Coast Guard Graduates First Two SEALs

SamAca10

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http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/index.php/2010/05/coast-guard-graduates-first-two-seals/


[QUOTEWhile most everything else about Navy SEAL class 277 will look the same – haircuts, insignias, steely-eyed expressions – one thing will stand out at today’s graduation at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado … two U.S. Coast Guard tropical blue uniforms.

Two Coast Guardsmen will be joining this elite fraternity of warriors, marking the first time in the history of naval special warfare members from another military service have completed SEAL qualification training and been assigned to operational SEAL teams.

For more than a year and a half, these Coast Guardsmen endured what many consider to be the most difficult training available in the Armed Forces. This includes, among other things, training in combat diving, demolitions, marksmanship, patrolling, cold weather survival, land warfare and parachute operations.

The two members – whose names are being withheld for security reasons – attended training as part of an historic Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2008 by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Chief of Naval Operations, and U.S. Special Operations Command. The MOU is scheduled to last for the next seven years, with the option to extend indefinitely if both services find value in the arrangement.

The primary impetus behind the MOU is to contribute Coast Guard forces to the global war on terror. There are, however, secondary benefits to such an agreement.

It builds upon existing inter-service training opportunities between the nation’s sea services, and ‘operationalizes’ the national maritime strategy signed in 2007 by the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps. For the Coast Guard, it is also a valuable investment in the future – potentially providing counter-insurgency subject-matter experts to help develop counter-terrorism programs and training.

The newly commissioned SEALs will be assigned to operational SEAL teams for the next five years, where they will serve at least two operational tours before they have the option to return to the Coast Guard. This time will most likely include combat duty.

Three Coast Guardsmen are currently in the SEAL training pipeline. One recently completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) and has advanced on to more specialized aspects of SEAL training; one will begin BUD/S this month; and the third is preparing to begin training at the BUD/S preparatory school in Great Lakes, Michigan. The Coast Guard still has one seat yet to fill for 2010.

Those interested in applying for the Coast Guard SEAL accession program should click here to research the requirements. A message is released every spring by Personnel Service Command on the Coast Guard Message Board (CGMS) with details on how to apply.
[/QUOTE]

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It's an interesting program and it's a huge and impressive deal for the two Coasties who made it thru -as it is for everyone who has ever made it thru this unbelievably demanding course- but I don't understand how the Coast Guard benefits here at all??
The newly commissioned SEALs will be assigned to operational SEAL teams for the next five years, where they will serve at least two operational tours before they have the option to return to the Coast Guard.

These guys will be at the end of their obligated service before they even have the "option" of returning to the Coast Guard. There is no USCG special ops unit to return to (if they decide to come back at all)- nor are these officers slated to be the nucleus to organize or train one. At the end of their obligated service they might opt to return to the USCG? You can't build an organization around that so what gain does the Coast Guard get here? The USMC has Special Ops units that Marine Officers going thru SEAL training will return to and which conduct joint ops with operational SEAL Teams now so there is clear benefit to Marines doing this- but the USCG? It seems to me like they just gave away several junior officers and the return is?? In the meantime are SEAL qualified Navy officers now being assigned to USCG units? If not- its because the USCG really doesn't have an operational need itself for this expertise. It just seems like a weird agreement to have made on the USCGs part.:scratch:
 
While I'm not qualified to say what will happen, my guess is that the goal is to train USCG personnel in counterinsurgency. (i.e. for the Law Enforcement side of the Coast Guard). Coasties from both the Enlisted and Officer Corps are eligible to apply, from my knowledge.

As for the service obligation part....Maybe the contracted with the Coast Guard and Navy to serve these two tours and two years after? Hopefully LITS or Luigi will chime in.
 
At least two SEALS now have the power of arrest along with everything else.:biggrin: They can now place those pirates in custody rather than immediate termination.
 
Honestly, I am not sure what the Coast Guard truly gains from sending our people to the SEALs. If they wanted to be SEALS then they probably should have joined the Navy.

I am also not sure how much longer that program will last. I suspect not longer, but that's just me thinking outloud, and isn't based on any memos or official talk...

I know both of the guys. One I spent some time "correcting" as a swab. A lot happens in 4 years though. The other was my classmate.

I talked to one of them recently, and it does not sound like he will return to the Coast Guard. Who didn't see that coming? We spend a good deal of time training individuals, set them up to be in an elite group, give them interesting, dangerous missions, and then say "come back to a service that in general will not give you a SEAL mission."

It's like asking an astronaut to fly helicopters like everyone else once they're done flying the space shuttle.


So, what do we get out of it? I'm not sure.

I can say I'm very proud of our fine Coasties for this achievement, and that the entire Coast Guard was pulling for them. They always have a home back in the Coast Guard.
 
I talked to one of them recently, and it does not sound like he will return to the Coast Guard. Who didn't see that coming? We spend a good deal of time training individuals, set them up to be in an elite group, give them interesting, dangerous missions, and then say "come back to a service that in general will not give you a SEAL mission."

It's like asking an astronaut to fly helicopters like everyone else once they're done flying the space shuttle.

Very good analogy. Regardless- congratulations to them on succeeding in a very, very tough course.
 
I by no means suggest they haven't made a great accomplishment, but I think it may be more of a Washington moral boost hug fest than anything else. "See, we can work together and get along great" <followed by a round of hand shakes and man-hugs>. "We have water in common".

I think that the CG could benefit from a similar special ops group (albeit different with different focus). I'm not sure why though. I'll keep thinking about that some more. :rolleyes: gotta be some good reason. National security comes to mind but I'm not sure in what capacity.
 
Honestly, I am not sure what the Coast Guard truly gains from sending our people to the SEALs. If they wanted to be SEALS then they probably should have joined the Navy.

I agree. This is bizarre.

Kudos to the Coast Guardsmen for enduring the training, but I also don't see what the USCG gets out of it. If the guys wanted to be SEALs, I'm with LITS, they should have joined the Navy.
 
I agree. This is bizarre.

Kudos to the Coast Guardsmen for enduring the training, but I also don't see what the USCG gets out of it. If the guys wanted to be SEALs, I'm with LITS, they should have joined the Navy.

Statement of Rear Admiral Thomas F. Atkin, Commander, Coats Guard Deployable Operations Group - 15 Aug 2008

The Coast Guard will get a capability it does not have right now, he said. “We will get a great skill set and experience set from what they will learn,” the admiral said. “We think this program will bring a lot of experience back to the deployable operations group and the Coast Guard as a whole.”

The Coast Guard has “a military mission; we have a counterterrorism mission; we have an anti-terrorism mission; and we also have a mission to conduct high-end specialized law enforcement in the Caribbean, the Eastern Pacific and around the homeland,” Atkins said.

SEAL training provides the service with increased capabilities and more experience, and it also will help Coast Guard’s relationship with the Navy and the U.S. Special Operations Command.

The Navy also benefits from the Coast Guardsmen becoming SEALs, the admiral said.

“The Coast Guardsmen will bring their knowledge base on maritime operations, law enforcement operations, port security and homeland security to the SEAL teams,” Atkins said. “These are experiences these folks don’t have.”

The more diverse an operational group is, the better off it is, he said.

“It doesn’t mean the SEAL teams are going to conduct law enforcement operations, but understanding how law enforcement operations work and understanding the experiences a new person brings to the team will only make them better,” he said.
 
SEAL training provides the service with increased capabilities and more experience, and it also will help Coast Guard’s relationship with the Navy and the U.S. Special Operations Command.

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This seems pretty vague to me, but whatever. The Coast Guard senior leadership obviously sees some value in having USCG people go through SEAL training. I guess they'd know more about it than I would, so I defer to their expertise.
 
Statement of Rear Admiral Thomas F. Atkin, Commander, Coats Guard Deployable Operations Group - 15 Aug 2008

The Coast Guard will get a capability it does not have right now, he said. “We will get a great skill set and experience set from what they will learn,” the admiral said. “We think this program will bring a lot of experience back to the deployable operations group and the Coast Guard as a whole.”

The Coast Guard has “a military mission; we have a counterterrorism mission; we have an anti-terrorism mission; and we also have a mission to conduct high-end specialized law enforcement in the Caribbean, the Eastern Pacific and around the homeland,” Atkins said.

SEAL training provides the service with increased capabilities and more experience, and it also will help Coast Guard’s relationship with the Navy and the U.S. Special Operations Command.

The Navy also benefits from the Coast Guardsmen becoming SEALs, the admiral said.

“The Coast Guardsmen will bring their knowledge base on maritime operations, law enforcement operations, port security and homeland security to the SEAL teams,” Atkins said. “These are experiences these folks don’t have.”

The more diverse an operational group is, the better off it is, he said.

“It doesn’t mean the SEAL teams are going to conduct law enforcement operations, but understanding how law enforcement operations work and understanding the experiences a new person brings to the team will only make them better,” he said.


I understand the admiral's comment, and I too would believe this IF the Coast Guardsmen were REQUIRED to return to the Coast Guard after their time with the SEALs. At this time, they aren't. As the Coast Guard experiences some of the funding restrictions they are now experiencing, will the Coast Guard shift to its more traditional roles? As the Coast Guard cuts 5 MSSTs and considers further moves to fit within the budget presented to it, I'm not sure, personally, if SEAL training fits into that.

And while I understand the effort exerted to have a better relationship with the Navy and SOCOM, I don't see that effort being made both ways.

A guy I work with from the DOG believes some of the SEALs may be willing to return to the Coast Guard after their bodies feel the beating. The Coastie SEAL I talked to wasn't 100%, or even 50% up on returning to the Coast Guard.

Do you think USSOCOM is doing to tap those Coasties to understand how the Coast Guard works? No, one is a second tour JO and the other is a first tour JO, their CG experience is limited to ships.

USSOCOM already has a Captain liaison officer in Tampa.

At a recent conference a number of Army Special Forces demonstrated some hand to hand combat moves to a group of civilians. Their "take downs" were brutal and of course, needed on the battle field, even on compliant people. One of the civilians asked why the techniques weren't used by police forces. The soldiers said that they would love to see that.

Now, here's where I have a bit of an issue. I 100% believe the techniques they use are needed on the battle field. Their "compliant take downs" were 100% inappropriate for a civilian police force to use.

So if you have a Coastie who served with the SEALs now transitioning into a force that often interacts with U.S. civilians....commercial fishing fleets or a family out for a good time, that SEAL will have to tailor 100% of how they approach. Our MSST/MSRT guys already need to work on that. Because the MSST/MSRT is not a career path, they have to constantly work on that transition.

I look forward to seeing where the next Commandant, Adm. Papp, goes with this.
 
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