Posts Tagged ‘Navy SEALs’

This documentary, “Dishonorable Disclosures”, is very well done. And it’s getting a lot of traction out there. It was posted on YouTube on August 15, and already has more than 800,000 views as of today. Pass this video onto your friends and relatives. Every American should see this video.

Who the Hell Would Not Have Killed Bin Laden? It’s No-Brainer. But Obama Dithered for 16 Hours Over Whether to Give the Green Light to Let the SEALs Kill the Terrorist.

U.K. DAILY MAIL: Serving and former US Navy SEALs have slammed President Barack Obama for taking the credit for killing Osama bin Laden and accused him of using Special Forces operators as ‘ammunition’ for his re-election campaign.

The SEALs spoke out to MailOnline after the Obama campaign released an ad entitled ‘One Chance’.
In it President Bill Clinton is featured saying that Mr Obama took ‘the harder and the more honourable path’ in ordering that bin Laden be killed. The words ‘Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?’ are then displayed.
Besides the ad, the White House is marking the first anniversary of the SEAL Team Six raid that killed bin Laden inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan with a series of briefings and an NBC interview in the Situation Room designed to highlight the ‘gutsy call’ made by the President.

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DAILY CALLER: There has been a lot of speculation as to what the post-mortem photos of Osama bin Laden, that the Obama administration has refused to release, show. Member of Congress, however, are being allowed to view them at CIA Headquarters.

The first member of Congress to view them according to “Fox Report” anchor Shepard Smith was Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe. Inhofe appeared on Smith’s show and told him that the photos are “gruesome.”

“They are gruesome, of course, because it was taken right after the incident,” he said. “And so, of the 12, three of them were older pictures so that we could actually compare what he looked like when he had the black beard and what he looked like after he was killed. And that was part — the good way of making that presentation. Then they had some of his ear. Now, what had happened in those, I couldn’t tell whether the bullet went through the ear and out the eye cavity or through the eye and out the ear because a lot of brains were draped out from the socket. But it clearly — what we saw there was it was him. There is no question he was dead. But, the more revealing pictures really were the ones on the USS Vinson and the North Arabian Sea.”

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ERIC GREITENS-WALL STREET JOURNAL: At Camp Pendleton in California, where I
did my initial weapons training, we must have fired thousands of rounds at practice-range targets printed with the likeness of Osama bin Laden. To take the real shot, the one that brought down bin Laden, was the dream of every Navy SEAL.

The man who got that chance in Pakistan last weekend was a member of the SEAL community’s most elite unit. He and the others who descended on bin Laden’s lair would have put in relentless practice for weeks beforehand—assaulting mock compounds, discussing contingencies and planning every detail of the operation. Most of the men on that mission had dedicated the past decade of their lives to this fight, and they—and their families—had made great personal sacrifices.

Turning on my cellphone last Sunday, I got a text message with the incredible news: “OBL is dead. Hoo Yah!” Within minutes, a tidal wave of messages followed from fellow Navy SEALs and other military and nonmilitary friends. My own thoughts went back to James Suh and Matt Axelson (“Axe”), two members of my own SEAL training class. When Axe was pinned down by the Taliban in a firefight in Afghanistan in June 2005, Suh boarded a helicopter to fly in for a rescue mission. The helicopter was shot down that day and both men died. I thought to myself: Axe, Suh, they got him.

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What it takes to be a Navy SEAL

BUSINESS INSIDER: The military team that killed Osama Bin Laden is an elite special forces group unofficially called Seal Team 6.

Officially, the team’s name is classified and not available to the public, technically there is no team 6. A Tier-One counter-terrorism force similar to the Army’s elusive Delta group, Team 6′s mission rarely make it to paper much less the newspaper.

It shows how important the publicity about Bin Laden’s killing is to the U.S. that this morning, Team 6 is front-page news.

The members of Team 6 are all “black” operatives. They exist outside military protocol, engage in operations that are at the highest level of classification and often outside the boundaries of international law. To maintain plausible deniability in case they are caught, records of black operations are rarely, if ever, kept.

The development of SEAL Team 6 was in direct response to the 1980 attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Iran. The mission was a terrific failure that fell apart at many points and illustrated the need for a dedicated counter-terrorist team capable of operating with the utmost secrecy.

The Team was labeled 6 at the time to confuse Soviet intelligence about the number of SEAL teams in operation at the time. There were only two others.

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Point made!

These are photos of some of the dead terrorists at the scene where Osama bin Laden was shot dead in the head by the U.S. Navy SEALs. One was probably the courier who the CIA had been tracking for years, and who ultimately led the SEALs to bin Laden’s door step.

Barack Obama has decided not to release photos of dead Osama bin Laden, who probably looked a lot like this, or perhaps a bit worse.

 

STEVE SMITH-MILITARY.COM: Here is the physical fitness test for the Navy SEALS’ training program, known as BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs).

Are you up to it?

Navy SEAL Fitness Test Breakdown

Swim 500 Yards

Maximum time allowed is 12 minutes, 30 seconds — but to be competitive, you should swim the distance in at least 8 to 9 minutes, utilizing only the Combat Swimmer Stroke, sidestroke, or breast stroke. Recommended workout and training tips: Get technique training and learn to pace yourself. Try 5 to 10 sets of 100-yard swims, working on a pace that will get you below the competitive times. (Rest 10 minutes after swimming the 500 yard test before moving on to the next exercise.)

Push-ups

Minimum number is 42 in 2 minutes, but you should shoot for at least 100 for an average score. Do not pace yourself. Push as many push-ups out as fast as you can, but do not neglect proper form or the SEAL instructor will not count them. (Rest 2 minutes, then move on to the next exercise.)

Sit-ups

Minimum number is 52 in 2 minutes, but you should strive for at least 100 in 2 minutes for an average score. PACE yourself! Try doing 20 to 30 sit-ups in 30 seconds; that will put you within the 80-to-100-sit-ups range for 2 minutes. (Rest 2 minutes.)

Pull-ups

The minimum is eight pull-ups with no time limit, but you cannot touch the ground or let go of the bar. You should be able to do 15 to 20 to be competitive. Try a pyramid of pull-ups: work your way up from one pull-up the first set until you can no longer do any more sets, then return down the pyramid repeating in reverse order (1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1). (Rest 10 minutes before the last exercise of the test.)

1.5-mile run

Wearing boots and pants, the maximum time allowed for this one is 11 minutes, 30 seconds, but you should be able to cover the distance in 9 to 10 minutes to be competitive. Pace yourself: do not start off too fast on the first lap. Shoot for a 90-seconds quarter-mile run time around a standard high school track. Repeat this pace for six to 10 sets until you no longer have to rest in between quarter-miles.

One of the best workouts to assist increasing your scores in the PT and run is the following:

- 100 pull-ups in as few sets as possible Run 1/4 mile in 90 seconds in between sets of pull-ups

- 200 pushups in as few sets as possible Run 1/4 mile in 90 seconds in between sets of push-ups

- 300 sit-ups in as few sets as possible Run 1/4 mile in 90 seconds in between sets of sit-ups

This is a tough workout that can take 30-60 minutes to complete – if you can complete it.

There is very little difference in the type of person who joins the Army Green Berets, Marine RECON, Air Force Pararescue Jumpers, or Navy SEALs. There is one main thing that all of the Special Forces units have in common: Minimum standards are ignored, and they always push themselves to their maximum physical effort.

If you shoot for these minimums — you are destined to go to BUD/S and just TRY to survive each event of the day. That mentality will wear on you quickly and you will most likely quit or become injured from lack of training / overuse injuries.

Once again — you should go to BUD/S with high standards for yourself and COMPETE for the best scores of the class in several events. Do not go to BUD/S just wanting to survive the training!! You have to be more aggressive than that AND NOT let the mind games and verbal harassment of the instructors affect you negatively. You can only succeed by channeling any negative feedback from the instructors and turn it into a positive, self-fueling energy. You should think that nothing anyone will say will make you doubt yourself or your abilities. If you can do the above recommended standards you are more than half way to graduating. The next half of success is the internal drive and determination coupled with the understanding that you know you will be driven to discomfort most of the time.

Remember, the BUD/S PFT is a tough workout. As with any workout, if you know you are not up to it, do not try it. If you have doubts, consult your physician.

Official Site: SEAL Physical Screening Test Requirements

Related Navy Special Operations Articles:

- Navy SEAL Fitness Preparation
- How to Prepare for BUD/S
- Top Things to Know Before BUD/S
- Video: SEAL BUD/S Training
- Getting Fit for SEAL Training
- The Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness
- Joining Naval Special Operations
- Navy SWCC Fitness Training
- All Navy Special Operations Fitness

PT programs to train for the Navy PRT can be found at the following Military.com links:

- Pull-ups / Flexed Arm Hang
- Pushups and Sit-ups
- Running
- Swimming

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. If you are interested in starting a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle – check out the Military.com Fitness eBook store and the Stew Smith article archive at Military.com. To contact Stew with your comments and questions, e-mail him at stew@stewsmith.com.

 

MIKE MALLOY: “Five thousand Americans, tens of thousands permanently damaged and shot to pieces, a million Iraqis dead — that wasn’t bin Laden. That was George Bush. So when does Seal Unit 6, or whatever it’s called, drop in on George Bush?”

TOBY HARNDEN-U.K. TELEGRAPH: Since President Barack Obama announced that “a small team of Americans” had killed Osama bin Laden, US government officials have carefully stuck to the line that they will not talk about which units were involved.

Obama did not say it was the SEALs. In numerous television appearances, Obama’s counter-terrorism chief John Brennan didn’t and his deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough didn’t. Despite the numerous news reports that named the SEALs, none of the anonymous briefers from the CIA and Pentagon would confirm it.

Here’s a typical response to a question about the SEALs from a senior defence official in a Pentagon briefing on Monday:

QUESTION: Can I ask you, can you confirm that it was a (Navy) SEAL team? And was this a specially designated team that had been practising or reviewing intelligence for a while and they were the unit of choice?

SENIOR DEFENCE OFFICIAL:  Not going to comment on units or numbers.

But here’s what the legendarily verbose and loose-lipped Vice President Joe Biden said at a dinner at Washington’s Ritz Carlton Hotel last night to mark the 50th anniversary of the Atlantic Council:

Let me briefly acknowledge tonight’s distinguished honorees.  Admiral James Stavridis is a, is the real deal.  He can tell you more about and understands the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable capacity of his Navy SEALs and what they did last Sunday.

And:

Folks, I’d be remiss also if I didn’t say an extra word about the incredible events, extraordinary events of this past Sunday.  As Vice President of the United States, as an American, I was in absolute awe of the capacity and dedication of the entire team, both the intelligence community, the CIA, the SEALs.  It just was extraordinary.

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS: When one of Osama bin Laden’s most trusted aides picked up the phone last year, he unknowingly led U.S. pursuers to the doorstep of his boss, the world’s most wanted terrorist.

That phone call, recounted Monday by a U.S. official, ended a years-long search for bin Laden’s personal courier, the key break in a worldwide manhunt. The courier, in turn, led U.S. intelligence to a walled compound in northeast Pakistan, where a team of Navy SEALs shot bin Laden to death.

The violent final minutes were the culmination of years of intelligence work. Inside the CIA team hunting bin Laden, it always was clear that bin Laden’s vulnerability was his couriers. He was too smart to let al-Qaida foot soldiers, or even his senior commanders, know his hideout. But if he wanted to get his messages out, somebody had to carry them, someone bin Laden trusted with his life.

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