Could You Handle the Ferocious SEAL Training Program?
- Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:40pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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We already know that the SEALs are an unbelievably elite and incredibly talented group of American warriors. But how did they get that way? Not by being wimps, that’s for sure.
The Daily Beast has the scoop on their intense—truly, harrowing—training regimen:
SEAL training is the most ferocious workout in the free world, according to Navy memoirs and other published reports, a bone-wrenching, spine-rattling affair that takes about two years, and overwhelms most men who attempt it. Those who pass go on to restock the 2,500-man rotation of active-duty SEALs. The best are eventually tapped for the elite Seal Team Six—the squad that got bin Laden. And as perhaps goes without saying, the average Googler wouldn’t survive the pre-training requirements: 50 sit-ups and 42 pushups (in under two minutes each), a mile-and-a-half run (at sub seven-minute-mile pace), a 500-yard swim (in less than 13 minutes). There are no women allowed.
The trial begins with BUD/S (basic underwater demolition/SEAL training) at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California, an otherwise lovely island in San Diego Bay. On the “grinder,” a black asphalt courtyard, would-be SEALs spend hours doing mass calisthenics. In the pool, they are “drown-proofed” by swimming with bound arms and legs. On the shore, they experience “surf torture” (official name: water immersion), a prolonged bob in the 60-degree Pacific Ocean, or are made to jump on and off a pier while being hosed down with cold water. After hours of this—literally—men begin to crack up, and a class of 100 can shrink by 10 percent in a few minutes. Those who stick it out end up as “sugar cookies,” wet, blue-lipped men belly-flopping on the beach: “Up! Down! Up! Down!”
And that’s just the beginning. For what comes next, check out the full story.
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Comments (142)
wewantchillywilly
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:44pmif i could blow **** up for a living, why not?
Report Post »princessnutsack
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:39pmMore pics of the seals!! MEOW!!
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:38pmThey ARE men’s men, I say in a completely hetero manner. I‘m just jealous I’ll never be able to be in that shape even if I had the guts.
Report Post »redbone007
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:34pmNo women allowed? Here come ACLU.
Report Post »Soquel by the Creek
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:32pmCould I handle it? The letters come to mind: N.F.W.!
A friend from school who was one of the toughest S.O.B.’s that I know failed one of the swim tests, and he was part fish.
Know what would be interesting? A U.S. Navy SEAL vs. British SBS competition reality series.
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:57pmUmm, you mean, S.A.S., perhaps?
SAS – Special Air Service
SBS – Special BEAT Service, album title from the band, English Beat, ca 1980′s
Report Post »Marine Recon Dad
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:31pmThey are the best of the best. But what alot of people don’t know is that they are not all Navy – they include other branches of the services. That is…. if they can last…..
Semper Fi
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:16pmTruth.
Don’t ask me HOW I know,…. I’d have to kill you, lol!
Me? Nope, not a chance!,
but some one once told me, and then forgot to KILL me…. rof!
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:29pmDon’t think so. If I was about 40 years younger I might give it a whirl.
Report Post »Not SO Old Yet DI
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:28pmNo women…didn’t GI Jane make it through…
Report Post »and yes, I believe I could have made it through…after all it is still the Navy and Marines can do anything the Navy does with their eyes closed, but not so much the other way around!! (the SEALS are awesome!)
RightPolitically
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:24pmSimply put……NO.
Report Post »bkfirvine
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:22pmI’m not trying to brag, but I could indeed handle the SEAL Training Program….Then, right after the training ends, I’d collapse and die.
Report Post »Not_A_Useful_Idiot
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:22pmSEAL team six does not exist people!!!!!!!!!! I’m sick of this SEAL stuff. These guys want nothing but face time. Check out all the fitness DVD’s put out by ex-SEALs and now there crawling out from under every rock to get on TV. lol Marine Force Recon………..“the quiet professionals”. Actually I have run into many SEALs as BN Recon Marine while on deployment. Good bunch of guys. But here’s a reality check. Team six doesn’t exist anymore and in all likely hood the Op was headed up by a small core of CIA BlackOps operators supported by SEALs. These operators are chosen from units such as the SEALs, SF, Delta, and FR. Assassination OPs like this are usually a Black Op. This op was a GREEN OP because of who the HVT was, and as such, required a cover story because once released to the media the questions would need logical answers. So everyone look over here at the SEAL units. Nothing going on over here in this direction. lol
Report Post »BlackMan
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:39pmI respectfull disagree – Not a useful Idiot.
Report Post »I’m a former Marine Scout Sniper – old school 8541 type, and I was very good at my job….
I too have had the opportunity to work with some great guys, 12SF group, SEALS, Recon, Air Force PJ’s and etc – - although ST6 is no longer officially a seal team – the BUDS training and mission is still exactly that of ST6. Yes there are Black Ops, operatives but considering the assets, this was sanctioned – Usually Black Ops would be CIA director, President and limited number of people would be in on it…. for the Secretary of State to be in on it…. with all the leaks coming out of that organization – shows that it was very much green lit.
OneFunR6
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 1:01amI don’t care what YOU call them,…
Report Post »I call them Dangerous! LoL!
DeltaHawk
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:18pmI doubt you will se any gay seals!
Report Post »Echelon
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:12pmNo wimps, no girls, NO GAYS! Thank God.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 8:34amNot for long.
Report Post »supernova1
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 9:14amyou are a moron. hope the air runs out of that bubble you are living in, and soon too
Report Post »Evileye
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:12pmI would give it one hell of a try when I was 20 years old (sixty years ago)
Report Post »i want the truth
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:12pmTo get rid of someone that we need to get rid of sure!
Report Post »Deus Vult
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:11pmTHANK GOD for and GOD BLESS “OUR” Navy SEALS!
Report Post »Over the years (20 yr. Navy Veteran here); having known some SEALS and even worked briefly with some (not to get the wrong idea; I am NOT a SEAL!)….I have ALWAYS been Proud and amazed by these men….they TRULY are the Absolute “BEST of the BEST!”
Raise a toast to them always!
GOD BLESS/ GOD “SAVE” AMERICA!
Ron_WA
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:02pmNo. Handled Ranger training fine but I’m not that good a swimmer. Also, I hate being at sea for anything more than a Caribbean cruise. Oh, BTW there’s SEAL training & then there is DevGru (SEAL Team Six) training – which you don’t apply for you get invite to try out … (very, very, few SEALs make it to that level)
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:51pmI had a friend, a long time ago, who joined the Coast Guard out of high school and became a ‘swimmer’, but,…
he decided that he wanted to be able to shoot back at America’s enemies, so,…
Report Post »he got out of the Coast Guard and enlisted in the Marines and became a 1st Recon sniper, but,…
he decided that he didn’t what to WAIT to take a shot OR to sneak up on them, so,…
he re-enlisted in the Navy and became a S.E.A.L.
Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:00pm“No girls, or wimps, allowed”?
There’s two strikes against me. I don’t have it in me to be the agressor. All I can do is protect me and mine back at the homestead.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:58pmlol i can soon imagine the cries from the left complaining that there are no women allowed in the navy seals, and an effort to implement that wonderful program we call affirmative action because of the obvious racism evident in the lack of minorities
never mind the absolute rule of only accepting the best of the best no matter the color of the enlisted, we have to make it equally sucky, just like they have done with everything else they get their liberal progressive crappy fingers into in the “ fight for social justice ”
i say if they have such a problem with it, they should require mandatory enlistment for these pantywaisted liberal idiots and show them what reality really is
Report Post »ArmyGirl
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:13pmI’m a woman, I joined the army when I was 17 (delayed entry program) and I agree that there should be sections of the military of just men, that way boys can be boys, I don’t take offense that “no girls allowed” women cause problems for men and men cause problems for women. These elite units have a specific function to perform and it should be just men.
Report Post »Whostolemypig
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:55pmIf I even dreamed that I was going through their training I’d wake up screaming. These guy all have a rare combination of physical and mental toughness as well as intelligence.
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:45pmI!StoleYourPig –
You have those dreams, too?
Lol, werd.
Report Post »MidwestMomof3
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:54pmFirst, I’m a woman…so I couldn’t even try, If I tried, I’d fail miserably and quickly.
God bless these men…and all our military heros!
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:46pmNOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Report Post »Way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kickagrandma
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:46pmWhen I grow up, I want to be one!
GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND PROTECT YOU IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
Report Post »Nervous Investor
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:45pmSimple answer – No. Respect due to these folks.
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:31pmNervous Investor – “Simple answer – No respect due to these folks.”
For shame! No wonder you’re a ‘Nervous Investor’, lol!
Besides, ‘investing’ is so easy now,….
food, water , guns, ammo, gold, AND silver, in that order!
You see the price of PM’s today? YEA! [Buys some more…]
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:43pmI would roll up into the fetal position and suck my thumb!!! That’s why I would give my shirt to these guys!
Report Post »Mannax
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:10pmWhich is what any of us would do since they would give their lives for us.
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:37pmjhaydeng – “That’s why I would give my shirt to these guys!”
They could TAKE your shirt and KILL you with it! ROF!
Report Post »Besides, it would never fit one of THEM, anyway…..
they all wear, like a size 72 [regular]….. lol
NOBALONEY
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:41pmGreat lakes was enough for me.
Report Post »Vet with Vendetta
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:47pmHaha… yea, not the best line of work for someone with a family.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:48pmNo. I couldn’t even stand to get the tatoo after the training.
I used to see the PJ’s “Air Force Search and Rescue” running around, they do pretty much what the SEALS do, that was too much for me. They would run 5 miles while carrying a telephone pole.
Report Post »dealer@678
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:53pmDo i have to walk my dog
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:55pmNope could not do it. that is why I say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:55pmsure as long as I don’t have to LIE
Report Post »arx
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:57pmwhy no women allowed? (sarcasm)
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:58pmI could do it for sure, but it better be for a damned good reason, not some fabricated BS.
I’d do it for free to protect my country.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 8:59pmThese are the BEST of the BEST …. not us “ordinary” mortals .. that have my all my respect.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:00pmI do walk my twenty-eight pound Jack Russel beagle one mile every day though!
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:05pmI had a friend who was a seal. Tough as nails and a great guy.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:09pmI am not a mortal.
I am an immortal being endowed with immortality through the power of Jesus Christ, authorized by Yahweh.
This body is simply my spacesuit.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Report Post »Mannax
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:11pmMace: Sometimes you amaze me.
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:16pmThank God for the elite!
Report Post »black9897
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:33pmYa know, I could actually do it. If it wasn’t for the lack of sleep I could. I’d fail during hell week due to getting hardly any sleep! I‘m the type that literally can’t pull all nighters or if i don’t get enough, even if it‘s a lil bit my mind starts to see things and I’m pretty much useless.
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:36pmD&J@T – “. I couldn’t even stand to get the tattoo after the training.”
No tattoos, no “identifying marks” of any kind allowed, lol!
AF-SAR might go for a ‘run’ “while carrying a telephone pole”, but THEY would 1st cut down a tree with their bare hands, turn it into a telephone pole, run 5 miles while carrying it, dig a hole, with their bare hands, put the pole in the hole, build a human ladder in order to put a man at the top, just to have a look around and say that they’d done it! THEN,…. they’d get him safely down, dig up the pole, hiding the hole and leave no trace AND then carry the pole back the 5 miles, hide it the forest where no one would find it,….
and pretend that the whole thing never happened!
“What?” “Who? Us?” “Don’t know anything about it….”
Report Post »LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:41pmOne February me and four of my friends went ice fishing at a lake just 2 miles from Canada.
Report Post »We camped for 5 days and 4 nights without a shelter, just sleeping bags.
We only went to civilization at night to a local Bar.
on the second day i fell threw the ice, got naked and crawled into my sleeping bag. till i was dry
Then went back fish later that afternoon, god i miss my youth.
But i would have passed the test that these guys go threw
LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:47pmCORRECTION
But i would have “”"“ NOT””"”passed the test that these guys go threw
Report Post »SavingtheRepublic.com
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:56pmI was going to drop out of college and join up many years ago specifically to be a SEAL. Had it all planned out as I was friends with a former SEAL and was going to have him train me for a year before I even enlisted. Family stepped in and stopped me, was threatened with disownment (if you’re italian like myself you will understand the weight that has on one)! Yes I could have just gone ahead but would have been thrown out of house with no way to support myself and mentally it would have been a major distraction you have to be in this 100% mentally as BUDS/UDT is more of a mental game than physical.
Report Post »Now I am too old too beat up and cant join. Got the degree which is useless that never got me the great job if I “stayed in college” Oh and I remind them everyday about it with the situation I am in now.
OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:10pmLOOKs_BOTH_WAYS – “CORRECTION”
“But i would have “””“ NOT””””passed the test that these guys go threw”
BWAAHAHAHAha! – no offense, but,…
THAT’s EXACTLY what I was thinking, when I read you FIRST post! ROFLMAO!
BECAUSE……….
a long time ago, I too fell through the ice into a pond, down the street from my parents house….
had to “walk” under the water about 25-30 feet and break thru the ice to stand up, walk out of the lake, sit down, take off my hockey skates, and ….
RUN! … all the way back up the street to my house, about 5/600 yards away!
I had hypothermia so bad, I could barely stand up, let alone walk…. lol!
Report Post »Okie from Muskogee
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:53pm“Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”
Only Easy Day Was Yesterday
Report Post »Okie from Muskogee
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 10:55pmThe training is not the hard part, the hard part is finding something challenging afterwards….
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 11:21pmThe official Seals motto is: “Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit”
Great quote! Give credit where due,…
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill/1941-1945-war-leader/288-us-congress-1941
Address To A Joint Session Of Congress on December 26, 1941
– Winston Churchill
the following are from the same speech:
“The forces ranged against us are enormous. They are bitter, they are ruthless. The wicked men and their factions who have launched their peoples on the path of war and conquest know that they will be called to terrible account if they cannot beat down by force of arms the peoples they have assailed. They will stop at nothing.”
“They have plans and designs which have long been tried and matured. They will stop at nothing that violence or treachery can suggest.”
“We have therefore, without doubt, a time of tribulation before us. In this time some ground will be lost which it will be hard and costly to regain. Many disappointments and unpleasant surprises await us.”
Report Post »Okie from Muskogee
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 12:31amYes it may be the “official” but there is nothing official about SEALs…
Each team creates their own team motto…And there are many…
The whole speech by Winston was to long to place on the plaque….Powerful words and definitely unforgettable..
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 2:21amI couldn’t at my age now, but I would have given it my best back in my younger days. Too bad I was like most teenagers… only interested in girls and beer back in the day. Getting older has a way of waking you up to the realities of the real world. I became a Conservative by the time I turned 28. Funny how a wife, a newborn, and a mortgage, will do that to ya.
Help draft Colonel West…
Report Post »http://www.americasteapartynews.com/draft-allen-west.php
Showtime
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 2:31amMy answer is “NO!!!” I read what their training is.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 2:55am@LOOKING_BOTH_WAYS
Posted on May 5, 2011 at 9:47pm
CORRECTION
But i would have “””“ NOT””””passed the test that these guys go threw
Report Post »~~~~~~~~~~~
Glad you cleared that up, “popcicle.” Had me going there for a minute.
Showtime
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 3:07amI could pass the swimming, I believe. At a leisurely pace, it takes me 45 minutes to swim a mile, and 500 yards is about 1/3 mile. So, if I used a swift stoke and did not have to keep my head above water but could breathe rhythmically, I think I could ace the swimming. But that would be all. I can’t do a pushup. Not one!
Report Post »foobear
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 4:54amThe pushups and situps are a piece of cake, but I hate running. Hate it with a passion. No thanks.
I used to spend hours in the water in San Diego, it’s not really as cold as they make it sound. While the water comes from Alaska, it’s not Alaska. Their other drowning and hypothermia tests are much worse.
Report Post »79USMC83
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 6:56amWatch out Holder the DOJ might put charges on the instructor’s for TORTURE !!!!! How dare you right an article and let the American people know something about the SEALS tatics. With PICTURES no less. Are you trying to incite the Jihadists !!!!! So if the SEALS are getting ALL the press who REALLY is OUR best SECRETIVE Spec-op ASSASIANS ???? Hum maybe this Operation was ALL about using the SEALS and Bin Laden for Politics and Photo-Ops!!! We all have seen COPS they do RAIDS like this DAILY on American citizens. They just drive up to the door !!! Hum we could have someone deliver flowers like in the movies or a fake maintenance man knocking the whole house out with sleeping gas, like the Russians did once to Hostage takers at the Opera house years ago. But we go in with choppers and guns a blazing taking NO prisoners!!
Report Post »Bum thrower
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 9:49amWith teh repeal of DADT; can‘t wait for the ’Barney Frank seal team”…..yuck
Report Post »drdave18
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 5:52pmThis is worse than waterboarding!
Report Post »stewpid peapol suck
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 7:35pmDid you know that while going through BUD‘s our future SEAL’s are tortured???
They make them watch Whoopie and Behag for 24 straight hours.It’s a miracle any of them make it…
Report Post »MissBex
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 9:18pmI would be cryin’ for my Mommy within 5 minutes.
Report Post »militiaman
Posted on May 6, 2011 at 10:13pmThe Army’s equivalent of the Navy SEALS is the Delta Force, and both DO receive the most extensive training of all the military units, but they aren’t the only two top notch elite forces in the military.
Also requiring a very high standard above the norm, are the Army’s Green Berets and the Airborne Rangers/Long Range Reconnaisance Patrol. Both probably have about the same physical requirements than the SEALS and Delta Force, but their training is not quite as extensive in some respects; however, they’re still among the military elite.
Special Forces are trained in many of the same subjects as the SEALS and Delta Force. Anybody wanting to learn skills taught by the Special Forces can learn from videos offerred by Colonel Bo Gritz at: http://www.bogritz.com/training.htm
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