“A wonderful, thought-provoking book by Dick Couch and a quick study of human personalities; his conclusions are optimistic and uplifting.” —Vice Admiral Jantes Stockdale (USN, Ret.), recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor “The Warrior Elite offers superb insight into the making of a Navy SEAL.” —Robert J Natter, Admiral, U.S Navy, Commander in Chief, U.S Atlantic Fleet “The Warrior Elite is a very accurate and authoritative look at basic SEAL training A must-read for any young man who wants to become a Navy SEAL.” —Rudy Boesch, MCPO (USN, Ret.), B UD/S Class 6, and Survivor contestant “An authentic voice that spells out what it takes to become a SEAL—the sheer grit to overcome all obstacles America is lucky that it continues to attract such men as these to serve.” —Theodore Roosevelt IV, BUD/S Class 36 “A story written of men's souls and the passion of deep personal challenge— an illuminating description of human endeavor Dick Couch has delivered the best accounting yet of the extraordinary young men I was so privileged to lead.” —Rear Admiral Ray Smith (USN, Ret.), BUD/S Class 54, and former commander, Naval Special Warfare Command To Mike “Doc” Thomas 1934-1999 Whiskey Platoon, SEAL Team One, 1970-1971 BUD/S Instructor, 1967-1969 Doc was our platoon corpsman; I was his platoon officer We went to Vietnam together and we all came home together Doc has gone on ahead; he now walks point for the old warriors in Whiskey Platoon This book is for Doc and for all those young men who enter BUD/S training with the dream of becoming a SEAL warrior ACKNOWLEDGMENTS he focus of this book is the training of Navy SEALs, America's elite maritime warriors This work is based on my interviews with Basic UDT/SEAL (BUD/S) trainees, BUD/S instructors, students and instructors in various advanced SEAL training programs, and SEALs preparing for operational deployment With two exceptions, the names have not been changed; the men you will meet in The Warrior Elite are Navy SEALs, SEAL trainees, and SEAL training cadres I was given full and unlimited access to the BUD/S and advanced training venues, and could speak freely with trainees and trainers alike My only restriction was that I respect classi ed information and organizations As a retired naval o cer who held a top-secret clearance, I could not otherwise SEAL training and the forging of warriors is a dynamic business Because SEALs continually try to nd better ways to things, SEAL training is a work in progress The Warrior Elite represents SEAL training at BUD/S and in the teams during the fall of 1999 and early 2000 I wish to thank all those in the Naval Special Warfare chain of command who gave their consent to, and cooperation in, the writing of this book BUD/S training, the advanced training regimens, and the SEAL and SDV teams are a closed society Reporters and TV journalists are occasionally allowed in, but they are politely shown only certain orchestrated events; the culture of the teams and their special brand of warrior training are kept well away from the public eye I was allowed to see it all, even though I was technically an outsider—a guy in civilian clothes with a notebook I may be an alumnus, but I am no longer an active warrior SEAL training is dangerous, so I had to be supervised and accounted for Therefore, I am particularly indebted to the BUD/S instructors and the advanced training cadres for graciously allowing me to roam so freely on their turf I want to thank Bob Mecoy, my editor at Crown, who came to me with the idea for this book To Pete Fornatale at Crown, who picked up the load when Bob left, you did a great job I also want to thank my wife, Julia, who patiently proofread my work and helped me through my second Hell Week And thanks to my collaborator and photographer, Cli Hollenbeck, who taught me that good pictures are as hard to produce as good words For those o cers and men in the Naval Special Warfare community who trusted me with your story, I can never thank you enough CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING CHAPTER TWO: FIRST PHASE CHAPTER THREE: THE WEEK CHAPTER FOUR: BEYOND THE WEEK CHAPTER FIVE: INTO THE SEA CHAPTER SIX: ACROSS THE LAND CHAPTER SEVEN: BEYOND THE BASICS EPILOGUE: A LOOK AHEAD POSTSCRIPT: CLASS 228 AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM APPENDIX PHOTOGRAPH CAPTIONS For Navy SEALs, water is a refuge, not an obstacle Trainees are taught to swim with both their arms and legs tied Push ‘em out! Instructor Reno and Class 228 at the edge of the surf HELL WEEK Chief Ken Taylor surf conditions—or surf tortures, depending on your point of view—Class 228 during Hell Week Water temperature: 60 degrees Jason Birch pulls while the other members of his boat crew push as they run their IBS through the O-course Cold, wet, and without sleep, a boat crew must perform as a team Class 228 does IBS sit-ups on the beach during Hell Week Even the strongest are challenged Clint Burke shows the strain on Thursday night of Hell Week as he arrives at the chow hall Note the bald spot on the top of his head from carrying the IBS Zack Shaffer waits by his IBS for the next surf passage race Zack Armstrong tucks into an MRE during Class 228's Hell Week This was Armstrong's second Hell Week Few men can once what he did twice Trial by mud Top to bottom, left to right: Will Koella, Harry Pell, Zack Shaffer, Zack Armstrong, Clint Burke, and Jason Birch—three officers, three enlisted men Wash down on the way to medical/hygiene inspection Faces visible from front to back: Brendan Dougherty, Bill Gallagher, and Clint Burke The price of days on the run with no sleep Here a trainee gets a foot lube after his medical inspection, then quickly goes back into Hell “You're secure!” The nineteen men from Class 228 who made it through to the end of Hell Week Those who didn't make it The green helmets from Class 228 and the BUD/S bell Each helmet represents a DOR—drop on request SECOND PHASE Dan Luna demonstrates that “the only easy day was yesterday” as an instructor leaves him in a leaning rest The weight belt and tanks weigh nearly 80 pounds Jocking-up in Second Phase Left to right: Zack Armstrong, Clint Burke, Pat Yost, Jason Birch, and John Green Jason Birch awaits his turn for pool comps in Second Phase Two Second Phase instructors attack Matt Jenkins during pool competency testing The trainees call it pool harassment The Wall of Shame These 228 trainees will get a second chance to pass pool competency If they fail, they will leave BUD/S This combat swimmer is geared up for a practice underwater ship attack wearing a Draeger LAR V Scuba Day and night, members of Class 228 dove the Draeger and made mock underwater ship attacks THIRD PHASE “You cannot just aim; you must hit.” Bob Ekoniak, A.K.A Instructor Ikon, coaches Bill Gallagher and Matt Jenkins at San Clemente Island on the use of the M-4 rifle Young warriors in the making: Adam Karaoguz and John Owens on San Clemente Island, ready for battle Note the boom mics from their waterproof Saber radios Even in Third Phase, the trainees still have to “push ‘em out.” Now, though, they're expected to drop for 50 push-ups Marc Luttrell (left) and Tyler Black are nearest the camera Matt Jenkins and Warren Conner carry two haversacks of C-4 to the beach They're about to load it onto submerged obstacles for the underwater beach shot Top left: Charges set, Eric Oehlerich, Casey Lewis, John Owens, and Adam Karaoguz emerge from the surf The det cord is for the backup electric firing assembly Bottom: Fire in the hole! Class 228's underwater shot goes high order Top right: Seaman Casey Lewis checks his equipment in preparation for Class 228's nal battle problem on San Clemente Island The men of Class 228 as they listen to their graduation address by Captain Dick Couch In a few minutes they will ring out of BUD/S and head for the teams Friends now! Adam Karaoguz and Class 228's First Phase proctor, Instructor Sean Mruk, on graduation day The last of the originals from Class 228 graduate Left to right: Sean Morrison (began with Class 227), Chris Baldwin, Grant Terpstra, and Miguel (Yanny) Yanez All graduated with Class 230 Copyright © 2001, 2003 by SEAL Productions Ltd Photographs copyright © 2001 by Cliff Hollenbeck All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher Published by Three Rivers Press, New York, New York Member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc www.randomhouse.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Couch, Dick, 1943– The warrior elite: the forging of SEAL class 228/by Dick Couch p cm United States Navy SEALs United States Navy—Commando troops— Training of I Title VG87.C68 2001 359.9’84—dc21 2001028368 eISBN: 978-0-307-56623-2 v3.0 ... accurate The radios usually work But what if they don't? Then, it's all about the men in the ght Are they true warriors? In the face of overwhelming odds, they have the training and the will... together The idea is that they will serve together during their military careers and should therefore train together, beginning with boot camp There are women attached to the SEAL teams, but they... the eld, they had a brief respite from their pursuers Yet their prospects were anything but good; they were outnumbered and they had no communications No one knew where they were or whether they