A SMALL AND LETHAL FORCE
The United States Navy SEAL Team is legendary for its prowess in modern warfare. SEALs are arguably the best-trained and most versatile combat forces in the world, yet any SEAL mission only involves a handful of personnel. Because of extreme training demands that are nothing short of excruciating, only the toughest men become SEALs.
Teamwork, perseverance and exceptional weapons knowledge make SEAL teams the most lethal combat forces operating today. SEAL training also pays off in low combat casualties. If anyone could sneak into hell, turn the heat way up, and glide out of the flames without losing their cool, it's a SEAL team.
The military landscape of the new millennium is complex. Superpowers have learned that international stability is the best bet for maintaining order, peace and power. Now terrorists, maniacal rogue states and sadistic warlords are the new threat to freedom. They care little for those under their boot and innocents are always used as shields.
As several powerful armies have found, massive demonstrations of military force may be counter-productive against small contingents of hostiles. This new enemy blends into non-combatant populations until the moment they inflict heavy casualties on innocent people. To answer this threat, small and highly effective forces such as the SEALs are vital.
Small though SEAL teams are, the unfortunate terrorist leader who suffers their military wrath may feel that he has just encountered a regiment. Brief, but explosive, armed aggression is a hallmark of the SEALs as is the clockwork timing that makes such attacks possible.
But despite a reputation for lethal and ferocious attacks, what makes a SEAL team a threat is silence. Stealthy interdiction is truly the art of any SEAL team. They may wash in with the waves, emerge from muddy river waters or drop into the hushed night from 30,000 feet. A terrorist may think he has the world cowering at his feet until his guards begin disappearing one-by-one and his power vanishes... quietly.
SEALs are unsung patriots. Many of their missions are highly classified and news of their heroism lives as they do... in the shadows. Now it's your turn. You just got the duty as the elite commander in charge of a four-man SEAL contingent. You will neutralize hostile threats in some of the most volatile regions on Earth.
Missions will include rescues, snatches of key enemies, intelligence gathering, ambushes and all-out assaults. Insertion into each operational area may include 30,000-foot HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) drops from aircraft, underwater incursions or Special Boat Squadron deliveries. The battleground may be a ship on the high seas, a jungle stronghold, a snow-shrouded hideout, or a desert cave fortress.
The finest military minds, intelligence and technology in modern warfare will support you on each mission. You are wired into voice communication with all primaries including your team and SOCOM (Special Operations COMmand) via satellite. Intelligence and threat assessment will be updated in real time throughout your missions.
As mission deployment looms, eyes narrow and adrenaline flows. But months of intense training, detailed mission preparation and total team confidence takes the edge off. It's not just bravery that makes a four-man Fire Team itch for action against a numerically superior force of brutal enemies. Your SEALS are experts at controlling the battlefield with teamwork, intelligence and a devastating offense. For the terrorist who wages war with fear, time just ran out.
NAVY SEAL HISTORY
Navy SEALs (Sea, Air, Land) take their name from the environments in and from which they operate. The trait that distinguishes Navy SEALs from all other military forces is that SEALs are maritime special operations forces, striking from and returning to, the sea.
However, as their name implies, they are also experts at land warfare and can use their skills far from the water. Most often operating in small tactical units, their mission areas include unconventional warfare, direct action, combating terrorism, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, counter-drug operations, personnel recovery and hydrographic reconnaissance.
SEALs can operate independently or integrate with other U.S. special operations forces or within U.S. Navy carrier battle groups and amphibious ready groups. With half of the world's industry and population located within one mile of an ocean or navigable river, Naval Special Warfare forces have a proud history of mastering these vital littoral regions.
Celebrating their 40-year anniversary in 2002, today's Navy SEALs (Sea-Air-Land) have evolved from a number of organizations, including the Scouts and Raiders, Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDU), Office of Strategic Services Operational Swimmers (OSS) and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT). While none of those early units have survived to present, their pioneering efforts in unconventional warfare are mirrored in the missions and professionalism of today's Navy SEALs.
The Scouts and Raiders, NCDUs and OSS were units developed throughout World War II to achieve various objectives. Whereas the Scouts and Raiders were designed 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, NCDU personnel were trained to utilize explosives to eliminate obstacles on enemy-held beaches prior to invasions.
Phil H. Bucklew, the "Father of Naval Special Warfare" was a member of the Scouts and Raiders, which saw combat in the first allied landings on the North African coast and supported landings in Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy, and southern France, as well as in the Pacific. Draper L. Kauffman, the "Father of Naval Combat Demolition," was the founder of the NCDUs and established training at Ft. Pierce, Fla., where the UDT-