Army, but I always viewed the U.S. as having the best army in the world – as it is, of course, with the quality of its training, equip­ment and capabilities,” Mendoza said.

“The first thing I did after becoming a U.S. citizen was to go to Special Forces Assessment and Selec­tion, because that was my dream,” Mendoza said. “I was finally going to become one of those cool guys I saw while I was in the Bolivian army!” Mendoza was selected to attend the Special Forces Qualification Course to become a Special Forces weapons sergeant.

“Of course there were lots of things I didn’t know, and I quickly saw the diversity in the things Special Forces groups can do and the areas they deploy to, especially after 9/11,” Mendoza said. “I saw the ca­pability and how much we can do with just a team of 12 men. It’s amazing, and I’m so grateful to be here.”

“In a later JCET I learned how important it is for you as a team in a foreign country to represent your country; you actually build relationships with local soldiers,” Mendoza said. “And that’s what [ODA 716] pretty much did to me, they were my inspiration to join the U.S. Army later on. I didn’t even speak Eng­lish, but I dreamed of joining the Special Forces, and life took me there.”

Mendoza ran into Lilley, then a first sergeant in the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, after beginning the SFQC. 

“He couldn’t believe it – in fact, he thought I was still in the Bolivian Army, because we were still wear­ing BDUs,” Mendoza said. “He was so excited, and said that he was going back to 7th SFG(A) to be a team sergeant, and to stay in touch – maybe I could go to his battalion.”

Mendoza invited Lilley to attend his gradua­tion ceremony from the SFQC, but Lilley couldn’t make it – he was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Men­doza was due to report to 7th SFG(A) follow­ing his graduation, and as a sign of friendship, he donned the green be­ret he’d received from Lilley in Bolivia in 1997 at his regimental first formation ceremony – the ceremony where new Special Forces Soldiers are first allowed to wear their beret.

Sadly, Mendoza never had the opportunity to serve alongside his friend. Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley was killed in action on June 15, 2007 of wounds sustained from enemy small-arms fire in Afghanistan.

“We’ve lost so many good men, and to see that Art’s memory is continuing in Mendoza and some other guys, that’s huge. That’s really honoring the memory of a quality NCO,” said Fensom, who wears a bracelet with Lilley’s name as a personal reminder of his service.

Mendoza went on to serve five years in 7th SFG(A), becoming a Special Forces intelligence ser­geant during that time. He served three combat de­ployments in Afghanistan, but his first Special Forces deployment had been as part of a JCET to Guatemala in Central America. His experience training with Lil­ley and Fensom’s team in 1997 made him want to be a similar mentor and inspiration to other young soldiers.

“[Guatemala] was a great experience for me be­cause of my experiences in the Bolivian Army,” Men­doza said. “We trained this Ranger-equivalent unit, and I was picturing myself back them, so to me it was easy to interact with those soldiers because I knew their lingo. I think we did a lot of good.”

Mendoza reported to SWCS in November 2011 to become an instructor for potential Special Forces of­ficers attending the SFQC. He hadn’t expected to run into Fensom again; Mendoza hadn’t heard about him for years, and figured he’d gotten out of the military – until he saw Fensom addressing a group of Senior Leader Course students. Both Mendoza’s classroom SFQC training and Fensom's NCO Academy are located in Fort Bragg’s Kennedy Hall.

“I recognized [Fensom’s] face – of course, he’d had hair back in Bolivia,” Mendoza said. “I ran into him and told him that he’d been on ODA 716 and served in Bolivia, and he was like, yeah, how do you know that?” Fensom said that he remembered exactly who Mendoza was as soon as he found out he’d been a part of the Bolivian Army.

“He’s an instructor, mentoring future Special Forc­es Soldiers,” Fensom said.

“This job is interesting, because I can talk to future team leaders, and tell them how important it is to get a good relationship with host-nation soldiers and leaders,” Mendoza said. “And I can speak from the perspective of a member of the host-nation’s military.”

“This is a tremendous story, but it’s not about me or our team, it’s about what we do in Special Forces,” Fensom said. “Not only did we communicate our les­sons in his language, but we were a tight team back then, and I think that was captured in our non-verbal communications.”

Fensom said it was a proud feeling to see Mendoza serving at this level, as an NCO in the United States Special Forces community.

“It makes you realize that this is probably happen­ing at so many levels, daily, with what special-opera­tions Soldiers are doing,” Fensom said. “You see a guy achieve his dream, and he’s doing the same thing that we were doing back then, and that’s just too cool.”

Πηγή

Special Ops Are Spared as the Army Cuts 80,000 Combat Troops

It looks like the Obama administration will keep its promise to make sweeping, cost-cutting reductions to combat troops over the next five years, trimming $260 billion from the Pentagon budget. On Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press revealed that the Army would "slash the number of combat brigades from 45 to as low as 32 in a broad restructuring of its fighting force aimed at cutting costs and reducing the service by about 80,000 soldiers." However, "specialty units, such as Army special operations forces, [will] not be affected by the cuts." As one official told Reuters when rumors of the troop cuts began a couple of weeks ago, "When some army brigades start coming out of Afghanistan, they will basically disappear."

The thinking behind removing entire units is that it will also eliminate the need for costly upkeep at the headquarters needed to support them. Keeping Special Forces intact, we'd imagine, might have something to do with the highly publicized success of elite units like the Navy's SEAL Team 6, now famous not onlyfor killing Osama bin Laden but also cracking down on Somali pirates. A movie about these guys is bound to be made and we can't help but wonder if the Pentagon should get a cut of the box office proceeds.

Πηγή

Secrets of SEALS on display

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- It sounded like a single gunshot. From the stern of the USS Bainbridge, three rifles spat simultaneously. On a small boat 30 metres away, three Somali pirates died.

The drama off the east coast of Africa is recalled vividly in a museum here. It began on April 9, 2009, when the pirates tried to hijack the cargo ship Maersk Alabama. They were repulsed but as they fled in the ship's lifeboat they took the captain, Richard Phillips, as a hostage.

U.S. warships sped to the scene but there was little they could do as long as Phillips was a captive. Most of the time they couldn't even see the pirates inside the covered lifeboat.

Then, on April 12, for one brief moment the three pirates came in view. But that moment was enough. Three U.S. Navy SEAL snipers on the stern of the Bainbridge instantly had them in their sights and three shots rang out as one.

Tom Juliano points to a 762 mm Mark 11 sniper rifle on a rack in the Navy SEALS museum here.

"Three rifles just like that took down the pirates," he says.

Then he takes visitors to an orange-painted lifeboat nearby.

"That's the actual lifeboat where the pirates held Captain Phillips," he says. "The Maersk shipping company donated it to the museum."

The Maersk Alabama rescue was the SEALS' most spectacular mission this century, up until the slaying of Osama Bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 last May.

The museum's full name is the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum. UDT stands for Underwater Demolition Teams (the "frogmen"); SEAL is an acronym for Sea, Air and Land units). And while both branches get their fair share of notice, it's the SEAL commandos' exploits that fascinate visitors most.

Juliano, a volunteer guide and former Navy landing craft officer in Vietnam, explains the location of the museum, on the Atlantic shore of North Hutchinson Island, off Fort Pierce.

"This was where men were trained for amphibious operations, beginning in 1943," he says. "We had to train to get men on to the beaches in France and dozens of Pacific Islands in World War II.

"The SEALS really came into their own in Vietnam, with operations in the rivers and jungles. That's where they made a name for themselves."

(Amphibious warfare training moved away from Fort Pierce after the war; it is now centred in San Diego, Calif.)

To anyone who asks why the Maersk Alabama drama hasn't been turned into a movie, guide Juliano has the answer: "We've been told filming will begin in May. Tom Hanks will play Captain Phillips. The Hollywood people have been here to look over the lifeboat."

The museum explains the evolution of naval specialist warfare over nearly 70 years. There are displays of firearms, knives, scuba gear and watercraft, and dioramas, photos and story-boards.

An idea of the units' attitude is written on a photograph of an oil platform destroyed by a SEAL team in the first Persian Gulf war: "To err is human. To forgive is not our policy."

Actress Jane Fonda is pictured, sheet by sheet, on a roll of toilet paper on display, hinting broadly at how she was viewed by the military because of her Vietnam War activities.

Around the grounds, visitors wander among mini-submarines, a helicopter, training craft and speedboats.

MORE INFORMATION

Visit the website navysealmuseum.com. Tourist information on Florida is available at visitflorida.com.

Πηγή

SEAL training builds swim and dive team unity

The TCU swimming and diving team took to the sands of Coronado Island, off the coast of San Diego, Calif., to go through Navy SEAL training as a team-building experience last week.

Head coach of the TCU swimming and diving team Richard Sybesma said he thought the training would be a good team-builder for the swimmers and divers after visiting a naval base during a swim convention in May.

The main theme of the training was leadership and becoming a better team and teammate, TCU swimming and diving team member Ryker Saunders said.

“I think the tougher the activity is and the more we push through it together as a team, the closer we become,” sophomore chemistry major Saunders said.

The team carried logs, lifted tires, climbed across a rope, went in the water and crawled through sand, Sybesma said.

For Saunders, the toughest part was carrying the logs. The team split into groups and carried 300 to 400 pound logs over their shoulders, he said.

“It was one of the toughest things I’ve seen any team go through," Sybesma said.

It was surprising to see the Navy SEALs instructors give the co-ed members equally difficult physical tasks, Saunders said.

“They pushed us to the limit,” he said. “Absolutely.”

When the team left the training, they were better as a team and as individuals, Sybesma said. The training focused on leadership, as the team is only as strong as its weakest link.

“They could get on the block or diving board now and know that they’re tougher than the person next to them because of the experience they went through,” he said.

After going through training, officially becoming a Navy SEAL might be in Saunders future, he said.

“I love doing stuff like that: obstacle courses, drills, training,” he said. “I could definitely see myself joining the armed forces.”

Πηγή

Last veteran of Special Air Service Regiment 'originals' passes away at the age of 92

THE last veteran of the original SAS unit who ­parachuted deep behind enemy lines to battle Hitler has died at the age of 92.

Jimmy Storie was one of just 65 men recruited by Scottish war hero David Stirling for his crack Special Air Service regiment during the deadly desert campaign in North Africa.

Jimmy died at his home in Aberdeenshire last Sunday.

His funeral will be held in Aberdeen on Thursday, where a collection will be taken for the SAS Hereford Military Charity.

A family tribute said: “Forever in our hearts, a brave soldier and a wonderful family man.”

A spokesman for the SAS Regimental Association said: “It is a very sad day for the whole SAS regiment.

“We are deeply saddened that Mr Storie has passed away.

“He was the last surviving member of L Detachment, which was formed by Sir David Stirling in 1941.

“I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Storie several times at functions and he was a very warm, friendly and unassuming man.

“He never boasted of his exploits, was very modest and a great family man. We have lost a piece of history and a link with the regiment’s past.”

Jimmy – a sergeant during World War II – was a central part of the SAS’s first mission on November 17, 1941, when he parachuted behind German lines in North Africa before meeting up with a crack Army raiding unit, the Long Range Desert Group.

Stirling led Jimmy and 64 othermen as they parachuted into a fierce storm. Their equipment, weapons and explosives were lost before a massive rainstorm swept the desert. Only 22 men survived.

Jimmy also saw active service in Sicily, behind the lines in France before D-Day and in the final push through Germany.

His exploits featured in a £975 book detailing the history of the SAS throughout World War II.

The 600-page tome was authorised to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Who Dares Wins regiment.

The book features rare photos, top secret orders and reports of missions, including a daring raid to capture one of Hitler’s top generals – Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox.

Πηγή

Άνδρες των αμερικανικών ειδικών δυνάμεων απελευθέρωσαν ομήρους στη Σομαλία

Αξιωματούχοι του αμερικανικού στρατού ανέφεραν ότι δύο πολίτες δυτικών χωρών, ένας Αμερικανός και ένας Δανός, είναι ασφαλείς μετά από επιχείρηση των αμερικανικών ειδικών δυνάμεων για την απελευθέρωση τους από Σομαλούς ενόπλους.

Το Πεντάγωνο ανακοίνωσε την Τετάρτη ότι η Αμερικανίδα, Τζέσικα Μπιουκάναν, μεταφέρθηκε σε στρατιωτικό νοσοκομείο στο Τζιμπουτί, καθώς υποφέρει από ασθένεια για την οποία δεν έχουν δοθεί στη δημοσιότητα περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες.

Η κ. Μπιουκάναν και ο συνεργάτης της Πολ Θιστέντ, από την Δανία, κρατούνταν από ενόπλους στην κεντρική Σομαλία. Την Τετάρτη το βράδυ, ειδικές δυνάμεις του αμερικανικού στρατού μετέβησαν με ελικόπτερα βορειοδυτικά του Μογκαντίσου σε στρατόπεδο των απαγωγέων, τους επιτέθηκαν και σκότωσαν τουλάχιστον εννέα ενόπλους.

Εκπρόσωπος του Πενταγώνου ανέφερε ότι οι άνδρες των ειδικών δυνάμεων επεδίωκαν την σύλληψη των ενόπλων αλλά δεν τους δόθηκε η ευκαιρία.

Η κ. Μπιουκάναν και ο κ. Θιστέντ υπηρετούσαν σε ανθρωπιστική οργάνωση απ’ τη Δανία που βοηθά στην αποναρκοθέτηση περιοχών σε ζώνες πολέμου στην Αφρική και την Μέση Ανατολή. Είχαν πέσει θύματα απαγωγέων τον Οκτώβριο στην πόλη Γκαλκάγιο της κεντρικής Σομαλίας.

Μετά την ανακοίνωση της απελευθέρωσης των ομήρων ο Πρόεδρος Ομπάμα τόνισε ότι οι ΗΠΑ «θα εκμεταλλευτούν κάθε δυνατότητα να προστατέψουν την ασφάλεια των πολιτών τους» και να φέρουν ενώπιον της δικαιοσύνης οποιονδήποτε προσπαθήσει να τους βλάψει.

Σε τηλεοπτικό πρόγραμμα το πρωί της Τετάρτης, ο αντιπρόεδρος των ΗΠΑ, Τζο Μπάιντεν, επαίνεσε τους άνδρες των ειδικών δυνάμεων που έφεραν σε πέρας την αποστολή.

Όπως είπε, ο χρόνος πραγματοποίησης της επιχειρήσεις αποφασίστηκε εν μέρει από την κατάσταση της υγείας των ομήρων

Πηγή

Armed, ready and waiting

Action stations: The Metropolitan Police and Royal Marines in offshore landing craft, rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), a Lynx helicopter and other craft speed along the river Thames near Woolwich during a safety and security planning exercise for the London 2012 Olympic Games

Britain's elite military and police teams joined forces in a combined exercise to give a glimpse of the sheer scale of the country's biggest peacetime security operation yesterday.

Operation Woolwich Arsenal Pier saw the Royal Marines and Scotland Yard take command of the River Thames in a determined show of strength as part of a security exercise for the London Olympics.

The British muscle on show was designed to test the water for the joint operation, and to illustrate the country's readiness against terrorism.

Elite force: British security teams take to the River Thames in London as part of a massive security rehearsal to foil terror disaster at the Olympics

Around 100 marines and 50 officers rehearsed a string of high-speed drills amid fears attackers could use the waterways to launch onslaughts on London landmarks.

About 50 marine police officers in rigid inflatables and fast response boats were joined by up to 100 military personnel and a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter for the exercises.

Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, head of the force’s security operation for the Games, said a Mumbai-style terror attack was one of a host of potential threats to the games

Armed and dangerous: A Royal Marine participates in a security exercise along the River Thames in London, England. The exercise including around 44 police officers, 94 military personnel, 15 boats and a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter was conducted by both the Metropolitan Police and the Royal Marines and designed to test their joint capability ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The line of resistance: The Royal Marines and Met Police form a line across the River Thames as part of the security operation. The costs of security for the 2012 London Olympic Games is estimated to reach more than 1 billion euros, it has been reported.

Speaking on the shores of the Thames, he said: 'There is no specific threat from the river but we would be failing in our duty to ignore it at games time.

'What you have seen today is the sort of things we can do.'

Despite a heavy military presence on show today, Mr Allison insisted the sporting event would remain a 'blue games'.

The Thames runs directly past the O2 Arena, which will be known as the North Greenwich Arena for the purpose of the Games, when it will host events including gymnastics. The river will also be used to transport tourists between venues via water buses and a new cable car.

Typhoon jets and HMS Ocean, the largest ship in the Royal Navy’s fleet, will eventually be deployed to protect the London 2012 Games along with up to 13,500 military personnel.

On patrol: The Met police in London take part in the security run-through. It is thought that the cost of the security operation for the event will top a billion euros.

Terror attack: Looking like something from a Hollywood blockbuster, the Royal Marines simulated a dramatic high-speed boarding of a clipper Hydrofoil via two speedboats

'If we need the military support, it is there,' he added.

'All of our planning is designed to mitigate against potential risks during the summer of 2012, and this is an example of where we will be using specialist military capability to support us.

'This exercise is not in response to any specific threat, but is part of our planning to pre-deploy certain specialist assets to bolster our operation.

'This will be a summer like no other in London. The Thames runs through the very heart of our capital and will be a popular place for people who want to be part of the Olympic spirit. 

'his is all part of our planning to ensure this summer’s events take place safely and securely.'

Source

STORM MLRF

The AN/PSQ-23 Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted (STORM) Micro-Laser Rangefinder (MLRF) is a lightweight (1.2 pounds) multifunctional laser system designed to operate on individual and crew served weapons and the Stryker Remote Weapons Station.

It combines the functionality of a laser rangefinder, the AN/PEQ-2A Aiming Light, the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System, a digital compass and a visible pointer into a single package. Combined with a Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver or a Defense Advanced GPS Receiver, the system can compute and display highly accurate target locations. When weapon mounted, the AN/PSQ-23 is powered by two DL 123 batteries.

Πηγή

Soldiers in South Korea get half-naked in sub-zero endurance test

230 half-naked South Korean soldiers brave freezing conditions in a numbing and bizarre army endurance excercise in the country's Pyeongchang province.

The military drill is part of South Korea's army winter training session in which troops shower each other in snow, plunge into deep icy water and patrol through snow on skis.

Despite the bitterly cold temperatures of minus 20 degrees most soldiers appeared to enjoy the experience, laughing, smiling and screaming as they undertook the gruelling training session.

Every year, the South Korean army selects a cold and snowy mountainside for the winter drill designed to test soldiers' endurance in potential real-life combat situations.

The South Korean army has pledged to be well prepared for any possible "provocations" from North Korea.

Πηγή

SEAL Teams

The United States Navy Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) teams are the elite Special Operations Forces of the U.S. Navy, employed in unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, Counter-Terrorism, and special reconnaissance operations.

Those qualifying to become Navy SEALs are authorized, after completing a specialized program known as SQT (SEAL Qualification Training) and a probationary period,  to wear and display the Special Warfare Badge, also known as the SEAL Trident. This badge (sometimes called “the Budweiser” for its resemblance to the Anheuser-Busch eagle logo) serves as the insignia for the SEALs as a whole and is the largest and most recognizable warfare insignia among U.S. Special Operations Forces. It is usually worn along with the U.S. Navy paratrooper wings, which are awarded after 10 jumps. During the Vietnam, SEAL members wore “tiger stripe” camouflage uniforms, often with civilian blue jeans and “coral” sneakers, for patrol missions. On base, they wore standard uniforms with a black beret during the early years (when they patrolled alongside the Swift and STAB boat units of the “Brown Water Navy”) and tiger-striped “boonie” hats in later years. Currently, they wear variations of the U.S. Marine Corps MARPAT camouflage and RAID BDUs. Only men may apply to become SEALs.

Concurrently, Naval Operations Support Groups were formed to aid UDTs, SEALs, and two other unique units—Boat Support and Beach Jumpers—in administration, planning, research, and development. During the Vietnam war, UDTs performed reconnaissance missions and SEALs carried out numerous offensive operations.

History

• Spring 1943: The first group of volunteers selected from the Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees). They were organized into special teams called “Navy Combat Demolition Units” (NCDUs) and were trained at Waimanalo, Hawai'i and Fort Pierce, Florida. The units reconnoitered and cleared beach obstacles for troops going ashore during amphibious landings, and evolved intoCombat Swimmer Reconnaissance Units, often known as frogmen. Some of these frogmen were recruited from breath-holding divers who dived for abalones on the California coast before the war. The NCDUs distinguished themselves during World War II in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
• 1947: The Navy organized its first underwater offensive strike units.
• 1950 June – 1953 June: During the Korean Conflict, these Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) took part in the landing at Inchon as well as other missions including demolition raids on bridges and tunnels accessible from the water. They also conducted limited minesweeping operations in harbors and rivers.
• 1960’s: Each branch of the armed forces formed its own counterinsurgency force. The Navy used UDT personnel to form units called SEAL teams.
• 1962 January: SEAL Team ONE was commissioned in the Pacific Fleet and SEAL Team TWO in the Atlantic Fleet. These teams were developed to conduct unconventional warfare, counter-guerrilla warfare and clandestine operations in both blue water and brown water environment.
• 1963: First Vietnam war-detachment of elements of SEAL Team One in Da Nang, Vietnam to serve under the command of the CIA-COS.
• 1964: Seals became a component of the military-CINC of Vietnam’s theatre.
• 1967: The Naval Operations Support Groups were renamed “Naval Special Warfare Groups” (NSWGs) as involvement increased in special operations.
• 1983: Existing UDTs were renamed as “SEAL teams” or “SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams” and the requirement for hydrographic reconnaissance and underwater demolition became “SEAL missions”.
• 1987: SEAL team SIX became DEVGRU (DEVelopment GRoUp).
• 1984-04-16: The Naval Special Warfare Command was commissioned at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego, California. Its mission is to prepare Naval Special Warfare forces to carry out their assigned missions and to develop special operations strategy, doctrine, and tactics.
• 2002 March; Operation Anaconda in the US invasion of Afghanistan.
• 2003 March; participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

 

Navy SEAL Teams and Structure

A Navy SEAL Platoon consists of 16 men (2 officers, 14 enlisted men). This can be easily split into 2 squads or four 4-man fire teams for operational purposes. The size of each SEAL “Team” is larger, ranging between eight to ten Boat Teams per SEAL Team.

As of 2006, there are eight confirmed Navy SEAL Teams. The original SEAL Teams in the Vietnam War were separated between West Coast (Group ONE) and East Coast (Group TWO) SEALs. The current SEAL Team deployments are from Teams 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10. The Teams now deploy as Naval Special Warfare Squadrons. Any Team can deploy anywhere in the world. Each of these 8 teams is commanded by a Navy Commander (O-5), and has a number of operational SEAL platoons and a headquarters element.

• “Little Creek” is a naval base in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Team	Base	Platoons	Operating Area	Notes
ONE	Coronado, Ca	8	was SE Asia
TWO	Little Creek, Va	8	was Europe	It was the only SEAL Team with an arctic warfare capability.
THREE	Coronado, Ca	8	was SE Asia
FOUR	Little Creek, Va	10	Was Central/South America	The only SEAL Team with a viable standing language capability, Spanish.
FIVE	Coronado, Ca	8	was Northern Pacific
SIX	Damneck, Va			Decommissioned - DEVGRU
SEVEN	Coronado, Ca	8		A newly commissioned SEAL Team.
EIGHT	Little Creek, Va	8	Caribbean, Africa, and the Mediterranean
TEN	Little Creek, Va	8		A newly commissioned SEAL Team.

Training and Requirements

Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training is conducted at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado (San Diego, CA) and lasts 26 weeks. Assignment to BUD/S is conditional on passing the PST, which requires the following minimums:

• 500-yard swim using breast or side stroke in under 12:30
• At least 42 push-ups in 2 minutes
• At least 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes
• At least 6 pull-ups (no time limit)
• Run 1.5 miles in boots and long pants in under 11:30
• Members’ vision must be 20/200 uncorrected or correctable to 20/20. SEAL candidates may qualify for PRK or LASIK surgery to correct their vision
• Asvab Requirements: GS+MC+EI=165 or VE+MK+MC+CS=220
• Age Requirements: 28 years or less (waivers for 29-30)

Again, the above are the minimum requirements necessary to qualify for BUD/S. Prospective trainees are expected to far exceed these minimums. Competitive scores are as follows:

• 500-yard swim using breast or combat side stroke in less than 10:00
• 100 push-ups in 2 minutes
• 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes
• 20 pull-ups (no time limit)
• Run 1.5 miles in boots and long pants in under 9:30

Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL Training (BUD/S)

Upon arrival at Naval Special Warfare Command, check-ins for BUD/S are immediately placed into a pre-indoc phase of training known as “PTRR”, or Physical Training Rest and Recuperation. PTRR is also where all of the “roll-backs” are placed while waiting to be put into a class. Once additional medical screening is given, and after enough BUD/S candidates arrive for the same class, organized physical training begins.

BUD/S consists of an" Indoctrination Course”, known as INDOC, followed by three phases, covering physical conditioning (eight weeks), diving (eight weeks), and land warfare (nine weeks) respectively. Officer and enlisted personnel go through the same training program, and it is designed to develop and test their stamina, leadership and ability to work as a team.

First Phase (Basic Conditioning) - 8 weeks - First Phase Trains, develops, and assesses SEAL candidates in physical conditioning, water competency, teamwork, and mental tenacity. This phase is eight weeks long. Physical conditioning with running, swimming, and calisthenics grows harder and harder as the weeks progress. You will participate in weekly four mile timed runs in boots, timed obstacle courses, swim distances up to two miles wearing fins in the ocean, and learn small boat seamanship.

The first three weeks of First Phase will prepare you for the fourth week, better known as "Hell Week." During this week, you will participate in five and one-half days of continuous training, with a maximum of four hours sleep total. This week is designed as the ultimate test of one's physical and mental motivation while in First Phase. Hell Week proves to those who make it that the human body can do ten times the amount of work the average man thinks possible. During Hell Week, you will learn the value of cool headedness, perseverance, and above all, TEAMWORK. The remaining four weeks are devoted to teaching various methods of conducting hydrographic surveys and how to create a hydrographic chart.

BUD/S is known for Hell Week. During this period, from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon, trainees get a total of approximately four hours of sleep, (exactly how much depends upon the schedule set by the instructors, and how closely the trainees can be kept to that schedule) while subjected to intense physical stress. Trainees are almost always wet and sandy and develop what is known as the “Hell Week shuffle”, which is a way of walking that keeps salt-stained clothing away from chafed skin. The last day of Hell Week is known as “So Sorry Day”, during which the BUD/S students are made to crawl and slither their way through scum-covered water in the “demo pits” as automatic weapons fire blank rounds over their heads and artillery simulators explode around them.

Second Phase (Diving) - 8 weeks - Diving Phase Trains, develops, and qualifies SEAL candidates as competent basic combat swimmers. This phase is eight weeks long. During this period, physical training continues and becomes even more intensive. Second Phase concentrates on combat SCUBA. You will learn two types of SCUBA: open circuit (compressed air) and closed circuit (100% oxygen). Emphasis is placed on long distance underwater dives with the goal of training students to become basic combat divers, using swimming and diving techniques as a means of transportation from their launch point to their combat objective. This is a skill that separates SEALs from all other Special Operations forces.

Third Phase (Land Warfare) - 9 weeks - Third Phase trains, develops, and qualifies SEAL candidates in basic weapons, demolition, and small unit tactics. This phase of training is nine weeks in length. Physical training continues to become more strenuous as the run distance increases and the minimum passing times are lowered for the runs, swims, and obstacle course. Third Phase concentrates on teaching land navigation, small-unit tactics, patrolling techniques, rappelling, marksmanship, and military explosives. The final three and a half weeks of Third Phase are spent on San Clemente Island, where students apply all the techniques they have acquired during training.

 SEAL training and duty is voluntary. Many BUD/S students find that they do not have the desire to continue to endure the physical and mental strain of training, and subsequently Drop On Request, or DOR, from the course. The tradition of DOR consists of dropping one's helmet liner next to a pole with a brass ship’s bell attached to it, and ringing the bell three times. Classes typically lose around 70–80% of their trainees — either due to DORs or injuries sustained during training. The Navy will not release exact numbers, either percentages or raw figures, of the attrition rate for BUD/S. Most trainees are eliminated prior to completion of Hell Week and far fewer “brown shirts” (those who have made it through Hell Week wear brown t-shirts instead of white) quit the BUD/S program.

There is no way to predict what percentage of trainees will DOR during BUD/S. SEAL instructors say that in every class, approximately 10 percent of the students simply do not have the physical ability to complete the training. Another 10–15 percent will definitely make it through unless they sustain a serious physical injury. The other 75–80 percent is “up for grabs” depending on their motivation. There has been at least one BUD/S class where no one has completed the program.

A trainee who DOR’s from First Phase before the completion of Hell Week must start from the beginning of INDOC if they subsequently reapply to the BUD/S program and are accepted. They must complete Hell Week again. Trainees who rolled back after completing Hell Week due to injury or another factor are rolled into whatever day of training a board of instructors and other individuals deem necessary. Some are back to day 1–1 of 1st Phase, while others may be rolled into day 5–1. Any BUD/S trainee who drops on request after Hell Week goes through the same out processing as a trainee who quits before or during Hell Week. If they reapply to BUD/S, they must also complete Hell Week again.

There are many SEALs who have attempted BUD/S two or even perhaps three times before successfully completing training. There is only one person who has successfully completed Hell Week three times. He completed training after his third application to BUD/S.

After BUD/S, students must then attend the Navy’s Strategic Air Operations (SAO) school in the desert outside of San Diego. Until 2003, the Army trained Navy Special Warfare teams to freefall. The new school allows more SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC) to become free-fall and HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) qualified than ever before. Upon completion of the three-week SAO school, they receive their Naval Special Warfare Classification (NEC) code. Finally, the last requirement before going to a team requires students to go through SEAL Qualification Training, or SQT, which is a 15-week course. This course is also conducted in and around the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. After completion of SQT training and a probationary period, students are then considered SEALs and are awarded the SEAL pin, or Trident. Upon assignment to a team, the new SEALs undergo more advanced training during the 18 month work-up to their first 6 month deployment and are not considered experienced until having completed at least three deployments.

ttp://www.seal.navy.mil/

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Spec-Ops Troops Study To Be Part-Spy, Part-Gumshoe

The raid to grab Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan took just under 40 minutes — roughly 10 to get to bin Laden.

Special operators spent much of the rest of the time gathering evidence: computer files, written notes and thumb drives that pointed to new al-Qaida plots and previously secret operatives around the globe.

That science is what special operators of all types are learning at Fort Bragg's Special Warfare Center, with real-life scenarios meant to shock — and teach.

In one exercise, a Hollywood-style explosion leaves the remains of a fake suicide bomber scattered around a checkpoint.

The students must look past the grisly mess for the evidence that could lead to those who built the bomb.

Forging lessons painfully learned in the decade since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the formal curriculum is intended to help elite military units track militants across international boundaries and work alongside sometimes competing U.S. agencies.

The coursework is similar to the CIA's legendary spycraft training center called The Farm, and is at the brainchild of Green Beret Maj. Gen. Bennet Sacolick, a veteran of elite special operations units and a long stint on loan to the CIA.

Among the students at the CIA-approved Fort Bragg course are Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs and Marine Corps special operators. As in the Navy SEAL raid that killed bin Laden, everything from computers to fingerprints can be retrieved from a raid site and quickly analyzed. In some cases the analysis is so fast it can lead to several new targets in a single night.

The school is also an illustration of how special operations and intelligence forces have reached a less-contentious coexistence after early clashes in which CIA officers accused the military operators of ineptly trying to run their own spy rings overseas without State Department or CIA knowledge.

"As my guys go to Afghanistan and interface with CIA base and station chiefs, they can do it with more credibility than in the past," Sacolick told The Associated Press in a rare interview.

While many in the public may not be aware that the military is allowed to gather information, and even run its own spy networks, special operations forces have been authorized to do just that since the disastrous Desert One raid meant to rescue the U.S. hostages held in Iran in 1979.

The raid went awry because of a helicopter crash, not an intelligence foul-up. But before the raid, military planners had been frustrated that CIA employees working inside the country were unable to provide the tactical intelligence needed to insert a covert force — even basic information like which way the streets ran outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where the hostages were held.

That's why almost a third of every class at the CIA's Farm has been military, a former senior intelligence official said.

The Fort Bragg school means special operators now can get much of that CIA-style training at their home facility.

Sacolick said he was shocked at how piecemeal intelligence gathering and sharing was up until a couple of years ago. Special operations units would know their area but had no established way to pass it on, he said, or any means for reaching out to the CIA to fill in information gaps.

"The CIA will satisfy any information requirement we have," the agency veteran said.

"All we have to do is ask the right person. So that's what we are creating" among the special operations teams training at Fort Bragg, Sacolick said, pointing out troops who "have the vocabulary, have the contacts, know the questions to ask and who to ask."

The CIA also helped Sacolick design the course to teach special operators the spy-related tradecraft they need for the counterterror fight outside known war zones, such as in Somalia or Southeast Asia. They learn skills like how to evade surveillance by terrorists or a target country's intelligence service.

The elite teams' piecemeal training in those areas, often done previously by contractors rather than at the agency's Farm, was part of what caused the near-revolt of CIA station chiefs just after Sept. 11, when the Pentagon sent scores of such troops overseas. With their short haircuts, obvious military bearing and uneven training in tradecraft, they caused more than a few uncomfortable incidents for U.S. ambassadors and CIA chiefs, who sometimes were not even told they were there.

That led to congressional alarm and a clash between the Pentagon, the spies and the diplomats over who should be able to operate where.

The White House eventually created an information exchange to allow elite military troops to gather intelligence, while keeping State and the CIA in the loop.

To make sure spy did not stumble over spy, the Pentagon's top intelligence official, Stephen Cambone, and the CIA's then-top clandestine representative, Jose Rodriguez, created a mechanism that exists to this day to let each network know who was working for whom.

The next step was to find common ground among those competing tribes of intelligence and military operators — a step embraced by now-retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Then heading the military's Joint Special Operations Command, McChrystal embraced the "hostage swap" of JSOC troops and CIA officers, deploying them to each other's command centers and forcing collaboration through proximity.

But he upgraded the practice, sending his best people, instead of following the unwritten custom of sending one's least-valuable employee to get them out of the home office.

McChrystal used to lecture his people, Sacolick among them, to forge their own networks of one-on-one relationships in other agencies to counter the enemy network.

That's how Sacolick ended up at the CIA, and why he patterned his school on lessons the agency helped teach him.

The idea is to pass on the skills learned in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, where special operators have had more intelligence backup and logistical support from the regular military than they will in the remote places where they usually operate, Sacolick said.

"I need to prepare a 12-man team to go anywhere on this planet," he said. "They need to be every bit as good as they are in Afghanistan, in the middle of Africa somewhere" or wherever the next conflict takes them.

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