THE DEED IS ALL - NOT THE GLORY

FAQ

SEAL SWCC FAQ

By: Naval Special Warfare
Posted: March 4, 2020


Related content:

  1. Naval Special Warfare Enlisted Community Manager
  2. Naval Special Warfare Officer Community Manager
  3. Find your Navy recruiter
  4. U.S. Navy undergraduate degree programs
  5. U.S. Navy graduate degree programs
  6. U.S. Special Operations Command
  7. U.S. Dept. of Defense Combatant Commands
  8. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency
  9. History of Naval Special Warfare

DAILY LIFE OF A SEAL OR SWCC

There is no typical "day at the office". Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) and Special Warfare Combat Crewman (SWCC) operators constantly learn, improve and refine their skills working with their teammates. Their office transcends international boundaries, the extremes of geography and the spectrum of conflict. A SWCC operator's day usually includes physical training to ensure they maintain peak fitness levels as well as whatever training and operations are required of their particular unit.

TIME WITH FAMILY

SWCC and SEAL operators spend a great deal of time training for war and deploying overseas. The training and operational tempo can be high, but operators do have room in their busy schedules for family time, including 30 days of leave per year.

DUTY STATIONS

SEALs are usually assigned to homeports at Naval Base Coronado, CA and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek/Fort Story, VA. Additional locations oversea are also available.

SWCC are assigned to Naval Base Coronado, CA and Little Creek/Fort Story, VA as well as Stennis, MS. Further assignments are applied per needs of the Navy, Special Operations Command, and Combatant Commanders.

PLATFORMS

SWCC operate a variety of small boats and craft, including the SOC-R (Special Operations Craft – Riverine), and three types of Combat Craft (Assault, Medium, and Heavy). SEALs employ the mini-submersible SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle) and CRRC (Combat Rubber Raiding Craft). SEALs also operate a variety of land-based ground mobility vehicles, including the armored HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle).

WEAPONS SYSTEMS

SEAL and SWCC operators are trained on a variety of small arms and heavy weapons, including pistols, rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket and missile launchers, grenades and explosives, but the most valuable weapons system is the operator.

SECURITY CLEARANCE

Both SWCC and SEAL operators are required to maintain a minimum security clearance of Secret. Background security investigations are conducted by agents of DCSA (Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency). The process may include a personal interview of the candidate, family members and contacts along with a questionnaire. A credit bureau report and criminal background investigation are part of the process. Felonies, high credit risk due to substantial debt, foreign contacts and other factors may pose a challenge to obtaining a clearance. Applicants may address questions to their recruiters or chain of command as appropriate.

APPLICATION/FLEET TRANSFER

See the steps on how to apply to become a SEAL or SWCC. For additional questions about how to become a SEAL or SWCC, see the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Enlisted Community Manager website or NSW Officer Community Manager website.

PAY AND BENEFITS

Navy SEAL and SWCC operators are paid twice a month and receive health care for themselves and family members, low-cost life insurance, and many other benefits. Bonuses and special pays may apply in addition to basic pay and allowances. The Navy offers financial assistance for College Loan repayment, Undergraduate Degree Programs and Graduate Degree Programs. These benefits allow each operator to contribute to their community, family and country. Here’s a quick summary:

  1. Starting pay of up to $60,000
  2. Bonuses for becoming qualified and for re-enlisting
  3. Possible repayment of college loans
  4. Extra pay for diving, parachuting and demolitions
  5. 30 days vacation per year
  6. Medical and dental benefits
  7. Retirement after 20 years
  8. Tax free pay in combat zones
  9. Tax free allowances for housing and food
  10. Access to military facilities

HISTORY

The Navy SEAL Teams and the Special Boat Teams trace their lineage to World War II.

IF YOU WANT A BOOK ABOUT LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE PAST

Gates of Fire

By: Steven Pressfield

Gates of Fire recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a perioikoi (free but non-citizen inhabitant of Sparta) born in Astakos, and one of only three Greek survivors of the battle.

Platoon Leader

By: James R. McDonough

Platoon Leader is a true story told by James R. McDonough, a Vietnam War veteran. The book takes place in and around a fort near a Vietnamese village in Binh Dinh province. It McDonough's retelling of his time in Vietnam.

Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations

By: Admiral William H. McRaven

Admiral William H. McRaven is a part of American military history, having been involved in some of the most famous missions in recent memory, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, and the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. This novel explores his leadership growth throughout his career.

Once an Eagle

By: Anton Myrer

1968 war novel by American author Anton Myrer. A #1 New York Times Bestseller, Once an Eagle has been a favorite of American military men and women since its writing.[1] The novel tells the story of Sam Damon, career Army officer, from his initial enlistment to his rise to general officer rank. Myrer wrote his novel to warn against ambition without principle and the military-industrial complex. Sam Damon and Courtney Massengale are the vehicles for this warning. Damon is an honorable soldier who rises in rank by success in field command. He is a soldier of character with his men's welfare in mind. Massengale has no honor and rises in rank through staff positions by cunning and political connections. He is driven by lust for power and cares nothing for the welfare of soldiers.

The Killer Angels

By: Michael Shaara

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fought for two conflicting dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty were also the casualties of war. Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece is unique, sweeping, unforgettable—the dramatic story of the battleground for America’s destiny.

Legacy

By: James Kerr

Dive deep into the heart of the world's most successful team, the New Zealand All Blacks, to help understand what it takes to bounce back from adversity and still reach the top.

Once Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

By: Nathaniel C. Fick

This biography of a Recon Marine unveils the process that makes Marine officers such legendary leaders through firsthand accounts of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Mission the Men and Me

By: Pete Blaber

Blaber highlights life and leadership lessons through accounts of his upbringing as a Delta commander and accounts of some of the most dangerous, controversial, and significant military and political events of our time.

Washington's Crossing

By: David Hackett Fischer

Fischer's narrative examines George Washington's leadership during the 1776 campaign of the American Revolutionary War, culminating with his crossing of the Delaware River and the subsequent critical campaign including the Battle of Trenton, the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, and the Battle of Princeton.

Team of Teams

By: General Stanley McChrystal

A manual for leaders looking to make their teams more adaptable, agile, and unified in the midst of change described through Gen. McChrystal’s experiences as the Joint Special Operations Task Force commander in Iraq.

SEAL of Honor

By: Gary Williams

Lt. Michael Patrick Murphy, a Navy SEAL, earned the Medal of Honor on 28 June 2005 for his bravery during a fierce fight with the Taliban in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan. The first to receive the nation's highest military honor for service in Afghanistan, Lt. Murphy was also the first naval officer to earn the medal since the Vietnam War, and the first SEAL to be honored posthumously. A young man of great character, he is the subject of Naval Special Warfare courses on character and leadership, and an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, naval base, school, post office, ball park, and hospital emergency room have been named in his honor.

IF YOU WANT A BOOK ABOUT THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP

The Legacy Builder: Five Foundational Principles That Work in Sports, Leadership, and Life

By: Rod Olson

This modern parable is for business leaders, coaches, and parents who know the challenge of motivating people while balancing the demands of life with integrity—and leaving a legacy that will last forever.

The Wisdom Lunch Warrior: Five Marks of a Mature Leader

By: Rod Olson

Olson outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to develop mature leaders who know how to coach and motivate in today’s world. Written with wit and pace, “The Wisdom Warrior” is an inspiring story that brings new importance to an old proverb “As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another.”

Turn Your Ship Around!: How to Manage Complexity without Getting Complicated

By: L. David Marquet; Heather Granader (Editor)

It’s time to manage complexity better. Employ these six simple rules to foster autonomy and cooperation and to effectively handle business complexity. As a result, you will improve productivity, innovate more, reengage your workforce, and seize opportunities to create competitive advantage.

Blink

By: Malcolm Gladwell

Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant-in the blink of an eye-that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work-in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

Outliers: The Story of Success

By: Malcolm Gladwell

What makes high-achievers different? Gladwell’s answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

IF YOU WANT A BOOK ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS AND THE FUTURE OF WARFARE

Insurgents, Raiders and Bandits: How Masters of Irregular Warfare Have Shaped Our World

By: John Arquilla

Insurgent, Raiders and Bandits explores the history of irregular warfare over the past 250 years through the lives and campaigns of the greatest masters of this mode of conflict. The book not only tells their stories, but shapes an alternate history of the world as seen through the eyes of those who made up for their small numbers with clever, unorthodox methods that often brought them victory. Their lesson for military affairs in our time must not be ignored.

The Black Flags

By: John Warrick

The Rise of ISIS is a 2015 non-fiction book by the American journalist Joby Warrick. The book traces the rise and spread of militant Islam behind the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Dancing on the Heads of Snakes

By: Victoria Clark

Yemen is the dark horse of the Middle East. Every so often it enters the headlines for one alarming reason or another—links with Al-Qaeda, kidnapped Westerners, explosive population growth—then sinks into obscurity again. But, as Victoria Clark argues in this riveting book, we ignore Yemen at our peril. The poorest state in the Arab world, it is still dominated by its tribal makeup and has become a perfect breeding ground for insurgent and terrorist movements.

Haunted by Chaos: China's Grand Strategy from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping

By: Sulmaan Wasif Khan

An objective analysis and unraveling of China’s grand strategy for the future including what lies at the root of Chinese power projection.

Ghost Fleet

By: P.W. Singer

The United States, China, and Russia eye each other across a twenty-first century version of the Cold War, which suddenly heats up at sea, on land, in the air, in outer space, and in cyberspace. The fighting involves everything from stealthy robotic–drone strikes to old warships from the navy’s “ghost fleet.” Fighter pilots unleash a Pearl Harbor–style attack; American veterans become low-tech insurgents; teenage hackers battle in digital playgrounds; Silicon Valley billionaires mobilize for cyber-war; and a serial killer carries out her own vendetta. Ultimately, victory will depend on blending the lessons of the past with the weapons of the future.