U.S. Navy SEALs Training

Any place where there are currently U.S. troops, you'll find that SEALs are either there now or were there first. The role that Navy SEAL teams play revolves around getting in and out quickly and without being seen, gathering intelligence, destroying targets, and performing rescues, among other things.
U.S. Special Operations Forces, which includes elite commando forces from each branch of the military, such as the Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Green Berets, and others have become critical to many U.S. military successes over the past decade. Each branch of the military has its own specially trained teams that can operate in any situation and perform whatever task it takes to get the job done.
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 instructors see in future SEALs can't really be defined, they just call it "fire in the gut." You either have it or you don't.
In this article, you'll see how Navy SEALs operate and what they do, the amazing determination it takes to become a SEAL, the widely varied skills they need, and the types of equipment they use on missions.
About Navy SEALs
The SEAL acronym stands for Sea, Air, and Land, which identifies the elements in which they operate. SEALs work in small units -- often one to two men, but sometimes in a platoon comprised of up to 16. They are trained to perform specific tasks under any type of circumstance and in any environment. Their training takes place in the desert, the jungle, in extreme hot and cold weather, and in urban areas.
SEAL missions require detailed planning and precise execution. SEALs are trained to perform missions that fall into five main categories:
• Unconventional Warfare (UW) - Using guerilla warfare tactics in battle
Guerilla warfare is characterized by small, mobile combat groups that operate using often "unorthodox" battle methods like destroying enemy supplies, creating diversions, ambushing small enemy units, demolitions, and other "hit and run" types of operations.
• Foreign Internal Defense (FID) - Training given to foreign nationals in order to build relationships
During Operation Desert Storm, Navy SEALs trained 13 Kuwaiti operators in maritime infiltration techniques in order to set up a secret meeting with local resistance contacts within Iraq-occupied Kuwait City.
• Direct Action (DA) - Moving against an enemy target
This may include assaults on land- or water-based targets, hostage rescues, ambushes, etc.
• Counterterrorism (CT) - Includes direct action against terrorist operations, antiterrorist actions for preventing terrorist acts, and protecting citizens and troops
• Special Reconnaissance (SR) - Includes conducting preliminary surveys to gather information, manning observation posts, and other types of surveillance, both overt and covert, where the goal is to gather information.
This may include gathering hydrographic data (beach and water surveys) for landings or following an enemy unit and reporting its position.
When SEALs aren't deployed, they're in constant training, both to hone basic skills and to learn new skills and techniques that will make a difference when they are deployed.
The above categories overlap when it comes to actual missions, but these are the basis of SEAL training: to be expert in the skills required to perform these various tasks.

SEAL Stats
• Only about 25 percent of trainees make it through training to become SEALs.
• A SEAL has never been left behind on a mission.
• A SEAL has never been taken prisoner.
• There are currently about 2,290 active-duty SEALs.