page_title: United States Navy SEALs
section_title: Selection and training
hierarchical_section_title: United States Navy SEALs / Selection and training
caption_attribution_description: English: 120109-N-OT964- California (09 Jan. 2012) Navy SEALs conduct training on land and in water. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Martin L. Carey
context_page_description: The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting small-unit special operation missions in maritime, jungle, urban, arctic, mountainous, and desert environments. SEALs are primarily tasked with capturing or if necessary, eliminating high level targets, or gathering intelligence behind enemy lines for future military actions.
  As of 2020, all active SEALs are male and members of the U.S. Navy. The CIA's highly secretive and elite Special Operations Group recruits operators from SEAL Teams, with joint operations going back to the MACV-SOG during the Vietnam War. This cooperation still exists today, as evidenced by military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
context_section_description: Before getting accepted into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, a prospective candidate must pass a certain number of both mental and physical requirements. These tests include: Pre-enlistment medical screening, ASVAB, AFQT, C-SORT, and PST. Then, the candidate must get a SEAL contract by passing the SEAL Physical Screening Test: 500 yard swim in 12:30, 50 push-ups in 2 minutes, 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes, 10 consecutive pull-ups in 2 minutes, and a 1.5 mile run in 10:30. Candidates receiving a passing score may then be admitted into training to become Navy SEALs. SEAL training is extremely rigorous. The attrition rate fluctuates, but averages at about 80 percent. The average candidate spends over a year in a series of formal training courses before being awarded the Special Warfare Operator Naval Rating and the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) 5326 Combatant Swimmer (SEAL) or, in the case of commissioned naval officers, the designation Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer.
  Navy SEAL training pipeline:
  8-week Naval Recruit Training
  8-week Naval Special Warfare Prep School (Pre-BUD/S)
  3-Week BUD/S Orientation
  24-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training (BUD/S)
  5-week Parachute Jump School
  26-week SEAL Qualification Training (SQT)
  Upon graduation from SQT, trainees receive the U.S. Navy SEAL Trident, designating them as Navy SEALs. They are subsequently assigned to a SEAL Team or SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Team and begin 18-months of predeployment training before they are considered deployable. This training consists of:
  6-month Professional Development – Individual Specialty Training (ProDev)
  6-month Unit Level Training (ULT). ULT is unit training conducted by each Groups Training Detachment. Core unit training blocks are Air Operations, Land Warfare, Maritime, Urban and Special Reconnaissance.
  6-month Squadron Integration Training (SIT)
  Those enlisted SEALs with a medical rating will first attend the Special Operations Combat Medic Course for 6 months in Fort Bragg, North Carolina before joining a team in order to become a SEAL/Special Operator Corpsman. Those pursuing Officer positions first attend the Junior Officer Training Course (JOTC) to learn about operations planning and how to perform team briefings. In total it can take over 2.5 years to completely train a Navy SEAL for his first deployment.
caption: U.S. Navy SEALs conducting training with SCAR rifles.
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