A Brief History of the US Navy SEALs
With the recent Somali pirate attack, Navy SEALs have been hailed as heroes, but how much do you know about them?
Unlike the Coast Guard, the Army’s Rangers, or the Air Force’s Pararescuemen, the Navy’s special operations division wasn’t established until the early 1960s when President John F. Kennedy established a small elite force for "Unconventional Warfare." SEALS, an acronym for "sea, air, and land", are highly trained for direct action strikes and clandestine missions all over the world.
Two teams were formed on each coast of the United States: Team One in California at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and Team Two in Virginia at the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek. Both teams were given unconventional training such as hand-to-hand combat, foreign languages, demolitions, and parachuting.
SEALS were also given the newest weapons available, such as the M16 assault rifle. After first undergoing SEAL Basic Indoctrination (SBI) training, they would enter platoon training. The teams’ first deployment was in March 1962 to South Vietnam. Their mission was to train Vietnamese commandos in the Army of the Republic in combat diving, demolitions, and guerrilla tactics.
After successfully completing that mission, SEALS were next used by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1963 for ambushing supply trains and capturing North Vietnamese officers in the Rung Sat Special Zone and around the Mekong Delta. However, until the SEALS began their own reconnaissance work, the missions had only minimal success. As the 1960s progressed, the SEALs became more proficient in guerrilla and anti-guerrilla methods of warfare.
Due to the camouflage paint the SEALs wore, the Viet Cong called them "the men with green faces." President Richard Nixon began his "plan of Vietnamization" in 1970, which would remove US soldiers from the Vietnam conflict, however SEAL operations continued.
Lieutenant Melvin Dry became the last SEAL killed in the Vietnam War on June 6, 1972.
Since the Vietnam War the SEALs have participated in operations such as Urgent Fury (Grenada 1983), Earnest Will (Persian Gulf 1987-1990), Just Cause (Panama 1989-1990), Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and many classified missions around the world.
Most recently, Navy SEALs were responsible for ending a hostage situation at sea. Three Somali pirates hijacked the container ship Maersk Alabama in April 2009. After naval authorities showed up, the pirates held an AK-47 to the back of the captain, Richard Phillips. When negotiations failed to diffuse the situation, SEAL sharpshooters simultaneously shot all three pirates in the head and saved Captain Phillips life.
For more information about the SEALs and other special forces, please visit http://www.specialforces.com/
Two teams were formed on each coast of the United States: Team One in California at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and Team Two in Virginia at the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek. Both teams were given unconventional training such as hand-to-hand combat, foreign languages, demolitions, and parachuting.
SEALS were also given the newest weapons available, such as the M16 assault rifle. After first undergoing SEAL Basic Indoctrination (SBI) training, they would enter platoon training. The teams’ first deployment was in March 1962 to South Vietnam. Their mission was to train Vietnamese commandos in the Army of the Republic in combat diving, demolitions, and guerrilla tactics.
After successfully completing that mission, SEALS were next used by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1963 for ambushing supply trains and capturing North Vietnamese officers in the Rung Sat Special Zone and around the Mekong Delta. However, until the SEALS began their own reconnaissance work, the missions had only minimal success. As the 1960s progressed, the SEALs became more proficient in guerrilla and anti-guerrilla methods of warfare.
Due to the camouflage paint the SEALs wore, the Viet Cong called them "the men with green faces." President Richard Nixon began his "plan of Vietnamization" in 1970, which would remove US soldiers from the Vietnam conflict, however SEAL operations continued.
Lieutenant Melvin Dry became the last SEAL killed in the Vietnam War on June 6, 1972.
Since the Vietnam War the SEALs have participated in operations such as Urgent Fury (Grenada 1983), Earnest Will (Persian Gulf 1987-1990), Just Cause (Panama 1989-1990), Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and many classified missions around the world.
Most recently, Navy SEALs were responsible for ending a hostage situation at sea. Three Somali pirates hijacked the container ship Maersk Alabama in April 2009. After naval authorities showed up, the pirates held an AK-47 to the back of the captain, Richard Phillips. When negotiations failed to diffuse the situation, SEAL sharpshooters simultaneously shot all three pirates in the head and saved Captain Phillips life.
For more information about the SEALs and other special forces, please visit http://www.specialforces.com/
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