Navy needs more SEALs

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Navy needs more SEALs

CORONADO AMPHIBIOUS BASE, California (CNN) -- Just as a new wave of Navy SEAL recruits on Coronado Island, California, crawls out from under barbed-wire obstacles, muscles burning and sand sticking to sweat, the Navy has launched an aggressive recruiting campaign to expand the maritime special forces to their highest levels ever.
The target is a total SEAL force of 3,038 in five years.
"We need to grow our special operations forces across the services," says Navy SEAL Capt. Roger Herbert. "And for the Navy that means an additional 500 SEALs. (Watch SEAL recruits in training)
"My job is to grow the force, to get more guys through here, but never reduce the quality."
The SEALs, which stand for sea, air and land units, were formed by President Kennedy to carry out secret operations. They were the first American troops to set foot in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, and they are assigned some of the most dangerous, and secretive missions, in the military.
Because the SEAL training includes 5½-mile swims, sleep deprivation, bone-jarring obstacle courses, constant running, climbing, jumping, diving and other tortures, historically just 25 percent of the recruits graduate to become Navy SEALs.
But that number jumped to 32 percent last year, because the SEALs are targeting young men who have a better chance of enduring the mental and physical challenges of training, according to Herbert.
Jake Williams just graduated as his class honor man and flashes a tooth-paste commercial smile when asked how he prepared for the SEALs' notorious training on land and water.
"I ran a lot, swam here and there," Williams explains. "When I was old enough, I got certified so I could go scuba diving. I did a lot of outdoor rock climbing and that kind of stuff."
The SEALs are now encouraging extreme-sports enthusiasts and athletes from a variety of sports to try to prove themselves in an ultimate contest of attrition, the SEAL boot camp.
"We've got to bring in the right candidates," says Navy SEAL Cmdr. Duncan Smith. "So we're going after water polo players. We're going after wrestlers. We are making people who may not traditionally thought of a career as a SEAL, we're making them aware of the opportunity to serve in Navy Special Warfare."
SEAL recruit Christopher Maddox played soccer and baseball in high school and now wears the brown T-shirt that shows he's survived SEAL Hell Week and is tantalizingly close to graduation.
"A lot of people come here, and they're all different shapes and sizes," Maddox says. "It doesn't matter. You could be in the best physical shape of your life and not last one day here."
Once a SEAL recruit decides he cannot take the pain anymore, he must walk up to a bell and ring it. The end is called "ringing out." The failed recruit then puts his helmet on the ground. The green helmets sit in a row. The last names are prominent in white letters.
The helmets stay lined up until graduation -- stark reminders to every SEAL of how few recruits survive.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/19/SEALS.btsc/
 
Question is if these guys come into the community, will they stay in the community. Do one or two deployments and then hes gone and thats (I think) a waste of money and effort.
 
You cant make someone want to be a SEAL. It wont matter how well these guys are conditioned if they arent willing to put themselves through anything and everything to reach that pinnacle. This idea is going to backfire but not to worry there will be warriors in any generation ready to fight for our country and plenty of us will be there to answer the call to be counted among them.
 
You cant make someone want to be a SEAL. It wont matter how well these guys are conditioned if they arent willing to put themselves through anything and everything to reach that pinnacle. This idea is going to backfire but not to worry there will be warriors in any generation ready to fight for our country and plenty of us will be there to answer the call to be counted among them.

Personal experience?
 
You cant make someone want to be a SEAL. It wont matter how well these guys are conditioned if they arent willing to put themselves through anything and everything to reach that pinnacle. This idea is going to backfire but not to worry there will be warriors in any generation ready to fight for our country and plenty of us will be there to answer the call to be counted among them.

:uhh:
 
You cant make someone want to be a SEAL. It wont matter how well these guys are conditioned if they arent willing to put themselves through anything and everything to reach that pinnacle.

Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious. :rolleyes:

This idea is going to backfire but not to worry there will be warriors in any generation ready to fight for our country and plenty of us will be there to answer the call to be counted among them.

Since the graduation rate has gone from 25% to 32%, I'd say that they are on their way to achieving their goal.
 
I wouldnt say that the plan is going to backfire, people will just simply drop out of the program, but getting more bodies to try it out as long as they get in their selves could never be a bad thing.
 
I agree with Ravage, Whose to say that they'll stay in service. I'm a wanna be myself but these are guys who previoulsy had no interest in a career like that and lets be honest a big reason any branches SOF are getting out after not too long in service is because they can make so much more using those same skills Private Contractors, I remember reading somewhere in one of Dick Couch's books that certain SEALs and ASF personnell are guaranteed almost a grand a dat working for companies like Blackwater(whose name I'm aware changed). Can't say if its really any different monetary wise for Marine or AF SOF, I doubt it. Either way the point is as everyone on this site military doesn't make much compared to other jobs, and if you can much more with those same skills is an appealling draw for many. Anyway the reason why I say all this is that many of these recruits are sport players who are gonna realize that they can still make some big bucks.
 
Well, I'd have to say the biggest recruitment motivator would be to make sure the team guys we already have are getting a lot of good work. If they are, it could be advertised to draw more young Warriors.

Guys who really want to operate as SEALs aren't motivated by much else. They want to do some major league ass kicking, and lots of it. :D
 
This is where I upset some people, but why are you concerned about the retention rates of SEALs post-BUD/S? Does it affect you somehow?

The bottom line is guys that have the ability to make it through the course don't grow on trees. Just getting them through the program with a Trident is a major victory as is, much less the fact that they are increasing their numbers by a few percentage points. The guys that get out after their initial enlistment, did they somehow take a BUD/S slot away from a sailor that A) could make it to a Team and B) would want to stay in?

Not fricking likely.

So, here's an option: let the SEALs worry about BUD/S. If and when you have a Trident you can worry about their recruiting methods too. Otherwise, I'll show concern when the Frogmen do.
 
This is where I upset some people, but why are you concerned about the retention rates of SEAL ...............



So, here's an option: let the SEALs worry about BUD/S. If and when you have a Trident you can worry about their recruiting methods too. Otherwise, I'll show concern when the Frogmen do.


That's why I was giving a big sigh while reading alot of the posts to this so far. They have not reduced the harshnes or difficulty of the training. They are just selecting from a better pool of candidates. When I was out in Coronado I saw KIDS the were in BUD/s that had no place being in an Army Infantry unit let alone NSW. They would wash in indoc.
There were alot of east coast sailors that would go just to get SD orders when they washed. (I'm sure this still goes on to a degree.)
They aren't bringing the % of success up by pushing bodies through a pipeline, they are selecting better bodies for the pipeline.
Why would you care anyway if your not NSW. Let the Teams worry about retention. This article wasn't even about retention.
 
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