Who? Me?

Hooyah!

Anyone here a Navy SEAL? Anyone here want to become a Navy SEAL? I’m afraid it’s a pretty elite group and none of us would be qualified to enter the training program. First of all, you have to be a man … sorry, ladies. You have to be an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy. You have to be 28 years old or younger … although waivers for 29 and 30 year olds are possible. You have to be a U.S. Citizen. You have to pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. You have to have good vision … that counts me out … well, that and the 28 to 30 year old qualification and the physical qualifications: swim 500 yards … that’s the length of five football fields, followed by a 10-minute rest, followed by 42 push-ups in under two minutes, followed by a two-minute rest, followed by 50 sit-ups in under two minutes, followed by a two-minute rest, followed by a mile-and-a-half run in boots and long pants that has to be finished in 11 and half minutes. I don’t know about you but need a 10-minute rest just hearing all this.

You have to do all this just to get your foot in the door! You’re still a long, long ways off from becoming an actual Navy SEAL.

Does anyone here know what “SEAL” stands for? It’s an anacronym … S-E-A-L. That stands for “Sea-Air-Land” … all the places where they will be called to perform. Their primary role is to get in and out of an area as quickly as they can without being seen … gathering intelligence … destroying strategic targets … and performing rescue missions. Any place where there are currently U.S. troops, you’ll find that the SEALs are either there now or were there first. SEALs are extremely good at what they do. A SEAL has never been left behind on a mission and a SEAL has never been taken prisoner … though they’ve come close a number of times.

Once a potential SEAL qualifies for training, the real fun begins. It takes 30 months … that’s 2 and half years … to receive your trident pin and become a full-fledged Navy SEAL. Only about 25% of the trainees make it through the training to become SEALs. Currently there are less than 3,000 SEALs on active duty.

Understandably, there is no fun and certainly no joy in going through the training process. The training is brutal and designed to push them to the limit, both mentally and physically, in order to weed out those who may not be able to successfully complete the demanding missions that the trainees will eventually have to face. The types of stresses and challenges that they will have to endure during their 30 months of training are the same stresses and challenges that they will have to endure and overcome when they become actual SEALs. If they can’t withstand it when lives are not on the line, chances are good that they won’t be able to withstand it when there ARE lives on the line.

SEALs are trained to perform specific tasks under any type of circumstances and in any environment. Their training takes place in the desert, in the jungle, in urban areas, certainly on the water, in extreme hot and cold weather.

What does it take to become a Navy SEAL? Even SEAL instructors can’t predict who will make it all the way. The common trait that instructors see in future SEALs can’t really be defined. They call it a “fire in the gut.” You either have it or you don’t. There may be no joy in the process of becoming a SEAL but there is satisfaction and indescribable joy when you pass and receive your trident pin, amen?

After all this, the process is not over. When SEALs aren’t on a mission, they’re in constant training … continually honing the skills that they acquired in training … and learning new skills and techniques that will make a difference when they are deployed.

Being a SEAL doesn’t mean you get the cushy missions or assignments. They are sent to dangerous places to do tough, dangerous, grueling missions. And when they are faced with these challenges, they persevere because of their training and the greater good that will come out of it … not for themselves but for the lives of their fellow soldiers and for the greater goals of their leaders and the good of their country. More is expected of them because they have demonstrated that the are capable of more than the average civilian or soldier. They don’t just go around showing off their trident pins … they have to earn them over and over and over again. There’s no kicking back, no coasting on their laurels or past achievements. IT is an honor to be a Navy SEAL … but it is an honor that’s hard won.