Navy SEALs" by galih p.

redirects here. For the 1990 film, see Navy SEALs (film).
"Navy seals" redirects here. For military uses of seals and sea lions (the animals), see U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program.
Navy SEALs
U.S. Navy SEALs Insignia
Active
January 1, 1962–present
Country
United States
Branch
United States Navy
Type
Maritime Special Operations Force
Role
Unconventional Warfare, Direct Action, Counter-Terrorism, Special reconnaissance
Size
~2,500
Part of
United States Naval Special Warfare CommandUnited States Special Operations Command
Garrison/HQ
Coronado, CaliforniaLittle Creek, Virginia
Nickname
Frogmen
Motto
(Unofficial) "Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit""The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday""It Pays to be a Winner"
Engagements
Vietnam WarMultinational Force in LebanonOperation Urgent FuryAchille Lauro hijackingOperation Just CauseOperation Desert StormOperation Restore HopeBattle of Mogadishu (Four operators from the Development Group were a part of the assault convoy)Operation Enduring FreedomOperation Iraqi FreedomOperation Red WingSecond Battle of Ramadi
The United States Navy Sea, Air and Land Forces, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the Special Operations Forces of the United States Navy, employed in direct action and special reconnaissance operations. SEALs are also capable of employing unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, and counter-terrorism missions.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Training
2.1 Pipeline
2.1.1 Screening
2.2 Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL (BUD/S)
2.3 SEAL Qualification Training (SQT)
2.4 SEAL Platoon Training
3 Navy SEAL teams and structure
3.1 Naval Special Warfare Groups
3.2 SEAL Teams
4 Notable Navy SEALs
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
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[edit] History
The Navy Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) were a precursor to the current Navy SEALs. The Under-Water Demolition Teams began training in June 1943 at Fort Pierce, Florida in preparation for the D-Day invasion. In World War II, UDT's saw action at Normandy and at various locations in the South Pacific. The UDT's refined and developed their Commando tactics during the Korean War, with their efforts initially focused on demolitions and mine disposal.

Underwater Demolition Team jumps over the side from boat.
President John F. Kennedy, aware of the situations in Southeast Asia, recognized the need for unconventional warfare and special operations as a measure against guerrilla warfare. In a speech to Congress on May 25 1961, Kennedy spoke of his deep respect for the United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets). He announced the government's plan to put a man on the moon, and, in the same speech, allocated over $100 million toward the strengthening of the special operations forces in order to expand the strength of the American conventional forces.
Realizing the administration's favor of the Green Berets, the Navy needed to determine its role within the special operations arena. In March 1961, the Chief of Naval Operations recommended the establishment of guerrilla and counter-guerrilla units. These units would be able to operate from sea, air or land. This was the beginning of the official Navy SEALs. Many SEAL members came from the Navy's UDT units, who had already gained experience in commando warfare in Korea; however, the UDTs were still necessary to the Navy's amphibious force.
The first two teams were on both US coasts: Team One at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California and Team Two at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. The men of the newly formed SEAL Teams were educated in such unconventional areas as hand-to-hand combat, high-altitude parachuting, safe-cracking, demolition, and languages. Among the varied tools and weapons required by the teams was the AR-15 assault rifle, a new design that evolved into today's M16. The SEALs attended UDT Replacement training and they spent some time training in UDTs. Upon making it to a SEAL team, they would undergo a three-month SEAL Basic Indoctrination (SBI) training class at Camp Kerry in the Cuyamaca Mountains. After SBI training class, they would enter a platoon and train in platoon tactics (especially for the conflict in Vietnam).
The Pacific Command recognized Vietnam as a potential hot spot for conventional forces. At the beginning of 1962, the UDT started hydrographic surveys and Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) was formed. In March 1962, SEALs were deployed to South Vietnam for the purpose of training Army of the Republic of Vietnam commandos in the same methods they were trained themselves.
The Central Intelligence Agency began SEAL covert operations in early 1963. At the outset of the war, operations consisted of ambushing supply movements and locating and capturing North Vietnamese officers. Due to poor intelligence information, these operations were not very successful. When the SEALs were given the resources to develop their own intelligence, the information became much more timely and reliable.[citation needed] The SEALs and Special Operations in general started showing an immense success rate, earning their members a great number of citations.[citation needed]
The SEALs were initially deployed in and around Da Nang, training the South Vietnamese in combat diving, demolitions, and guerrilla/anti-guerrilla tactics. As the war continued, the SEALs found themselves positioned in the Rung Sat Special Zone where they were to disrupt the enemy supply and troop movements and in the Mekong Delta to fulfill riverine (fighting on the inland waterways) operations.
Combat with the Viet Cong was direct. Unlike the conventional warfare methods of firing artillery into a coordinate location, the SEALs operated within inches of their targets. Into the late 1960s, the SEALs were successful in a new style of warfare, effective in anti-guerrilla and guerrilla actions. The Viet Cong referred to them as "the men with green faces," due to the camouflage face paint the SEALs wore during combat missions.
SEALs continued to make forays into North Vietnam and Laos, and unofficially into Cambodia, controlled by the Studies and Observations Group. The SEALs from Team Two started a unique deployment of SEAL team members working alone with South Vietnamese Commandos (ARVN). In 1967, a SEAL unit named Detachment Bravo (Det Bravo) was formed to operate these mixed US and ARVN units, which were called South Vietnamese Provincial Reconnaissance Units (PRU).

At the beginning of 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong orchestrated a major offensive against South Vietnam: the "Tet Offensive." The North hoped it would prove to be America's Dien Bien Phu, attempting to break the American public's desire to continue the war. As propaganda, the Tet Offensive was successful in adding to the American protest of the Vietnam war. However, North Vietnam suffered tremendous casualties, and from a purely military standpoint, the Tet Offensive was a major disaster for the Communists.
By 1970, President Richard Nixon initiated a Plan of Vietnamization, which would remove the US from the Vietnam conflict and return the responsibility of defense back to the South Vietnamese. Conventional forces were being withdrawn; however, SEAL operations continued.
On 6 June 1972, Lt. Melvin S. Dry was killed entering the water after jumping from a helicopter at least 35 feet above the surface. Part of an aborted SDV operation to retrieve prisoners of war, Lt. Dry was the last Navy SEAL killed in the Vietnam conflict.[