The Navy SEALs are a special forces unit who work covertly in enemy territory performing such operations as hostage rescue, reconnaissance, and destroying enemy weapons. These are only a few of the operations that the SEALs take part in. Much of the intelligence gathered by the U.S. is gathered by the Navy SEALs. These men who sprung from the Underwater Demolition Teams of WWII are the finest soldiers in the American Military. They have played their significant role in every war since WWII although they were called UDTs back then. The initiation process is so rigorous that most men drop out before even being accepted into the teams. Women are not yet eligible to be in the Navy SEALs, but there is a movement to change this rule. Many movies have been made on the intriguing topic of Navy SEALs, yet they remain mysterious. Most of what the SEALs do is classified and is not revealed until years later if it is revealed at all. SEALs must learn many skills during their training. For example, the breacher, the element of the team that actually penetrates the structure by any means possible, must learn to pick locks. This is one of the most difficult skills to learn because it involves being delicate while most other techniques involve something getting blown up.
Scouts and Raiders were the for-runners of today’s Navy SEALs. The first raiders began training in may of 1942. These teams paved the way on beach invasions for the allied forces. They led invasions such as Normandy, and the invasion of North Africa. During WWII, the need for unconventional warfare was rising due to the advancement of technology. At times, scouts and raiders would go ashore under the cover of night and collect soil samples to determine if allied tanks would be effective on the ground. They also acted as guides for the amphibious forces. One year before the invasion of Normandy, in 1943, Underwater Demolition Teams began training. Initiation to this training involved one intense week designed to separate the men from the boys. This week was and still is considered "Hell Week." The troops that were accepted into the Underwater Demolition Teams were trained to use explosives offensively. Their commander, Reserve Officer Draper L. Kauffman was trained to disarm explosives. Now He and his teams were learning to use them on the offensive end. One technique that the Underwater Demolition were trained to apply in the field was especially effective. This was to place 2.5 lb. packs of tetryl into rubber tubes, thus making 25 pound lengths of explosive tube that could be molded to fit the needs of the current mission. Six of Kauffman’s men were deployed in England to begin preparing to clear the beaches for the invasion of Normandy. The scouts and raiders also began their recon of the Normandy Coast. Scouts and Raiders spent weeks gathering information during nightly surveillance raids. The UDT’s constructed replicas of the huge steel gates that were placed in the surf line in order to practice demolition on them. The UDT’s strategy was to knock the gates down rather than ripping them to shreds that would be all over the beach making it very hard for troops to walk. After the UDT’s took out the gates, the tanks and troop carriers landed to take care of any remaining German bunkers or snipers. The tide pushed many of the demolition teams onto land before the other allied troops got there. They were the first ones on shore and many were killed by German mortars and machine guns. Out of the one hundred and seventy five UDT men sent to Omaha beach, 31 were killed and 60 were wounded. All the countries were developing teams of men with tactical skills as well as stealth. This new style of warfare contributed greatly in the winning of WWII. The combined efforts and successes of the navy’s Underwater Demolition Teams and Scouts and Raiders played an invaluable part in WWII.
The Korean War (or the forgotten war) was fought with mostly unconventional warfare. Many U.S. citizens did not know this at the time. It began in 1950 and ended in 1953. The Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) fought very bravely without much recognition. They employed many tactics learned during WWII. One of these tactics was attaching explosives to the bottom of an enemy boat and blasting large holes in the bottom so the boat would sink. They used water as cover and concealment as well as a method of insertion. On land, their main targets were bridges, tunnels, fishing nets, and other maritime coastal structures. They also trained South Koreans on the side of the Allies in the art of unconventional warfare, and seal teams today continue to train Koreans. UDT’s often accompanied South Korean commandos on raids of North Korea to destroy drain tunnels. This was a big step for the UDTs because they normally worked near the waterline. It was like leaving home for them. One of the most prominent missions in the Korean War was when the UDTs destroyed Korean fishing nets that supplied the North Korean army with tons of fish each year.
Vietnam, however, is where the SEALs gained the almost mythical reputation they hold today. Their legendary exploits and combat effectiveness caused them to be known and feared by the Viet Cong as "The Devils with Green Faces." They were said to "come out of nowhere." In March of 1961, the Chief of naval operations advised the establishment of guerrilla and counter-guerilla units. He stated that these units would be able to operate from sea, air, or land. These men were the first official Navy SEALs. Many of the SEALs were former UDTs. This is where the expression "Sons of UDT" comes from. The men in the SEAL Teams were trained in hand-to-hand combat, high altitude parachuting, safecracking, demolitions, lock-picking, and languages. The first standard issue machine gun that was given to the SEALs was the AR-15 assault rifle which has been modified over the years and is now called the m-16. The CIA began directing SEAL operations in 1963. These operations consisted of ambushing supply units, and locating and capturing North Vietnamese officers. Prisoner snatch operations took place in a matter of seconds leaving the enemy stunned and wondering what happened. They would have to do a role call just to find out who was missing. SEAL teams were usually seven men but sometimes were as small as three. The SEALs struck at the heart of enemy territory causing the Viet cong to feel threatened in a previously safe area. They used weapons ranging from the crossbow to the m-60 machine gun. Some SEALs moved barefoot through the brush so as not to leave a track. They had a kill ratio of 200:1. This means that for every 200 Viet Cong killed by the seals, only one seal was killed. From 1965 to 1972, there were 46 SEALs killed in the war. It is easily said that the seals did their share in that war.
Oftentimes, the public is curious about what the Special Forces of their military does. Of course the public can’t be given the details of this, but they can know some unclassified information about what weapons are used, training, and the general setup of the team. To satisfy this curiosity, movies are mad on the mysterious Navy SEALs. Movies such as "Navy SEALs" starring Charlie Sheen "The Rock" starring Sean Connery and "GI Jane" starring Demi Moore have been made with some accurate and some inaccurate information. The inaccurate information was placed in the movie to embellish the plot. In Navy SEALs, Charlie is seen as a reckless young SEAL. He is portrayed as sort of the "hero." He is basically a one man team and he tries to do everything himself. One time, he got one of his team members killed because of his antics. He was looking for a fight and fired his weapon to quickly. This alerted the enemy who outnumbered he and his teammate 3 to 2, and they managed to get a shot off and kill one of the SEALs before they were all killed. SEALs try to mainly escape and evade, not look for a fight. If they do not have to fight, they won’t. Such heroics never take place. The teams are trained to work as just that, a team. If one member exhibits reckless behavior in any way, he is immediately removed from the team. On the other hand, as far as accurate information goes, one of the weapons used in the movie is the Heckler and Koch MP5. SEALs today use this weapon as a standard issue for combat. This is a small submachine gun that can fire single shot, three shot burst, or full auto. Also, they mention briefly a member of the team called the pointman. He is the one that leads the team into battle. This is an accurate bit of information. In the rock, the SEALs are portrayed as a bumbling, ineffective squad of individuals rather than a team. They are also portrayed as rash and not careful. In this way, they are easily defeated by the men inside The Rock. The SEALs are anything but bumbling and they are always effective. They would easily be able to infiltrate and take over alcatraz in a matter of hours. "GI Jane" (click) demonstrates the training of the seals very well. Statistics mentioned in the movie are correct. One such statistic is the dropout rate for SEALs. There is a 60% dropout rate from the initiation process, and that’s before the candidates are even accepted to the teams. Once accepted into the teams, the men must choose which aspect of the team they wish to be.
An important member of the SEAL team is the breacher. The breacher undergoes special training for his particular responsibility. He gets the team into buildings using any method necessary. One method used to gain access to a building is picking the lock. This method is used when stealth is necessary. If the object of the mission is to penetrate a structure without being seen or heard, the breacher must use this painstaking, but silent method. This skill takes years to master and is even harder to apply in the field. Many things are involved in picking a lock. The most common lock is a cylinder lock. In the cylinder lock, the key turns the plug, which turns an attached cam. When the plug is turned one way, the cam pulls in on the bolt so that the door can be open. When the plug is turned the other way, the cam releases the bolt and the motion snaps it into place so that the door cannot be opened. In order to pick the lock, the breacher must be very adept at the skill of moving delicate pins up and down inside the lock. A tension wrench is inserted first, and then a pick. The purpose of the tension wrench is to apply pressure to the plug and turn it when the pins are lifted. The purpose of the pick is to lift the pins above the shear line. There are usually five pins in the lock. Each of these must be lifted to exactly the right point in order for the lock to move. Starting from the back, the picker must lift each pin above the shear line while applying pressure with the tension wrench. When the pin is lifted above the shear line, The lock should emit a small, barely audible click and if the correct pressure is applied, it should move slightly. Only when all five of the pins have been lifted to the correct place will the cylinder turn, release the cam, and slide the bolt back so the door can be opened. The most common method, however, is to blow the wall apart.
The sniper must oftentimes hit targets that are five or six hundred yards away. In order to do this to any degree of accuracy, the sniper must understand bullet trajectory. He must understand that from the moment the bullet leaves the gun, it is falling towards the ground. In order to compensate for this, the bore line must be raised so that the bullet, after being fired, actually takes on a parabolic shape and if calculated correctly, will hit the target. The bore line is the angle at which the weapon is fired. Here is an example of a problem. A bullet is fired from a rifle which is held 1.6 meters above the ground in a horizontal position. The initial speed of the bullet is 1100 m/s. We can use this information to find (A) the time it takes for the bullet to strike the ground and (B) the horizontal distance traveled by the bullet. (Then I will have a slide with an equation on it. The equation is on the back of this page. What is on the back of this page is pretty much what will be on the slide.) In order to determine the time it takes for the bullet to strike the ground, we use the formula Y=VoyT+1/2AyTsquared. Y represents the height of the gun above the ground. Voy represents the starting velocity of the bullet. T, our unknown variable in this problem, represents time. Ay represents the force of gravity. To solve for the time in the air we set y equal to –1.6 meters. This is because the bullet has to fall 1.6 meters in order to hit the ground. After we substitute the variables the equation ends up like this:
-1.6=0(T)+1/2(-9.8)Tsquared. The starting velocity of the bullet is zero, therefore the 0(T) is irrelevant. So it cancels and we’re left with
-1.6=1/2(9.8)Tsquared. One half of –9.8 is –4.9. So we now have –1.6=(-4.9)tsquared. Then we divide by –4.9. We are left with –1.6 over –4.9=Tsquared. We then take the square root of both sides and we’re left with t=.57ths of a second. Then to find the distance it travels we use a simple formula. Rate(time)=distance. The rate, as you remember, is 1100 meters per second. The time is .57ths of a second. When this math is done, the distance ends up being 628.57 meters.
The Navy SEALs have, and will continue to protect this country by gathering information, and destroying enemy targets to stop attacks before they start. Navy SEALs are a significant part in the war against terrorism. The knowledge that I leave you with today is only a small fraction of what the SEALs do. Most of what they do can only revealed to the SEALs themselves and other High Ranking government officials. But as you leave here today, I ask you to think about these brave men who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect this country, to protect you.
|
|
