Preparing for BUD/SEALs Training

Off Topic
21

[quote]formerfatboy wrote:
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…[/quote]

thank you for the link, and the advice. any suggestions on running/swimming distances and frequency? ive heard that I should have speed days and distance days for both.

22

[quote]boatguy wrote:
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.
[/quote]

I really appreciate the advice boatguy. ill check out the link

23

Funny. Today i did my first 4 mile beach run in soft sand. I passed 2 dead seals on the beach. One had been ripped in half by a shark?

Maybe “funny” isn’t the right word.

Then I did a 15 min swim in trunks. The ocean in NorCal is always freeking cold but if you look at is as an icebath, it could be a good recovery tool post run. I was totally numb after 5 minutes anyway so it wasn’t bad.

I appreciate all of the responses and links.

24

Check out www.stewsmith.com. Here’s an exerpt from the website about Stew: ‘Stewart â??Stewâ?? Smith is a former Navy Lieutenant SEAL who graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1991. After
almost eight years in the SEAL Teams and an instructor at the Naval Academy Physical Education Department, Stew resigned his
commission in 1999 to start his own fitness and freelance writing business.’ Stew’s got some programs specifically designed for BUD/S preparation.

25

Go Marine Force Recon, if you Fail BUDS the navy puts you were they need you. If you cant make it through Basic Recon Course you go into the infantry that will get you better prepaired for recon. Also navy bootcamp is not as tough as Marine Bootcamp, you might be in shape now but you need a bootcamp that will push you. In the long run you need to check all your options and talk to all branches, if the recruiter you talked to didn’t know much about the SEAL program that should raise your caution. As a former Marine Recruiter we have to learn about all programs the DOD has ie Rangers, Seals, Recon, ect. Also dont do it for the money you should do it for another reason, a lot of people see the dollar sign. What they dont see is the hours spent in a hole in the ground in the rain with no food or sleep. Good luck in what ever you choose to do, young men and women that decide to serve our country are too few.

                 Semper Fi
26

I’m not biased or anything but “f” the seals go recon. You want to be elite just be a grunt first. No movies no glory just be the rifleman that they said would be obsolete since mounted calvaryy (gengis khan). Yeah Really. I’m not gonna give you some website to search just some real experiences. I went to jump school with some seal pussys and they were really full of thenmselves. Go USMC infantry and if you feel worthy, go USMC Recon.

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glad to see Uncle Sams Misguided Children here

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Way to show your asses Marines.

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I have alot of marine buddies so I kinda understand where you are coming from. I teach wilderness survival and man-tracking and evasion at 29palms (scout snipers 2/7) and Marine officers at Pendalton. Honestly recon is very appealing to me, and the idea of getting injured at BUDS and getting stuck in a lame job for 4 years is pretty terrifying. But after talking to some SEALS it just sounds like that is the life that i want. I haven’t talked to any Recon guys yet.

Any Force Recon on here?

Thank you

30

I’d say go Marines man. If you get injured at BUD/S, that’s it, no second shot cuz of your age iirc. If you’re a Marine, hell, you are still an elite ground unit, regardless of Recon or not. You can do the guaranteed Recon deal too. Certain score on the pft, you contract and once you graduate bootcamp you go to Recon School. My buddy did it out of highschool, lucky bastard!

31

"I teach wilderness survival and man-tracking and evasion at 29palms (scout snipers 2/7) and Marine officers at Pendalton.

If you teach there, you’d think you could at least spell “Pendleton” as in Camp Pendleton. lol
I learned at least that much while I was stationed there.

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SO YOU WERE IN 1ST BN/1ST MARINES!

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[quote]amphibian wrote:
"I teach wilderness survival and man-tracking and evasion at 29palms (scout snipers 2/7) and Marine officers at Pendalton.

If you teach there, you’d think you could at least spell “Pendleton” as in Camp Pendleton. lol
I learned at least that much while I was stationed there.[/quote]

Your avatar is awesome. I was in Bravo 1/1, LAI @ 1st Recon Bn. All this from 87 to 93

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I was already a Reconnaissance Marine when I got stationed at Pendleton. I did deploy along with 1/1 on the 11th MEU though.

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OP, if you have a buddy who has been a SEAL for 8 years, I would probably start there for training advice. Talk to him and try to talk to some of his buddies in his platoon. They are the few that made it through and know more about what it takes than guys on here do.

Read boatguy’s articles on the site. He is/was SWCC. Good stuff about mental toughness.

36

“know more about what it takes than guys on here do.”

Yeah, I just train active duty Recon, SWCC, SEALs, Green Berets, and Rangers for a living on Fort Bragg. Anything I’d have to say after 24 years of active duty experience and 4 years in my current position couldn’t have any reality or worth.

Or maybe you’re just a dipshit.

37

Maybe I am a dipshit, but I meant no disrespect with that comment.

Point being his friend and friends’ buddies have been to BUD/S, made it through, and are active duty SEALs. They would know the most about BUD/S, SQT, the SEAL pipeline in general. Unless of course, you have gone through these schools. If you have, my apologies.

Thanks for all that you do as a Marine.

38

[quote]punchface wrote:
I have alot of marine buddies so I kinda understand where you are coming from. I teach wilderness survival and man-tracking and evasion at 29palms (scout snipers 2/7) and Marine officers at Pendalton. Honestly recon is very appealing to me, and the idea of getting injured at BUDS and getting stuck in a lame job for 4 years is pretty terrifying. But after talking to some SEALS it just sounds like that is the life that i want. I haven’t talked to any Recon guys yet.

Any Force Recon on here?

Thank you

[/quote]

I really wouldn’t go for SEALs at your age. Catch a cold right before BUDS and you’ll be sitting in a chair for 4 years, like you said.

Also, to kind of be a dick, what has made you want to join now? We started fighting right when you were the perfect age to be a grunt. Ever going to settle down?

39

To be blunt, just walk away. Fishing around on a body building website for advice on how to become a SEAL highlights the fact that you are entertained by the IDEA of committing to that profession, and feed off the responses you receive. Maybe it’ll motivate you to go to the gym, or go swimming, or run on the beach, or even spend some time with a recruiter- and you’ll get off on telling people you’re training for BUD/S for a few weeks/months. But in the end- you’ll just have to think of an excuse when the normal guy walking around asks you “Hey, what happened with that SEAL-thing you were training for?”

40

“Read boatguy’s articles on the site. He is/was SWCC. Good stuff about mental toughness.”

Not to turn this into a pissing contest, but why would you dismiss everyone else because they haven’t graduated BUDs and then recommend a guy in an occupation that doesn’t involve attending BUDS and frankly takes about the least amount of training, time and expertise in the SOF community?