Most people understand that the Navy SEALs is an elite group that is known for completing some of the biggest missions in the history of the United States military. You have probably heard about the intense training that the SEALs go through, as well as the types of missions they are asked to complete on a regular basis.
However, there are details regarding the Navy SEALs that you may not be aware of. Below are five facts that may come as a surprise:
1. SEAL Team Six was started with fraud
Richard Marcinko was the original founder of SEAL Team Six. He numbered it at six because he wanted the Russians to think there were more of them than there really were at the time. In reality there were only three teams at that time.
Since everything they did was so secretive, Marcinko found several ways to fund the group. Not all of them were on the up and up and he ended up doing time in a Federal prison for defrauding the government. He did it for the greater good though and without those actions we may not have seen the success they have produced over the years.
2. Navy SEALs had a 200 to 1 kill ratio in Vietnam
It’s common knowledge that the Navy SEALs are very good at what they do. When they do fail it usually makes global headlines because something went terribly wrong. In the overall scheme of things though, they are very successful in their missions and the world doesn’t even know most of what goes on.
To give you an idea of how successful they are, during the Vietnam War, Teams One and Two combined for a 200 to 1 kill ratio. That’s 200 kills to every one man lost. That is an amazing success rate that only the best of the best can pull off. Unfortunately forty-six members did die during that war, but the number is far less than they dealt out.
3. Water boarding is no longer part of SEAL training
Water boarding is a form of torture that simulates a human drowning and it’s a very terrifying thing for anyone that has to endure it. There is a very good reason that many terrorists use it to seek out information from opposing forces.
It used to be a part of the normal SEAL training routine but they had to eliminate it eventually. The reason is that nobody could pass the training. It led to low morale amongst those that failed so it was eventually phased out.
Certain members of the CIA have endured the test and it’s reported that the person that lasted the longest only lasted for 14 seconds. The Navy has come up with other grueling tests to put its recruits through now. Drowning them wouldn’t be good for recruitment.
4. There is a nearly 80% washout rate of new recruits
To be the best of the best takes a very special individual. It’s an honor that not many have the opportunity to achieve but that doesn’t stop countless hopefuls from trying out for the specialty teams. Incoming recruits face 132 hours of intense physical training on land and in the water. They do it with very little sleep and they are put through intense testing of physical and mental toughness.
Obviously it’s not easy to get through and that’s what makes them so elite. In the beginning stages of the new recruit training there is a washout rate of nearly 80%. The remaining twenty percent continue on to find the best of the best. There is a reason there aren’t that many teams in action.
5. The operations are secret but the training isn’t
A Navy SEAL will never tell you where they are headed or what they are going to do. In a lot of cases they won’t even tell you where they have been or what they have done. Everything is top secret and the world just can’t know what’s going on. However, the training they go through isn’t so secretive.
The general public can go to Imperial Beach on Coronado in California and watch the SEAL recruits in action. Everything they do isn’t outside but those preparations that are can be watched by the general public if you go to the right beach at the right time.
6. There are 8 SEAL teams
The Navy Special Warfare (NSW) actually employs a total of eight SEAL teams. They are split into two different groups, Group One contains the odd numbered teams (1, 3, etc.) and Group Two contains the even numbered teams. The teams are all numbered from one to ten but don’t ask the government about Teams Six and Nine. According to them those teams don’t exist.
Now we all know they do indeed exist because Team Six is the one that took out Osama Bin Laden. However if you ask the government they will just tell you that they don’t know anything about them. Yes he died and the American Military was responsible for it, but exactly who carried it out is supposed to be a secret. Until they make a movie out of it anyway like lone survivor.
