page_title: United States Navy SEALs
section_title: Special warfare ratings
hierarchical_section_title: United States Navy SEALs / Navy SEAL teams and structures / Special warfare ratings
caption_attribution_description: English: SEALs in from the water.
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: The Special Warfare Operator rating (SO) and Special Warfare Boat Operator rating (SB), were established in 2006. Special Warfare Operators (SEALs) and Special Warfare Boat Operators (SWCCs) are no longer required to maintain the original rating they qualified in upon joining the Navy.
  The following ratings are specific to Navy SEALs:
caption: Navy SEALs training with MP5 submachine guns
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