JULY COURSE DEBRIEF
In 1984, after graduating BUD/S, my SEAL Basic Indoctrination Class was
eating breakfast before a big day on the range in the hot California desert.
Our instructor for Land Warfare walked into the galley for our morning brief
and announced to us that our classmate Todd H. had been killed last night.
We sat stunned.
Todd was a good friend of ours and slept in the bunk next to me in the
barracks.
Quickly, our instructor added, Get your shit, and be on the range in 15
minutes.
He slowly scanned the dumbfounded class and turned away leaving the chow hall
saying nothing else.
No remembrance, no day off, no consoling, no grief councilors. Nothing
Todd was dead and we have training to conduct.
Ill never forget how Hard I thought these guys were at that very
moment and I was one of them now. It wasnt a Slaughter House
Mentality, disrespectful, or being callus; it was a simple facing of the
facts. There was nothing we could do for Todd, so get out on the range; we have
training to conduct.
Youre asking, What the Hell is Shipley on about now?
Well, two things happened before Hell Night even started here Friday evening.
One guy quit 16 hours before we started training and left the property without
doing even a single push-up.
Another guy found out his childhood friend was killed 16 hours before we
started training and stayed.
Two very different guys, two very different attitudes.
Guess wholl make it through BUD/S?
Saturday began with cheerful smiles that were quickly smacked off faces with
the SEAL PFT Test. Everyone completed the test and learned much about what
needed worked on physically and how to swim a straight line.
Another first at Extreme SEAL, I witnessed the swim done using the backstroke.
No problem from me with him doing it, whatever it takes to complete the test,
and well work on his sidestroke technique during the week and tighten him
up.
The teambuilding nightmare soon began as the Cadre worked hard to teach the
class how to stop giving a shit.
Always look strong Quit making those f**k faces Straighten your backs
YOU HAVE TO STOP GIVING A SHIT ABOUT EVERYTHING EXCEPT COMPLETING THE EVOLUTION
YOURE DOING. THIS WILL END, EVERYTHING DOES
It works; they got it, and all began looking the part of determined Bad Asses.
Midnight though, will really test the lesson and wed see if they could
maintain the grit through many miserable hours.
We secured teambuilding after the Alphabet Challenge and they enjoyed a
well-deserved lunch.
I dont have much to do each day were not running the courses except
thinking shit up for the courses.
Working around the heat, wed keep them in the water more than other courses
and I dreamed up a super sneaky SEAL swimmer combat killer mission.
Tonights Mission:
1. Insert the Platoon by Combat Rubber Raiding Craft. (CRRC)
2. Launch Swimmer Scouts from the CRRCs a safe distance from the Target to
avoid detection.
3. Swimmer Scouts RECON area and signal Assault Force when safe to proceed.
4. Assault Force and Swimmer Scouts consolidate and Assault Target.
Sounds like great fun with valuable SEAL lessons and training for the Platoon.
For us, the Cadre, we are the f**king target for them and if all goes well,
well enjoy a major ass beating by the class.
Mad Dog and Bill the BUD/S Instructor worked hard teaching Over the Beach
missions to the guys. They were issued fins, UDT Lifejackets, and MP-5 sub
machine gun shapes for training. Bill taught them patrolling as they proceeded
to the lake. Once there, the guys tested flotation and learned to swim with a
weapon and fins in full cammies.
Launch the Swimmer Scouts, a pair designated to sneak in close and conduct a
RECON of the area. The Swimmer Scouts would signal the rest of the Platoon when
it was All Clear with a red-lens flashlight and the platoon would swim in
together and meet up with the Swimmer Scouts and quickly begin their Assault
before being compromised.
Not an easy task
That training was broken up by Chris teaching Hand2Hand to the guys during much
of the afternoon. Chris is a young SEAL, and wise beyond his years from his many
combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Soft spoken, he commands respect by
summing up his background in all of 30 seconds, Combat
I was asked by one of the guys What does that writing mean on Chriss
cammie pants? I replied, it says A+ NKDA, meaning his blood type is A+ and
he has No Known Drug Allergies.
Its if he is wounded and cant speak to the Doctors when evacuated. All
SEALs write that on their cammie pants and shirts.
Enough said Chris leaves again soon for another deployment.
The guys ate a kick-ass supper and enjoyed the Q and A with Bill and Chris.
Sitting around the Zodiac boats, they could ask anything they ever wanted to
know about SEALs and SEAL Team and Bill and Chris would answer it. BUD/S,
combat, training, rumors, anything, and always a big hit with the trainees.
That relaxing, pleasant, experience ended when Chris told them where the logs
were and to go and get them.
It was game time again
Log PT in BUD/S is where guys look into the deepest depths of their souls. Here
they are given a taste of that and its enough to appreciate what they have to
look forward to once in a BUD/S class in Coronado.
An hour into the snot-blowing log evolution, we secured it and began the
Camouflage and Concealment Training where the guys learned to properly apply
face-paint and the art of Stalking for the nights mission.
I worked with the two squad leaders planning the night mission, while the class
cammied their faces and prepped equipment. Lots of moving parts on this mission
and lots of things that could go wrong, this would be the most complex and
demanding mission ever attempted by a class here.
It was also the most dangerous.
The guys would be completely on their own. If anything went bad, theyd have
to deal with it themselves and had to count on each other while hoping, as a
team, that every man stayed in the game and switched on.
One guy could screw up the whole mission for everyone and endanger the others
by doping off.
They had a solid plan and I was the only instructor in on it. Bill, Mad Dog,
and Chris had no idea when they would come or from where. The code words the
Platoon would use could only be understood by them and myself as I monitored
their progress.
SEALs often use girls names and beers as code words. When a booger eater
hears or is monitoring our radio traffic and we send Budweiser or Nancy, they
have no idea what the Hell were talking about. Each code word means
something different, and a language only we can understand.
They launched the boats at 2230 and proceeded up the dark river. Awhile later,
I received the code word Pabst Blue Ribbon, and I knew they were safe, on
schedule, and exactly where they were.
The next code word they passed told me they could see the target and we were
being watched.
The third code word told me they had launched two swimmer scouts that would
swim the river and establish a secure location for the Platoon to swim to and
launch the assault.
A few civilians lounged around the target and were Out of Play for the
Platoon, but theyd get a scare when the Assault began and I received the
final code word Queen Latifah and the Assault was about to begin.
Even though I knew it was coming, I was as shocked as everyone else at the
speed when it happened as the guys covered open-ground quickly taking out Mad
Dog and Bill and ran down and captured Chris quickly.
Chris is nobody to mess around with and the platoon knew it. Their plan was
simple; OVERWHELM HIS ASS WITH NUMBERS
Chris told me before the mission he was planning on giving them a pounding as
they tried to capture him. I asked him afterwards why he didnt and he looked
at me like I had three heads. It was obvious that Chris realized that the better
part of valor was to comply, as there was a dozen Jacked Up Trainees Hell
bent on getting him and the only one going to get a pounding was Chris.
The guys were PUMPED UP. They had kicked major ass and did it with no help from
us. A dangerous, difficult mission, they set the standard HIGH for the September
Class and all other classes to follow.
Theyd set another high standard later that night and a record that is going
to be very tough to beat by any other class.
As with life in SEAL Team, their victory and jubilance was short lived. This
was Hell Night, and time for us to apply a few final lessons and snuff out any
joy and happiness they had worked so hard for.
Wed make a huge attempt to break them down to a level of misery few have
ever experienced.
Giving them the most painful night wed ever given any class to make up for
the lack of cold water took its toll and forced them to reach deep. The beating
was endless and the only break was the dance contest. The losers however, paid
dearly for their poor dancing performance while their classmates took turns
belting out favorites like Ill Make Love to You by Boyz 2 Men and I
Like Big Butts, to name a couple.
While painful for the losers, we all had a very big laugh
There always comes a point during Hell Night that the lesson has been learned
and anything else is just pointless torture and unnecessary. Guys ask me often
by phone and e-mail why dont you do a full Hell Week, why only 24-hours,
what good does that do?
They say they want more, they want a beating, they want to experience what
BUD/S Hell Week is like.
As anyone will attest that has been through a course here, No they dont,
24-hours is more than enough!
You only want to do SEAL Hell Week once, but there is nothing wrong with trying
a little of it first to see if the shoe fits and youre ready for the real
thing.
Id secure Hell Night if the class could beat the expected time of 30-minutes
back to the Cabin, but I required a time of 27-minutes or wed do more Log PT.
I asked though, if they thought they could do better than 27-minutes and they
said they could.
24-minutes they replied, even knowing the beating theyd receive for failing.
Theyd had it tough, with total muscle failure many times during the long day
and night and I doubted they had even the slightest chance as the record was
just over 25 minutes with a past class and these guys were really whooped.
23 minutes and 48 seconds later I secured Hell Night for the newest record
holding Bad Asses at Extreme SEAL.
With a belly full of sausages and eggs, my future SEALs jumped from the Helo
into the North West River and swam to shore with huge shit-eating grins and
crashed hard in the Cabin getting a well deserved sleep a short time later.
Hell Night was over, but the week was still young.
Platoon and Advanced training would test them again with long days and nights
finding out what makes a Navy SEAL
The boys rolled out of their racks around 1500 on Sunday after Hell Night and got Land Nav classes and a trip to 7/11 for a sugar fix. Free time in the pool after that, they watched a movie and crashed in the Cabin. Theyd need it, as Chris would show up early and pound them with a BUD/S style PT in the morning.
Oversleeping started the day off rough for the class, but that was immediately corrected and gear was issued for the week and PT began. Chris showed them how to do the exercises correctly, and all had a wake up call to areas they needed to work on, ensuring they had a fighting chance in BUD/S.
Prepping them for the Land Nav course, my final instructions after warning them of Copperheads and Rattlers, was to look for one of the SOG Knives lost by the last class during the course.
A needle in a haystack, one of the guys found it along the course.
After a kickin lunch, Don showed up to teach Free Fall jumping at the Cabin and Mad Dog and myself took the young guys on a recon of the Targets for tomorrow night Hit.
The targets are tough ones, and the Airsoft Team that the class goes up against, are no slackers. We have hit them in almost every conceivable direction and method, and constantly think up new ways to screw them; the young guns began to plot a new strategy to whoop some ass.
Working close with them, we developed the strangest method so far as the movie Troy played in the background in the Cabin. The Trojan Horse!
I called one of the head Airsoft guys and asked, Do you mind being a rat, fink, snitch, or stoolie? Would you mind turning sides on your buddies and screwing all your friends? Would you risk your reputation and the trust youve worked so hard for to help us and betray your Team?
He answered: Oh Hell yeah, what do you want me to do?
Show up at 1800 tomorrow, and well set you up, I replied.
After supper, we broke out the Airsoft weapons and let the guys shoot each other for an hour. Funny stuff, the weapons BBs really sting when one hits you, and the guys always enjoy getting a little payback at each other. Great training and fun, but I emphasize they are weapons and not toys. Peppering someone at an unsafe distance or screwing around with them is NOT tolerated, and Id stomp someones ass for doing it.
Mad Dog took them on a night patrol at sunset, and the reaction is always the same with each class when they return. It aint nothing like the movies!
Patrolling at night is a SEAL hallmark as most everything we do is done at night. Its tough and unglamorous, but moving around in the dark as an element makes the class feel like SEAL s and gives a powerful lesson of what life is like in the Teams.
Tuesday morning brought Mad Dog for his Danger Crossing PT. Jim teaches BUD/S songs while running, stopping often for push-ups and ab work, and teaches the guys how to safely get across roads and not be detected while doing it.
When the guys returned, we began survival training and mission prep for tonights targets.
The day was spent prepping gear, planning the two missions, making assignments, and rehearsals. Two Zodiacs were loaded on the trailer, and two brand new engines with fuel loaded in the insertion vehicle. Magazines loaded, weapons were test fired, camouflage paint applied to faces, and last minute checks conducted.
All we needed now was an ice cream sundae to relax the guys. Diane and Fallon provided that, before a couple days of the guys reaching deep inside themselves, to properly execute the Hits and survive without bringing in any food and water in the deep swamps.
Airsoft Bill showed up and we briefed the mission.
Something always goes wrong during a mission, and I always hope something will so the guys can see how to deal with it. Having a wheel fall off the trailer loaded with boats just before insert was not what I had in mind, but it happened and wed have to quickly deal with it.
We raced to another large boat and trailer we have, and with everyone around the monster, we somehow lifted the boat off and un-assed the other boats and switched trailers. We were set now and a lesson on improvising was learned as we attached the trailer to the insertion vehicle.
Not quite
The ball didnt fit from the new trailer hitch and wed be late if something didnt happen fast.
Leave it to Mad Dogs One is none, Two is one mentality, as he somehow dug out a long lost ball hitch that would match and they were quickly switched and the insertion was underway on time.
The plan was for Bill to use his truck as a Trojan Horse. Hed take the five young guys to the target in the back. Two would be dropped off at the entrance and move into a position where they could support the Assault Teams coming in by Zodiac and ambush some bad guys. Two others would stay concealed in the truck until the brawl began where theyd emerge and take up positions.
The last guy with Bill, the youngest in the class, would walk straight into the belly of the beast and be introduced to all the bad guys as a new member of the Team and a neighbor of Bills. Hed shake hands and socialize with his new friends, and theyd assign him an area to guard on the Target when we came in.
When the Assault began, hed shoot as many of them as he could, before they figured out they had been f**ked over by us again
At a predetermined time, Mad Dogs and my engines were pulled to life and we hauled ass to the Target. I usually land unopposed in a dark section of the target, but not tonight as we began taking fire immediately from concealed positions.
We took some hits, but my guys finally routed them out and began to look for other friendlies that were spread in groups around the target and soon it became a mop up operation taking the last enemy positions and the Target was secured.
All the good and bad guys got together for a few laughs, and my young guys regaled the Trojan Horse success with each of them taking out a few bad guys before being brought down themselves. It was a great plan, but like all the plans before them, it would never work again, and wed have to think up a new one for the next class.
We loaded the boats and began a long ride up the River to the survival area. Once there, the guys strung hammocks in the dark and we prepared to take the next Target 2000 meters away.
Its a tough target, but the plan is simple You have no food, so sneak onto a farm and steal some
Just dont get caught doing it
We had much rain early in the week, and the hump was a bitch. Knee-deep water in many places along the dark route, with thick vegetation and jagged bushes were plentiful slowing the patrol.
It was Wednesday morning at 0200 when we arrived.
The guys moved into position and had snuck past the Peacocks somehow. Security was set at predetermined positions around the property and a group entered the chicken pens and began grabbing a few birds for breakfast when a flashlight began scanning the property from the farmers house and everyone froze.
Everyone except the chickens
From the bedroom window, a barrel of a shotgun protruded and began firing as the guys yelled for him to GET THE F**K BACK.
As shots continued to ring out, most guys would have run. Not these guys though. Their security was tight and they grabbed a few chickens and quietly moved out of the area.
Quietly, until a few of them fell in a water filled ditch, making the racket of a marching band and still clinging to their chickens.
Back 2000 meters to the survival area, they flopped in their hammocks at 0400.
Loud and proud, I woke them up a few hours later by belting out Oh What a Beautiful Morning, as they scratched insect bites and put on wet socks and boots.
Fires were started, water was boiled, chicken plucked, and menus planned for how to best cook the meal.
Around noon, we feasted on the first food anyone had in 20 hours.
The water purification pumps quickly clogged in the muddy river and water was strained through some cloth and iodine tablets added as the temperatures rose and the humidity drained the class of sweat soaked bad asses.
It was silly hot
They had to get through the rest of the day and find some food as we loaded the Zodiacs and began setting fishing lines from low hanging branches on the river.
A few hours later we checked the lines and pulled in a boat-load of catfish, bluegills, and bowfin for dinner and a great lesson on survival was learned and supper prepared as Mad Dog and myself left and returned with all the weapons and ammo for Thursdays shootathon.
Mad Dog taught a few BUD/S songs that I wont repeat here, and the guys attempted sleep as mosquitoes went to work on them throughout the night and Great Horned Owls screamed.
I began yelling for the guys to get packed up before first light, and as dawn broke, we began moving a short distance to the shooting area with weapons and ammo a plenty.
As with every class, today would have the most Hair on it. They were tired, hungry, and thirsty from a few tough days in the field, and the week itself had taken a toll.
If something bad was going to happen, it would be today from someone doping off as live fire demands respect and complacency kills.
It got hot, but the guys kept a game face and sucked it up. Their shooting dramatically improved as the day went on and we finished around 1300 with the long guns shooting balloons at a distance and we began to extract back to the Cabin as the guys licked their chapped lips with dry tongues needing water in a big way.
Diane had a big cooler waiting on us filled with ice and a drink made from fresh oranges and other witches brew designed to re-hydrate the class, as we sat in the shade for awhile and described (whined) how hard we had it for the past couple days to Diane who had heard it all before.
SEALs are not known for whining to each other, but when we get around our women and out of earshot of others, we whine like little girls about how tough it was seeking a little sympathy.
Having raised DJ and myself, and hearing it all before, Diane will listen patiently and gently tell us all to Shut the F**K Up!
The guys turned in gear and hit the pond for a swim and the showers then began cleaning up the mass of bites, scratches, and rashes that plagued each man.
We were up early Friday morning and headed for the dropzone.
The jumps went off without a hitch and all landed safely. We headed back to the Cabin and 1300 and cleaned up for the graduation party at 1800.
The Instructors began rolling in that helped during the week, and we burned some burgers and brats on the grill while the guys asked final questions all aspiring SEALs have. Chris, Jim The Sniper, Tom Black, and Mario showed to congratulate the guys on a tough week as did Patsy Dietz and others.
Patsy did her thing after chow and told the story of Danny being killed in Afghanistan, and the guys asked questions that Patsy answered in detail. We graduated them when she was done and the guys broke out the graduation cake and had Patsy sign copies of Lone Survivor and their certificates.
We broke up the party after a few guys asked Mad Dog to shave their heads; the hair would be donated to cancer victims.
I gage how hard the week was by how I felt after it was all over with each class. When we finished this week, I felt like shit and exhausted.
While getting the guys cold wasnt happening in July very easily, the heat did its number, along with the insects and Id say this class had it the worst of any class this year.
They were also the youngest class with the oldest guy being 21 and four who were just 16.
The guys were told at the beginning that pulling together, and acting like a Team, would result in making Mad Dog and myself work harder to keep the already fast moving training, moving faster, and wed accomplish much more during the week.
They did, and Jim and I got a workout keeping them entertained as promised.
With many of them looking toward a career in SEAL Team, we gave them the tools here to stand out better prepared for BUD/S, and a final word of encouragement came from Jim The Sniper during their graduation theyd all remember.
Jim simply said, Anyone can quit.