Preparing for BUD/SEALs Training

Off Topic
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I couldn’t post this in War Room for some reason…

I want to become a Navy SEAL.
I am reasonably fit and am trying to be in the best shape possible for BUDS. I have been talking to a Navy recruiter but haven’t signed a contract yet. He doesn’t seem to know much about Navy Seals.

as far as my PRT goes:
28 y/o 6ft 170lbs

1.5 mile run 9:45min
1000m swim (i dont have access to a lap pool so i swim in a flume.
I don’t know the distance but i swim-sidestroke 20 min at a good speed 4 days a week)
pullups 35-45 in 2 min (depending on how hard I’ve been training)
pushups 100 in 2 min

I also have a few years of wilderness survival and tracking/counter-tracking training. Used to be an instructor at a Wilderness Survival school but left to become a musician. (not that it matters) I can hold my breath for up to 3 minutes relaxed and I am a descent marksman with a 9mm. I feel that I have what it takes as well as a burning desire to succeed.

Are there any SEALS or former seals on here that can give me some advice in preparing, enlisting tips, injury prevention tips, training tips, BUDS tips?

I would really appreciate it. You guys are my hero’s and I want to stand with the best.
Thank You

Justin

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on the uverse Military channel they had a series on a buds class.
Alot of people dropped,physical & mental fatigue.
Good to watch. Alot of swimming in pools underwater & in cold ocean water.
Fit generally means thinner,cold intolerance.
Alot of making it is mental.
Dr. Tim

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Crossfit Houston trains fairly regularly for this event. I am sure there are other branches/locations that do so also.

There are various videos on youtube of typical training preparation.

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Enlist and try and get the BUD/S guarantee deal. Seaman to SEAL I think it’s called. You have to do well on the PST. Really well.

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http://www.sealchallenge.navy.mil/

This is the official site and you find current info as well as contact info to the SEAL motivator.

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LMAO…there was never a program called seaman to SEAL. The divefarer program is most likely what you were referring to.

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Oh shit, I forgot. OP, look up ‘SEAL WARNING ORDER’ thats the official navy document on BUD/S prep.

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I’m reading ‘The Finishing School’ right now by Dick Couch which is about SEAL quals after Hell Week. He also wrote ‘The Warrior Elite’ about a BUDS class up to hell week. I highly recommend reading those books if you haven’t already to give you the best idea what you are up against.

You seem to have the physical conditioning down, now it will be the ‘mental toughness’ you will be tested on and the ability to be impervious to the cold which seems to be a huge part of it.

Good luck,

D

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[quote]amphibian wrote:
LMAO…there was never a program called seaman to SEAL. The divefarer program is most likely what you were referring to. [/quote]

well you know what I fucking meant. just like if you max the PFT you can go to Recon School guaranteed when you enlist, or something to that effect. unless they changed that in the last 3 years.

Side Note: were you in 1st BN, 1st Marines?

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“well you know what I fucking meant”…yeah and I was laughing at the picture I got in my mind from the phrasing. Just thought it was funny. The Nav did have the seaman to admiral program which was of course no less suggestive.

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[quote]Dedicated wrote:
I’m reading ‘The Finishing School’ right now by Dick Couch which is about SEAL quals after Hell Week. He also wrote ‘The Warrior Elite’ about a BUDS class up to hell week. I highly recommend reading those books if you haven’t already to give you the best idea what you are up against.

You seem to have the physical conditioning down, now it will be the ‘mental toughness’ you will be tested on and the ability to be impervious to the cold which seems to be a huge part of it.

Good luck,

D[/quote]

I just finished Warrior Elite and have read about 4 books in the last month on the subject. Ill look into “Finishing School”, thank you.

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[quote]Therizza wrote:
Oh shit, I forgot. OP, look up ‘SEAL WARNING ORDER’ thats the official navy document on BUD/S prep.

[/quote]

THANK YOU

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Got to specialtactics.com, it is a site dedicated to PJ/CCT. Yes, I know you are looking toward BUD/S, but check it out. Go to the site, look on the left side of the page as you scroll down, you will see a button for “Documents, Selection Packages, and Workouts”, click that, and then scroll down looking for ‘Bull’s “The Workout”’. It is an eight week program which incorporates weight lifting, calisthenics, running, rucking, and swimming all together. I used it to prep for SWCC training, and got into awesome shape. Then I went to SERE en route to SWCC(that’s how they used to do it), lost about 20 pounds, and lost all my conditioning.

Don’t worry about SERE, if you contract straight into BUD/S, you won’t have to go. Hell, most frogs never go to SERE.

Don’t know about you, but I do better when I have a program written out for me which has progression written into it, versus writing my own and trying to ‘progress as possible’. I also made some modifications to it, such as dropping the ‘30s’(shoulder raises to front, sides, and bent over raises), and substituting pullups in for lat pulldowns.

Good luck, and start working on the positive thinking/mental toughness thing. That’s what gets most guys. Take everything one day at a time: just focus on getting through THIS day, eating evening chow and getting back to your room. When you start thinking you still have X months left of this shit, that’s where the doubt starts to creep in. Just live in the now, and have fun with it. The instructors will hammer your ass, but if you pay attention, you should see a point(fairly early on) where you can joke around a little, which can lighten the mood and boost morale(this is key). I found during SWCC school that if I was trying to encourage other guys, I kind of forgot about my own pain for a bit. Be confident but not cocky, and show(by actions) that your not afraid of the instructors and/or a little pain. Every one of those instructors is looking at you and thinking ‘Would I want this guy in my platoon when the shit gets real?’.

And make sure and ask about the signing bonus for SEAL Challenge. Guys coming straight into SWCC were getting about $15K, so SEALs would get at least that much if not more.

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I believe the enlistment bonus is in the area of 40K, paid out over a year or so. You get a piece in boot camp, after hell week, BUD/S graduation?, and the last chunk after SQT when you get your trident.

Run, run, run and run some more. You run 6 miles a day to and from chow. That is not counting timed runs and conditioning runs. Focus on running and swimming. You are going to do push ups and pull ups until failure no matter if you can do 50 or 100 in a row. Stay strong and build up your muscle endurance, but if you can’t make run or swim times your ass is gone.

Lot of good info here: Navy SEALs | The Past, Present and Future of Unconventional Warfare

Good luck, put out, and maybe I will see you there…

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40g’s for a buds contract?

what happens if you fail buds and get processed into another branch of the navy? do you still get your money?

sounds fishy (GET IT!?) to me

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LOL I think the break down is something like:
Pass PST in boot camp - 1G
Make it through hell week - 1G
Get your trident - 38G

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[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
40g’s for a buds contract?

what happens if you fail buds and get processed into another branch of the navy? do you still get your money?

sounds fishy (GET IT!?) to me[/quote]

I’m Army EOD and a lot of guys jump on EOD if the fail buds. Since all the services go to the same EOD school, I met quite a few guys that were buds guys but didn’t make it for one reason or another. A lot of the failures were due to injuries which is something that you can’t really control. Mental toughness is what will get you through that selection. Good luck man.

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If your signing bonus is for BUDS, you won’t see a dime of it until you graduate BUDS AND SQT, and get your Trident. Same as for SWCC.

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Punchface, better hurry if you are already 28, that is the age cutoff for SEAL program entry. Less time for bootcamp, clock is ticking unless you can get a waiver. Also realize if you fail out of BUD/S you are still under contract to the Navy for however many years you enlisted for.

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[quote]b12sblue2002 wrote:
Punchface, better hurry if you are already 28, that is the age cutoff for SEAL program entry. Less time for bootcamp, clock is ticking unless you can get a waiver. Also realize if you fail out of BUD/S you are still under contract to the Navy for however many years you enlisted for. [/quote]

Yeah my buddy (current SEAL of 8 years) is gonna come into the recruiters office with me to make sure that i get things in order, so ill be enlisting next week or so.