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SEAL PLATOON

Platoon Training is where the rubber finally meets the road. Armed with a year of individual skill training, hardened by thousands of hours of physical training, diving, jumping, shooting and blowing things up, now the SEAL (if he passes the remaining tests and boards and earns the privilege to wear the SEAL Trident) gets to put his fledgling talent to work with seasoned veterans of Naval Special Warfare.

A SEAL Platoon consists of two officers, one chief and thirteen enlisted men. Responsibilities are divided into positions in a patrol (such as Point Man, Patrol Leader, Radio Man, 60 Gunner, Corpsman and Rear Security), department leadership (such as Diving Department Head, Air Department Head and Ordnance/Demo Department Head) and by rank. The senior officer is the Platoon Commander, the junior officer is his assistant, the senior enlisted is the Platoon Chief and the next senior enlisted is the Leading Petty Officer who is in charge of the day-to-day management of the enlisted platoon members. SEAL Platoons have a training cycle, which includes either a 12 or 18 month training work-up, then a 6 month deployment overseas in an operational ‘combat ready’ status at a Naval Special Warfare Unit or Detachment. These platoons are incredibly highly trained and can accomplish most any task thrown at them. The training that must be accomplished during the year-plus training cycle is based upon several factors:

1. Advanced individual and platoon level skills necessary for the conduct of all Special Operations Missions. 
2. The methods of delivery, insertion/extraction most likely to be utilized while on deployment.
3. The geographic area of responsibility of the SEAL Team.

Wherever there are troops on the ground in the world, you can be pretty sure that the SEALs, along with their Green Beret counterparts, are either there now or were there first! 

The first three months of the training cycle, it is usually back to the basics. Hydrographic reconnaissance is covered once again combined with underwater demolition of submerged obstacles. Next, air training lasts two weeks and builds upon SQT skills, including several -Duck- drops out of different aircraft, both day and night combat equipment parachute jumps, fast-roping, rappelling and SPIE rig, mission planning in a classroom environment followed by intelligence gathering and reporting.  

Next, is another Combat Swimmer course. It takes several years before a SEAL becomes an ‘expert’ combat diver (expert is a relative term here, because compared to 99 percent of all the divers in the world, a BUD/S student is an expert after Second Phase of BUD/S!). Combat swimmer training in the platoon is a very arduous and intense training block. The platoon will conduct over 30 dives during three weeks - including a Full Mission Profile, where SEALs are inserted by aircraft or surface vessel for a 30 mile ‘over the horizon’ transit in the CRRC, followed by a demanding turtleback (kicking on the surface toward the dive point in full dive gear), then a four hour, multi-leg dive into the enemy harbor to emplace limpet mines on the hulls of the target ships, then extracting after evading the anti swimmer measures put in place by the training cadre. Many SEALs say that the Combat Swimmer course is exhausting.

The typical training day begins at seven a.m., when you come into the team to set up your dive rigs and prepare you gear. The officers then brief the dive, and SEALs plan their dive profile for the day dive. The day dive takes place from about 10:00 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m., at which time you return to the team to post-dive the dive rig, then set it up again for the night dive. You re-prepare all of your gear, plan the night's dive, then cut out for a couple of hours rest and much needed food. You return to the team at 6:00 p.m., for another dive brief, make final preparations and depart for the night dive at 7:30 p.m. Insertion at 8:00 p.m. and dive until completion at about midnight. Then it is back to the team to post-dive the rigs and cleanup your gear. Finally, you de-brief the dive and go home for five hours of much needed sleep before doing it all over again the next day. Needless to say, divers don't have the energy to PT much during Combat Swimmer; however, some might say that swimming six to eight thousand yards underwater, often against the current, qualifies as exercise!

Land Warfare training occurs again out at Niland or Camp A.P. Hill (sometimes at a different location like Camp Roberts in CA., if the teams want a change of scenery). This starts with the basics, once again, in small unit tactics and builds to Full Mission Profiles conducted in a simulated combat environment. 

This training is as close to a 24-hour a day work schedule that you can get (besides being on a submarine). Training begins immediately after breakfast at 6:00 a.m., and it continues until about 12:00 or 1:00 a.m. the following morning. There are breaks for lunch and dinner – and, if it gets above 105 degrees during the day, the platoon will seek shelter in the classroom for some academic classes.

The platoon will shoot thousands and thousands of rounds during this training and will blow up more demolitions than you could imagine. Immediate Action Drills are again a favorite of the SEALs and are the most intense portion of the training. Navy SEAL tactics cannot be discussed in this publication, due to their sensitive nature and to protect the troops; suffice it to say that SEAL IADs are unique and have been said to mislead an enemy force into believing that they are up against a whole company (100 men) of Army GIs. There are some great books on the market by Vietnam era SEAL vets. Darryl Young's ‘The Element Of Surprise’ is excellent as is Dick Couch's SEAL Team ONE. See the Navy SEAL Books section of this publication for a quick look at the other good ‘been there, done that’ SEAL books. 

Land Warfare training ends with a week long Field Training Exercise where the platoon is put in semi-isolation in a simulated combat environment. Each squad will conduct several independent missions - usually a special reconnaissance, stand-off weapons direct action raid, body snatch, point ambush or combat search and rescue (CSAR-downed pilot rescue). The platoon combines to conduct a platoon-size direct action mission, which is supported by helicopter assets, Desert Patrol Vehicle (only if a Desert Platoon), and incorporates much of the training accomplished during the Land Warfare phase of training. This mission is very comprehensive and, if the platoon is detected by the training cadre, they are ‘contacted’ with enemy fire from which they must utilize the fire and maneuver Immediate Action Drills learned during training and evade the pursuing force.

Most SEALs say that this training is a great learning experience and superb conditioning for combat. It provides the platoon with the foundation from which to conduct the remaining year and one half (or so) of training. Some other training highlights are Jungle Warfare Training in Central America. In Navy SEAL lore, these jungles are said to be a living nightmare. The Army lost a man training there a couple of years ago - just flat out disappeared. Man-eating crocodiles and poisonous sea snakes are just two of your bedfellows as you patrol through the rivers and streams deep within the dense jungle foliage. The platoon learns the value of a pump action shotgun to clear foliage when contacted – especially if you can't see your target and he may be only a few feet from the platoon.

Jungle hammocks are mandatory - ask anyone who has attempted to sleep on the jungle floor - yikes! Patrolling one klick (one thousand yards) can take hours, as the point man cuts his way through the bamboo and vines - humidity of 100 percent will probably send a constant stream of sweat down your back. This training emulates, in many ways, the environment of the Vietnam era that SEALs endured and thrived in. Operators from SEAL Team FOUR have also found this very valuable in their efforts fighting alongside the DEA and foreign nationals in the war against drugs.

SEAL Teams TWO and FIVE are responsible for regions of the world that are often blanketed in snow – so their platoons conduct extreme cold weather training and winter warfare training.

Usually conducted in Alaska, Montana, Upstate New York and Norway, the training covers cross country skiing, snowshoeing, winter orienteering and mountain warfare tactics, building snow caves and fire and maneuver tactics on skis and snow shoes. Winter survival and escape and evasion are particularly arduous skills to master, and the winter warfare platoons become quite adept at this unique form of warfare. The remaining Teams that do not require a winter warfare background still attend cold weather training and cold weather maritime operations in Alaska. This Naval Special Warfare Detachment has a seasoned training cadre. The cadre's sole purpose is to train each platoon in the requirements of conducting commando missions in a mountainous environment, where the platoon needs to rope in and traverse steep cliffs and ravines in cold weather.

Also, supported by a Special Boat Unit Twelve detachment of two Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBS), the platoons conduct long range maritime operations (over 60 mile open ocean transits in a Combat Rubber Raiding Craft, or CRRC) and the very high threat ‘over the beach’ crossing in a cold weather environment, while utilizing dry suits to preserve warmth. SEAL Team TWO platoons often conduct joint training exercises with their Norwegian and German counterparts in the mountains of Europe. These men are quite adept at winter warfare, but the U.S. Navy SEALs hold their own and excel when put to the test - as usual. 

Submarine Lock Out/Lock In (LO/LI) and Dry Deck Shelter Mass Swimmer Lock Out/Lock In (DDS MSLO/LI) are another insertion skill practiced by the SEAL platoon during training work-up. Imagine being on a fast attack submarine at hover 100 feet below the surface of the ocean. You enter the escape trunk for a ‘Lock-Out’ cycle with a 35 HP motor and some other SEAL gear. It's cold, it's dark and the escape trunk hatch closes while you ‘flood the trunk’ with water. With just your nose above the surface, you then pressurize the trunk to depth until the outer door cracks open. You take a deep breath and submerge to push the door all the way open to reveal the dark and vast ocean depths. Returning to the trunk, you signal that you are ready to send the motor and gear to the surface on the tethered line set up by the two SEALs who went out before you. The gear goes up - then so do you - blow and go to the surface to prepare for a long, cold CRRC transit to your unknown fate on the enemy shore. That is a small taste of what working off a submarine is like - and SEALs do a ton of it. Sending a platoon of frogmen out of a large Dry Deck Shelter at the same time is a more time effective and endurance saving method than the escape trunk method - but both are taught because the DDS equipped subs may not be available when required.

Soon the SDV teams will take delivery of the first Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS). The ASDS is the first dry submersible owned by the SEAL community. It has a Submariner pilot and SEAL navigator, and it can carry a SEAL squad of eight men. The submarine will have a relatively long range and high speed (these figures are classified) and can hover above a mother submarine or the bottom and send the combat swimmers out of the pressure chamber. The chamber is pressurized with a well similar to the Seaquest DSV TV series so the SEALs just slide into the water and swim out the bottom. This is hot stuff. You can bet that other services and government agencies (read CIA) are salivating and can't wait for their first free bus ride. 

Close Quarter Battle - this skill is a favorite and one in which Team guys take great pride in. Taking down a house room by room, or an airplane or bus in a hostage rescue, securing a vessel space by space after boarding from the sea or air - these all require an incredible amount of training and experience. Explosive Methods of Entry is a specialized skill taught in Close Quarter Battle training and other advanced courses. The focus is on room entry techniques utilizing MP-5 submachine guns, side arms and the CAR-15; mostly at night with MP-5 flashlight attachments, flash bangs (to stun any occupants). Technically, the regular Teams do not advertise target recognition in a room entry situation - everyone is expected to be a bad guy.

CQB is a valuable skill when performing the fine art of Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS). An at-sea terrorist situation may call for the ship to be boarded, while underway, and taken control of through force. This is a very dangerous proposition - as learned by the SEAL Team FIVE platoon in the movie Under Siege. A typical VBSS mission includes a platoon of SEALs, a follow on force like a Marine Maritime Special Purpose Force (MSPF) to secure the ship after taking control, an insertion helo (either a H-53 or H-46). The insert bird is escorted by two UH-1s or MH-60s for spotter and sniper support. The Assault force is launched under cover of darkness from an amphibious vessel or Aircraft Carrier. At the target vessel, the SEALs can beon the deck in less than 15 seconds to set security. The sniper helos take up position and relay information to the assault team leader. The platoon begins movement through the vessel toward the bridge, utilizing Close Quarter Battle skills. Once on the bridge, they will secure and stop the vessel and call in the follow on force to secure the ship. By this time, the bad guys should have been rounded up and hog-tied for interrogation. Just another easy day in the life of a Navy SEAL! A related mission, called shipboarding, has the platoon board a vessel at berth.

Mission Specific Training - Naval Special Warfare forces have five primary missions. These include Unconventional Warfare (UW) - which is basically behind the lines guerrilla warfare during times of conflict; Foreign Internal Defense (FID) - which includes the training of foreign nationals and relationship building during peacetime; Direct Action (DA) which involves any mission that a SEAL element may undergo against an enemy target including the use or potential use of force - these missions can consist of ambushes, stand off weapons attacks, hostage rescue, target assaults on maritime and land based targets, amongst others; Counter Terrorist (CT) - which is just what it sounds like and is the primary mission of DEVGRU; and finally Special Reconnaissance (SR) - which entails hydrographic reconnaissance and SDV Beach Feasibility studies, point and area recons, Indications and Warning missions and any other overt, covert or clandestine mission where the primary purpose is to gather information. Most SEAL platoon work-up time is spent training to hone skills, which are utilized regardless of the mission category - such as shooting, demo and insertion/extraction methods (diving, parachuting, SDV, patrolling, Desert Patrol Vehicle, skiing etc). 

However, there are more specialized skills that must be learned in order to effectively conduct the broad range of missions that fall under the five categories mentioned above. Therefore, SEALs attend most of the entire advanced individual training courses offered by the Teams and other Special Operations communities. Some of these include: SERE school, Diving Supervisor, Parachute Rigger, Army Ranger school, Naval Gunfire Support, Sniper school, Breacher, Submarine trunk operator (OJT), Emergency Medical Technician, H & K repair, Free fall School and Free fall Jumpmaster, Static Line Jumpmaster, Target Analysis, Intelligence Photography, Stinger Weapon School, Cooper/Shaw shooting school, Hand to Hand Combat Fighting Course (formerly SCARS) 40 hour operator and 300 hour instructor courses, NSW Communications school and Applied Explosive Techniques, and more. 

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