Reserve Spec Ops ?

[Infinitejest12]

Doing a little reading on reserve SOF capabilities in military. I came across this article (Business Insider) and was not sure if this statement was completely true.

“The Navy consists of NSW and EOD reserve units. The NSW reserve units are SEAL Team 17 and SEAL Team 18. These two teams are comprised of both SEALs and SWCCs. The majority of the SEALs and SWCCs at these units are prior active-duty members that transferred to the reserves upon completion of their active duty commitment. But, some sailors are able to obtain an NSW contract while in the reserves and upon completion of training are assigned directly to a reserve SEAL Team.”

I know this is true for Green Berets and PJs but have never heard of this within the NSW community. Is anyone aware of this? If so, how does the pipeline work?

 

[Ooh-Rah]

@Arf

 

[Arf]

@AlphaVictor and I were just having this discussion. I was completely unaware of it. He did some digging and found,

“you can go through the SWCC pipeline as a reservist, but you must first be in the Navy Reserves in order to apply for selection. There are 4 slots a year for reservists in the SWCC pipeline, and you must be in the Navy reserves and get permission from your unit to apply.”

I will confirm that this is true this week and post my answer here on the thread.


What I can confirm is that SEAL Team 17 and 18 do exist and consist of SEAL, SWCC, EOD and also a lot of support rates.

 

[Devildoc]

My info is dated, but this is how it was: They are chopped on active duty orders for the duration of BUDS and "up to three years of active duty" prior to being released to the reserves. The slots were limited, and contracts were available for qualified reservists, but you could not secure a contract before joining the reserves.

It is an arduous, time- and energy-sucking process to move from reserves to active duty in the Navy, and from the time you think "hey, I might want to do this" to actually getting a class number could be close to a year.

Not a door-kicker frogman, but the non-SO rates attached to those commands almost always loved their time.

 

[AlphaVictor]

SWCC is indeed possible, however slots are very limited and you cannot enlist directly into it. In the reserves they are aggisned to ST-17 and 18. You must join the reserves first and get a rate, then apply to cross over into SWCC selection, and your command must approve of it. I cannot speak to the possibility of entering SEAL in the same manner, I am working on getting that answer as well. All in all, not the most efficient process, and it surprises me seeing the lack of interest in getting new (not prior active NSW guys) recruits into the reserve component, as all the other branches have programs in place for direct entry into just about every SOF job.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

SWCC is indeed possible, however slots are very limited and you cannot enlist directly into it. In the reserves they are aggisned to ST-17 and 18. You must join the reserves first and get a rate, then apply to cross over into SWCC selection, and your command must approve of it. I cannot speak to the possibility of entering SEAL in the same manner, I am working on getting that answer as well. All in all, not the most efficient process, and it surprises me seeing the lack of interest in getting new (not prior active NSW guys) recruits into the reserve component, as all the other branches have programs in place for direct entry into just about every SOF job.

How do you know this to be fact?

Not questioning your answer, but just trying to have better understanding of your direct knowledge in this area since you are AirForce; not Navy.

 

[AlphaVictor]

How do you know this to be fact?

Not questioning your answer, but just trying to have better understanding of your direct knowledge in this area since you are AirForce; not Navy.

This is the information I was given by the Reserve Assignment Coordinator of Naval Special Warfare Group 11.

 

[Arf]

@AlphaVictor and I were having this discussion at length before this thread was established, so I wanted to tag him in this to get what info he had found.

My own search has not been successful so far but I have not had the time to explore nearly every avenue that I can.

I stopped by one of the reserve units to ask and met a SEAL LT. who claimed that it wasn’t possible to be a reservist without prior active duty time in a SEAL or SWCC rate, but a LT is pretty low on the officer totem pole and I would be willing to bet that he likely just does not know. 4 SWCC a year who are pure reservists with no prior active duty time would be very easy to miss. Not to mention that most of those contracted reservists probably don’t make it due to the high attrition rate of the pipeline itself.

I will continue to ask around.

I did meet a prior reservist who then transitioned to active duty once he obtained a SWCC contract but I haven’t been able to get a hold of him to confirm whether he was forced to stay active duty upon graduation. He quit in BUD/S Prep and I haven’t seen him since.

 

[AlphaVictor]

The pipeline for a Reserve SWCC is as follows:

You must join the Navy Reserves and get a rate. After reporting to your first command, you may put in a packet for SWCC. They adhere to the Active Duty standards for SWCC, so you cannot have reached your 31st birthday by the time of application. If selected for cross training, you will attend the entire SWCC pipeline. Upon graduation, you will spend 2 years on active duty orders at an active duty Boat Team. After this time, you will be assigned to Seal Team 17/18 as a traditional reservist for administrative purposes, but may drill with the Special Boat detachments.

Does this clear things up?

 

[Arf]

The pipeline for a Reserve SWCC is as follows:

You must join the Navy Reserves and get a rate. After reporting to your first command, you may put in a packet for SWCC. They adhere to the Active Duty standards for SWCC, so you cannot have reached your 31st birthday by the time of application. If selected for cross training, you will attend the entire SWCC pipeline. Upon graduation, you will spend 2 years on active duty orders at an active duty Boat Team. After this time, you will be assigned to Seal Team 17/18 as a traditional reservist for administrative purposes, but may drill with the Special Boat detachments.

Does this clear things up?

This seems like a very scary “hopefully you get it”. I understand that this is similar to how things were done in the past before all of these delayed entry program contracts going into bootcamp. The only good thing about this is that you would not have to move locations as a reservist if you didn’t get the contract or washed out.

 

[Arf]

https://www.sealswcc.com/pdf/milpersman-1220-400-special-boat.pdf


This talks about the process in both active and reserve. It was a surprisingly easy read!

 

[Infinitejest12]

https://www.sealswcc.com/pdf/milpersman-1220-400-special-boat.pdf


This talks about the process in both active and reserve. It was a surprisingly easy read!

Thank you!

 

[Arf]

Well I read through it again, and it is still not very clear.


NAVY RESERVE SEAL OR SWCC APPLICATION STEPS


This makes it seem like you have to be in the reserves first but that isn’t clear either. I’ll keep asking around. @AlphaVictor ‘s assessment seems to be legitimate though.

 

[w0lfLars0n]

Doing a little reading on reserve SOF capabilities in military. I came across this article (Business Insider) and was not sure if this statement was completely true.

“The Navy consists of NSW and EOD reserve units. The NSW reserve units are SEAL Team 17 and SEAL Team 18. These two teams are comprised of both SEALs and SWCCs. The majority of the SEALs and SWCCs at these units are prior active-duty members that transferred to the reserves upon completion of their active duty commitment. But, some sailors are able to obtain an NSW contract while in the reserves and upon completion of training are assigned directly to a reserve SEAL Team.”

I know this is true for Green Berets and PJs but have never heard of this within the NSW community. Is anyone aware of this? If so, how does the pipeline work?

I don’t know if I should wait for my verification to go through before I contribute to this thread (or if it’s even relevant anymore) but I went through the pipeline and became a SWCC as a reservist. Let me know if you’re still looking for info.

 

[Devildoc]

I don’t know if I should wait for my verification to go through before I contribute to this thread (or if it’s even relevant anymore) but I went through the pipeline and became a SWCC as a reservist. Let me know if you’re still looking for info.

Yes, it is absolutely relevant! Get vetted/bona fides and work with @Arf to get it out there...