SEAL

Hello,

I have aspirations to become a SEAL and I hope to attend the Naval Academy.

From talking to current midshipmen, I was told that during plebe year there are around 200 midshipmen that go to SEAL meetings and then the number trims down to around 20 midshipmen by senior year.

That being said, are there special programs that aspiring SEALs are put into?....or are they on their own in terms of fitness and preparing for selection/BUDs?

Also, what kind of GPA does it take to become a SEAL and does the major matter in selection?

Thank you for answering my questions!

I'm sorry for my lack of answers, but I do know two things. The past few years, the statistics for graduates going onto BUDS is about 20 to 25 each year, so you were right. Then concerning the GPA, there is no specific GPA you need to have. The Midshipman with the highest GPA upon graduating will have the first choice in what they want to do, then the second highest GPA will have the second choice, and so on. Since there are only so many spots open for SEALs/BUDS, I would recommend trying to have the highest GPA as possible because once the spots are gone, they're gone.

USNA does a BUD/S screener at some point. My friend was telling me Mids who wanna go SEALS Usually get weeded down through this screener.

Specifically, for the most recent Class of 2011, assignments are as follows:

A. 225 Navy Pilot
B. 58 Navy Flight Officers
C.179 Surface Warfare
D. 29 Surface Nukes
E. 15 Surface/EDO
F. 5 Surface/IPO
G. 3 SWO/Oceanographers
H. 3 SWO/Info Warfare
I. 3 SWO/Intel Warfare
J. 133 Subs (including 12 females ... a first for firsties!)
K. 30 SEALs
L. 14 Explosive Ordnance Disposal
M. 260 USMC
N. 9 Med Corps (Medical School)
O. 1 Dental School
P. 3 Supply Corps
Q. 2 Intelligence
R. 2 Information Warfare
S. 3 Oceanography
T. 6 Civil Engineering Corps
U. 1 U.S. Army
V. 1 U.S. Coast Guard
W. 1 U.S. Air Force

Indeed there is an ongoing "screening" process for SEALs at USNA that starts in youngster year (I think?), continues throughout the remaining years at the Academy, and culls the herd of prospects and ranks candidates. I THINK for 2011 there were 70-80 who indicated pref for SEALs with 30 being selected. A number of them failed to make a month at BUD/S, unfortunately. It is most challenging to say the very least.

While I'm speculating in light of bits of information and scuttlebutt, my understanding is that mediocre classroom performance is a major, primary deterrent to being selected.

The weeding out usually has a few stages and is usually self selecting:

-Plebe summer/year: A lot of guys show up thinking they know what fitness is, or being the baddest kid from their suburb. Consequently, they weed themselves out by realizing they either can't, or don't want to put the effort into, getting into the kind of shape necessary.* This is especially true with the swimming side of fitness.
Another separation around this time is guys who say they want to be SEALs just because its the hardest and most bad ass thing you can do from here, but don't really understand the mission or what makes SEALs different.

2/C Year: After PROTAMID, some guys decide they really want to be Marines/Fly/whatever, and so stop trying for SEALs. This is also when the screener happens. Usually like ~70-100 people sign up for the screener during a given year. Some people get intimidated before the screener even starts and drop, and then more drop during the screener. Those who complete it get ranked and the top ~50 or so get a SEAL cruise. It is virtually impossible to get SEALs without a SEAL cruise.

1/C Year: Mids get ranked on SEAL cruises. There's a mini-Hell Week, among other things, and so some guys decide that SEALs isn't for them. Probably around 40-50 (depending) put SEALs first at service selection. There's a very rigorous interview process; those guys get grilled. After the interviews, during which a bunch of SEAL officers and senior enlisted are brought in, they make the decision and the lucky few make the cut. 28 from my class are going SEALs, another 16 are going EOD, for which there is a really similar but separate process.

It seems, from looking at the list of guys from my class who got SEALs/EOD, GPA wasn't a huge factor. There's some academic rockstars in there, but there's also guys who I'm pretty sure are sub 3.0. The biggest things are physical and military performance.
Military performance is stuff like aptitude rankings, leadership positions, conduct offenses, etc. Honor offense=pretty much automatic no go for SEALs/EOD (or Marines, for that matter), and the same goes for some major conduct offenses. It seems (looking from the outside in, obviously) that there's not really any hard and fast rules here: if you, say, messed up and got a major conduct offense, you could still be in the running, but you better have stellar rankings and recommendations otherwise and destroy the PST. Similarly, if you beast the PST and have a 4.0 it might not matter if everyone in your company hates you and you've never had a leadership position.

The only official program that exists to prep mids for SEALs is VAST, which is exclusively for varsity athletes. While that may seem weird, it exists to give those guys the skills and fitness that they might not get otherwise. For example, a guy on the lacrosse team isn't otherwise going to find time to hit the pool, whereas an intramural warrior has piles of time to do so in addition to other workouts. There's always a SEAL officer on the Yard (right now I think there's two, but one is actually a JAG teaching in the law department), and sometimes they will lead workouts in the mornings that are open to all. Showing up at those workouts is a good idea, especially for plebes and youngsters who want to get a feel for where they need to be and start to get visible with the officers who might be choosing the SEAL selects.
Another, new, thing is the Special Operations Team but I'm not 100% sure what they do.
Some guys try out for the Combat Arms Team, which does lots of combat fitness type workouts and is seen as a good prep for Marines or SEALs. They have an intense vetting process though and you can only try out plebe year, so not getting in does not mean you can't get SEALs.

*For perspective, this is sort of off the top of my head but the PST scores you'd want are:
Run: sub 8:15
Push ups: 110+ (good ones)
Pull-ups: 20-25+
Sit-ups: 110+
Swim: sub 8:00

VAST - Varsity Athlete Special Warfare Training

reeker said:

Hello,

I have aspirations to become a SEAL and I hope to attend the Naval Academy.

From talking to current midshipmen, I was told that during plebe year there are around 200 midshipmen that go to SEAL meetings and then the number trims down to around 20 midshipmen by senior year.

That being said, are there special programs that aspiring SEALs are put into?....or are they on their own in terms of fitness and preparing for selection/BUDs?

Also, what kind of GPA does it take to become a SEAL and does the major matter in selection?

Thank you for answering my questions!

Click to expand...

If you look up the website www.iamthatman.com you will find out information about the training program.

Yes there are SEAL/SWCC meetings you can attend on a weekly basis - training varies from workouts to ocean swims to guest speakers from the Special Warfare community. You are always on your own to workout however, there are opportunities to work with the program as well. In addition there are times over holiday breaks to work out with the SEAL/SWCC community.

Major does not necessarily matter, but having the ability to learn and master large amounts of material in a short time does matter. You should strive to have the highest GPA possible in a major that you are interested in.

In the Fall or Spring of your 2nd Class (Junior) year you will have the opportunity to be screened for the SEAL program. If you do not have 20/20 vision, you will have an exam to see if you can have corrective surgery to be eligible for SEALs. There is a physical component of the screening and an interview.

Hope that gives you some information!

Thank you for all information!

Another training option at USNA for MIDNs interested in SEAL or Marine selection and who are not varsity athletes is the Infantry Skills Team. This is a ECA team that participates in contests like the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at West Point and ROTC Ranger Challenge. Very selective and difficult to make the cut - only three Plebes on the team this year. 1/Cs from the team tend to go SEAL, EOD and Marines. They currently have two females on the team as the competitions they attend typically require one women per team. The team usually trains twice a day and focuses on physical conditioning and combat skills.