United States Navy SEALs - Selection and Training

Selection and Training

SEAL training is extremely rigorous, having a reputation as some of the toughest anywhere in the world. The drop out rate for BUD/S classes are sometimes over 90 percent. The average Navy SEAL spends over a year in a series of formal training environments 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.

All Navy SEALs must attend and graduate from their rating's 24-week "A" United States Navy SEAL selection and training course known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) school and then the 28-week SEAL Qualification Training (SQT) program. SQT qualifies all BUD/S graduates in basic SEAL skillsets in MAROPS, Combat Swimmer, Communications, TCCC, Close Quarters Combat, Land Warfare, Staticline/Freefall Parachute Operations, SERE and Combatives. All sailors entering the SEAL training pipeline with the Navy Hospital Corpsman rating or those chosen by Naval Special Warfare Command must also attend the 26 week Special Operations Combat Medic course and subsequently earn the NEC SO-5392 Naval Special Warfare Medic before joining an operational Team. Once outside the formal schooling environment SEALs entering a new Team at the beginning of an operational rotation can expect 18 months of Professional Development/Schools (PRODEV) and Troop unit level training (ULT) before each 6-month deployment. In total, from the time a prospective SEAL enters military service to the time he finishes his first predeployment training cycle, it can take over 30 months to completely train a Navy SEAL for his first deployment.