United States Naval Special Warfare Command The United States Naval Special Warfare Command ( NAVSPECWARCOM ) , also known as NAVSOC or NSWC , was commissioned on April 16 , 1987 at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in San Diego , California . As the Naval component of United States Special Operations Command ; Naval Special Warfare Command provides vision , leadership , doctrinal guidance , resources and oversight to ensure component maritime special operations forces are ready to meet the operational requirements of combatant commanders . Background . Today ' s Naval Special Warfare operators can trace their origins to the Scouts and Raiders , Naval Combat Demolition Units , Office of Strategic Services Operational Swimmers , Underwater Demolition Teams , and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons of World War II . In the Vietnam era , the Navy drew most of its SEALs from the Underwater Demolition Teams ; from the early 1960s up until 1983 the SEAL Teams and UDTs coexisted . Navy SEALs typically traced their origin to the Scouts and Raiders while the Underwater Demolition Team s traced theirs to the Navy Combat Demolition Units ( the Navy drew its UDTs from NCDUs ) . However , in 1983 the Underwater Demolition Teams were merged with the SEAL Teams . This , in turn , merged their ancestry . While none of those early organizations have survived to present , their pioneering efforts in unconventional warfare are mirrored in the missions and professionalism of the present Naval Special Warfare warriors . To meet the need for a beach reconnaissance force , selected Army and Marine Corps personnel assembled at Amphibious Training Base Little Creek , Virginia , on 15 August 1942 to begin Amphibious Scouts and Raiders ( Joint ) training . The Scouts and Raiders mission was to identify and reconnoiter the objective beach , maintain a position on the designated beach prior to a landing and guide the assault waves to the landing beach . An extensive history of Naval Special Warfare , written by men who actually served in the various units , is available at the National Navy UDT - SEAL Museum website , with a matchless collection of artifacts from that era on display at the facility . World War II . By the time the United States became involved in World War II , Adolf Hitler and the Axis forces had control over a large portion of Europe , Asia and North Africa . If the Allied forces were to stand a chance , there would have to be several full - scale landings . The US Navy decided that to do the job right required sending in their own . They needed men to reconnoiter the landing beaches , take note of obstacles and defenses and ultimately guide the landing forces in . Later , during the war , the Army Engineers passed down demolition jobs to the US Navy . They were to clear any obstacles and / or defenses in the near shore area , beginning a tradition that continues today . Scouts & Raiders . The Navy Scouts and Raiders were created before the Navy Combat Demolition Units ( NCDUs ) . The Scouts and Raiders were first formed in September 1942 , nine months after the attack on Pearl Harbor , from the Observer Group , a joint Marine Corps - Army - Navy unit . The Observer Group was the first unit trained in amphibious reconnaissance . They trained in inflatable boat insertions from submarine s around the Chesapeake Bay and at the Amphibious Training Base ( ATB ) Little Creek in Virginia and in Fort Pierce , Florida . They were training for an intense clandestine mission in North Africa . With US Marines limited to the Pacific Theatre of Operations , the Observer Group was disbanded , with the Marine Corps counterpart forming the Amphib Recon Company ; the Army / Navy unit formed the Scouts and Raiders with the Army later leaving . The US Navy began the Scouts and Raiders to provide reconnaissance and raiding missions to support amphibious landings . The unit could conduct raids and sabotage missions from a pair of men to platoon sized operations . The unit continued its deployment to North Africa as planned , where they earned eight Navy Cross es . Robert Halperin , a former NFL football player and future Olympic medalist who landed his ship in complete darkness on the shore of French Morocco , located and marked landing beaches , guided assault troops to their targets , and captured two enemy officers , received a Presidential Citation and the Navy Cross . This was just the first of many war - time missions for the versatile Scouts and Raiders . First group . The first group included Phil H . Bucklew , the " Father of Naval Special Warfare , " after whom the Naval Special Warfare Center building is named . Commissioned in October 1942 , this group saw combat in November 1942 during Operation Torch , the first allied landings in Europe , on the North African coast . Scouts and Raiders also supported landings in Sicily , Salerno , Anzio , Normandy , and southern France . Second group . A second group of Scouts and Raiders , code - named Special Service Unit No . 1 , was established on 7 July 1943 , as a joint and combined operations force . The first mission , in September 1943 , was at Finschafen on New Guinea . Later operations were at Gasmata , Arawe , Cape Gloucester , and the East and South coast of New Britain , all without any loss of personnel . Conflicts arose over operational matters , and all non - Navy personnel were reassigned . The unit , renamed 7th Amphibious Scouts , received a new mission , to go ashore with the assault boats , buoy channels , erect markers for the incoming craft , handle casualties , take offshore soundings , blow up beach obstacles and maintain voice communications linking the troops ashore , incoming boats and nearby ships . The 7th Amphibious Scouts conducted operations in the Pacific for the duration of the conflict , participating in more than 40 landings . Scout landings were done at night during the new moon . The men were brought to a lagoon by submarine , and came ashore with rubber paddle boats . ( Goodyear invented inflatable rubber boats just for this purpose ) They would bury the boats in the sand and begin recon . Their mission was to clear the area prior to the main Naval landing which would then take over the island . They stayed from 3 days to as long as 7 days engaging in covert operations and ' taking no prisoners ' . They had learned martial arts ( judo ) and were armed with Thompson sub machine guns , sidearms and knives . The entire Navy Scouts program was strictly volunteer , since it was considered too dangerous to order men to do this job . When the island was secured , they would transmit code to the sub , which would pick them up the next night . A typical loss would be 12 men going in and 3 - 5 coming back alive . Sometimes only 1 would come back . Third group . The third Scout and Raiders organization deployed to fight with the Sino - American Cooperative Organization ( SACO ) in China . Admiral Ernest J . King ordered that 120 officers and 900 enlisted sailors be trained for " Amphibious Raider " at the Scout and Raider school at Fort Pierce , Florida in order to support this mission . They formed the core of what was envisioned as a " guerrilla amphibious organization of Americans and Chinese operating from coastal waters , lakes and rivers employing small steamboats and sampans . " Elements of the third Scouts and Raiders saw active service conducting surveys of the upper Yangtze River in the spring of 1945 and , disguised as coolie s , conducting a detailed three - month survey of the Chinese coast from Shanghai to Kitchioh Wan , near Hong Kong . The majority of the force remained garrisoned at Camp Knox in Calcutta , India . Naval Combat Demolition Units . In September 1942 , 17 Navy salvage personnel arrived at ATB Little Creek , Virginia for a one - week concentrated course on demolitions , explosive cable cutting and commando raiding techniques . The units were organised in a six man team of an officer , a petty officer and four seamen using a seven man LCRS inflatable boat to carry their explosives and gear . On 10 November 1942 , this first combat demolition unit succeeded in cutting a cable and net barrier across the Wadi Sebou River during Operation Torch in North Africa . Their actions enabled the to traverse the river and insert Army Rangers , who proceeded to capture the Port Lyautey aerodrome . Plans for a massive cross - channel invasion of Europe had begun and intelligence indicated that the Germans were placing extensive underwater obstacles on the beaches at Normandy . On 7 May 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Draper L . Kauffman , " The Father of Naval Combat Demolition , " was directed to set up a school and train people to eliminate obstacles on an enemy - held beach prior to an invasion . On 6 June 1943 , LCDR Kaufmann established Naval Combat Demolition Unit training at Fort Pierce . By April 1944 , a total of 34 NCDUs were deployed to England in preparation for Operation OVERLORD , the amphibious landing at Normandy . On 6 June 1944 , in the face of great adversity , the NCDUs at Omaha Beach managed to blow eight complete gaps and two partial gaps in the German defenses . The NCDUs suffered 31 killed and 60 wounded , a casualty rate of 52 % . Meanwhile , the NCDUs at Utah Beach met less intense enemy fire . They cleared of beach in two hours , another by the afternoon . Casualties at Utah Beach were significantly lighter with six killed and eleven wounded . During Operation OVERLORD , not a single demolitioneer was lost to improper handling of explosives . In August 1944 , NCDUs from Utah Beach participated in the landings in southern France , the last amphibious operation in the European Theater of Operations . NCDUs also operated in the Pacific theater . NCDU 2 , under LTjg Frank Kaine , after whom the Naval Special Warfare Command building is named , and NCDU 3 under LTjg Lloyd Anderson , formed the nucleus of six NCDUs that served with the Seventh Amphibious Force tasked with clearing boat channels after the landings from Biak to Borneo . OSS Operational Swimmers . Some of the earliest World War II predecessors of the SEALs were the Operational Swimmers of the Office of Strategic Services , or OSS . Many current SEAL missions were first assigned to them . OSS specialized in special operations , dropping operatives behind enemy lines to engage in organized guerrilla warfare as well as to gather information on such things as enemy resources and troop movements . British Combined Operations veteran LCDR Wooley , of the Royal Navy , was placed in charge of the OSS Maritime Unit in June 1943 . Their training started in November 1943 at Camp Pendleton , California , moved to Santa Catalina Island , California in January 1944 , and finally moved to the warmer waters of The Bahamas in March 1944 . Within the U . S . military , they pioneered flexible swimfin s and diving mask s , closed - circuit diving equipment ( under the direction of Dr . Chris Lambertsen ) , the use of Swimmer Delivery Vehicle s ( a type of submersible ) , and combat swimming and limpet mine attacks . In May 1944 , General Donovan , the head of the OSS , divided the unit into groups . He loaned Group 1 , under Lieutenant Arthur Chaote , Jr to Admiral Nimitz , as a way to introduce the OSS into the Pacific theater . They became part of UDT - 10 in July 1944 , with Lt . Commander Choate commanding the unit . Five OSS men participated in the very first UDT submarine operation with the in the Caroline Islands in August 1944 . Beach Jumpers . Beach Jumper Unit One was formed at the Amphibious Training Base at Camp Bradford , Virginia on 16 March 1943 for deception operations to simulate large scale amphibious raids and invasions . Underwater Demolition Teams . On 23 November 1943 , the U . S . Marine landing and subsequent battle at Tarawa Atoll emphasized the need for hydrographic reconnaissance and underwater demolition of obstacles prior to any amphibious landing . After Tarawa , 30 officers and 150 enlisted men were moved to the Waimānalo Amphibious Training Base to form the nucleus of a demolition training program . This group became Underwater Demolition Teams ( UDT ) ONE and TWO . The UDTs saw their first combat on 31 January 1944 , during Operation Flintlock in the Marshall Islands . FLINTLOCK became the real catalyst for the UDT training program in the Pacific Theater . In February 1944 , the Naval Combat Demolition Training and Experimental Base was established at Kīhei , Maui , next to the Amphibious Base at Kamaole . Eventually , 34 UDT teams were established . Wearing swim suits , fins , and dive masks on combat operations , these " Naked Warriors " saw action across the Pacific in every major amphibious landing including : Eniwetok , Saipan , Guam , Tinian , Angaur , Ulithi , Peleliu , Leyte , Lingayen Gulf , Zambales , Iwo Jima , Okinawa , Labuan , Brunei Bay , and on 4 July 1945 at Balikpapan on Borneo , which was the last UDT demolition operation of the war . The rapid demobilization at the conclusion of the war reduced the number of active duty UDTs to two on each coast with a complement of seven officers and 45 enlisted men each . The Korean War began on 25 June 1950 , when the North Korean army invaded South Korea . Beginning with a detachment of 11 personnel from UDT 3 , UDT participation expanded to three teams with a combined strength of 300 men . As part of the Special Operations Group , or SOG , UDTs successfully conducted demolition raids on railroad tunnels and bridges along the Korean coast . On 15 September 1950 , UDTs supported Operation Chromite , the amphibious landing at Incheon . UDT 1 and 3 provided personnel who went in ahead of the landing craft , scouting mud flats , marking low points in the channel , clearing fouled propellers , and searching for mines . Four UDT personnel acted as wave - guides for the Marine landing . In October 1950 , UDTs supported mine - clearing operations in Wonsan Harbor where frogmen would locate and mark mines for minesweepers . On 12 October 1950 , two U . S . minesweepers hit mines and sank . UDTs rescued 25 sailors . The next day , William Giannotti conducted the first U . S . combat operation using an " aqualung " when he dove on the . For the remainder of the war , UDTs conducted beach and river reconnaissance , infiltrated guerrillas behind the lines from sea , continued mine sweeping operations , and participated in Operation Fishnet , which severely damaged the North Korean ' s fishing capability . Navy SEALs & SWCC . Naval Special Warfare personnel comprise less than one percent of U . S . Navy personnel . SEAL and SWCC units operate across the spectrum of conflict and in operations other than war in a controlled manner ; their ability to provide real time intelligence and " eyes on target " , offer decision makers immediate options in the face of rapidly changing world crises . SEALs . SEALs are Special Operations Command ’ s force - of - choice to conduct small - unit maritime military operations which originate from , and return to a river , ocean , swamp , delta or coastline . This littoral capability is considered more important now than ever , as half the world ’ s infrastructure and population is located within one mile ( 1 . 6 km ) of an ocean or river . Responding to President John F . Kennedy ' s desire for the Services to develop an Unconventional Warfare ( UW ) capability , the US Navy established SEAL Team ONE and SEAL Team TWO in January 1962 . Formed entirely with personnel from Underwater Demolition Teams , the SEALs mission was to conduct counter guerrilla warfare and clandestine operations in maritime and riverine environments . Navy SEALs have distinguished themselves as an individually reliable , collectively disciplined and highly skilled maritime force . Because of the dangers inherent in NSW , prospective SEALs go through what is considered by many military experts to be the toughest training in the world . The intense physical and mental conditioning it takes to become a SEAL begins at Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL ( BUD / S ) training . SEAL candidates begin BUD / S training at the Naval Special Warfare Center , NAB Coronado , California . This six - month course of instruction focuses on physical conditioning , small boat handling , diving physics , basic diving techniques , land warfare , weapons , demolitions , communications , and reconnaissance . First Phase trains , develops , and assesses SEAL candidates in physical conditioning , water competency , teamwork , and mental tenacity . Second ( Diving ) Phase trains , develops , and qualifies SEAL candidates as competent basic combat swimmers . During this period , physical training continues and becomes even more intensive . Emphasis is placed on long distance underwater dives with the goal of training students to become basic combat divers , using swimming and diving techniques as a means of transportation from their launch point to their combat objective . This is a skill that separates SEALs from all other Special Operations forces . Third Phase trains , develops , and qualifies SEAL candidates in basic weapons , demolition , and small unit tactics . Third Phase concentrates on teaching land navigation , small - unit tactics , patrolling techniques , abseiling , marksmanship , and military explosives . The final three and a half weeks of Third Phase are spent at NALF San Clemente Island , where students apply all the techniques they have acquired during training . SDVTs . SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams ' historical roots began during WWII with the earliest human torpedo s to see use : Maiale , used by Italy ' s Decima Flottiglia MAS , and Chariots , used by British commando frogmen . Naval Special Warfare entered the wet sub mersible field in the 1960s when the Coastal Systems Center in Panama City , FL developed the Mark 7 , a free - flooding SDV of the type used today , and the first SDV to be used in the fleet . The Mark 8 and 9 followed in the late 1970s . Today ' s Mark 8 Mod 1 provides NSW with an unprecedented capability that combines the attributes of clandestine underwater mobility and the combat swimmer . The Advanced SEAL Delivery System ( ASDS ) program that would have provided NSW a new ( dry ) submersible for long range infiltration missions was abandoned in 2009 . SWCC . The exclusive mission of Special Warfare Combatant - craft Crewmen operators is to expertly drive and provide large - caliber gunfire support on specialized high - tech , high - speed , and low - profile Surface Combatant Craft to secretly infiltrate and exfiltrate Navy SEALs on Special Operations missions worldwide . These missions include direct action on land , sea , coastline or rivers ( such as strikes , captures , and ship take downs by Visit , Board , Search , and Seizure ) , special reconnaissance , coastal patrol and interdiction of suspect ships and surface craft , counter - terrorism operations , riverine warfare , deception operations , search and rescue operations , and foreign internal defense missions . Although SEALs and SWCC undergo different training programs , both are focused on special operations in maritime environments . The SWCC program includes extensive training on craft and weapons tactics , techniques , and procedures . Like SEALs , SWCC must show physical fitness , possess strong motivation , be combat focused , and maintain responsiveness in high stress situations . The SWCC designation is a relatively new Naval Special Warfare career path that is independent of the regular line Navy . Today ’ s Special Boat Teams have their origins in the PT boat s of WWII and the “ Brown Water ” naval force that was created in 1965 at the onset of the Vietnam War . Patrol Coastal and Patrol Torpedo ships are the ancestors of today ' s Cyclone class patrol ship s and Mark V Special Operations Craft . Structure . Naval Special Warfare Group 10 was established at Virginia Beach , Va . on May 25 , 2011 . Global War on Terror . NSW is committed to combating the global terrorist threats . In addition to being experts in special reconnaissance and direct action missions , the skill sets needed to combat terrorism ; NSW is postured to fight a dispersed enemy on their territory . NSW forces can operate from forward - deployed Navy ships , submarines and aviation mobility platforms as well as overseas bases and its own overseas units . War in Afghanistan . In response to the attacks on America 11 Sep 2001 , Naval Special Warfare forces put operators on the ground in Afghanistan in October . The first military flag officer to set foot in Afghanistan was a Navy SEAL , Rear Admiral Albert Calland , in charge of Special Operations Command Central ( SOCCENT ) , which was responsible for all special operations for Central Command . Additionally , a Navy SEAL captain commanded Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force ( CJSOTF ) South . Commonly referred to as Task Force K - Bar , the task force included Navy , Army , Air Force and Coalition Special Operations forces . During Operation Enduring Freedom , NSW forces carried out more than 75 special reconnaissance and direct action missions , destroying more than 500 , 000 pounds of explosives and weapons ; positively identifying enemy personnel and conducting Leadership Interdiction Operations in the search for terrorists trying to escape by seagoing vessels . Operation Red Wings , a counter insurgent mission in Kunar Province , Afghanistan , involved four Navy SEALs and took place on 28 June 2005 . The SEALs were on a mission to try to find a key Taliban leader . However , goat herders stumbled upon their hiding place and alerted local Taliban fighters , and they were subsequently surrounded by Taliban forces . The four SEALs requested back up after the Taliban had surrounded them . In the attempt to rescue the four SEALs on the ground a Boeing CH - 47 Chinook containing members of SEAL delivery team one and several Army “ Nightstalker ” pilots was shot down . This is the biggest single loss of life for Naval Special Warfare forces since World War II . A firefight ensued , killing three SEALs . The fourth , Marcus Luttrell , was protected by local villagers and later rescued by the US military . The team leader , SEAL Lieutenant Michael P . Murphy , was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor . SEAL Senior Chief Petty Officer Dan Healy was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat “ V ” for Valor , Purple Heart , and Afghanistan Campaign Medal , posthumously . Iraq War . Naval Special Warfare has played a significant role in Operation Iraqi Freedom , employing the largest number of SEALs and SWCC in its history . NSW forces were instrumental in numerous special reconnaissance and direct action missions including the securing of the southern oil infrastructures of the Al Faw peninsula and the off - shore gas and oil terminals ; the clearing of the Khawr Abd Allah and Khawr Az Zubayr waterways that enabled humanitarian aid to be delivered to the vital port city of Umm Qas r ; reconnaissance of the Shatt al - Arab waterway ; capture of high value targets , raids on suspected chemical , biological and radiological sites ; and the first POW rescue since WWII . Additionally , NSW is also fighting the war on terrorism in other global hot spots including the Philippines and the Horn of Africa . SEAL Petty Officer Second Class Michael A . Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Ramadi , Iraq . References . Much of this text in this article was taken from Official U . S . Navy SWCC web site which as a work of the U . S . Government is presumed to be a public domain resource .