United States Navy SEAL selection and training

The average member of the United States Navy's Sea, Air, Land Teams (SEALs) spends over a year in a series of formal training environments before being awarded the Special Warfare Operator Naval Rating and the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) 5326 Combatant Swimmer (SEAL) or, in the case of commissioned naval officers, the designation Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer. All Navy SEALs must attend and graduate from their rating's 24-week "A" School known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) school, a basic parachutist course and then the 26-week SEAL Qualification Training program.

All sailors entering the SEAL training pipeline with a medical rating or those chosen by Naval Special Warfare Command must also attend the 6-month Advanced Medical Training Course 18D and subsequently earn the NEC SO-5392 Naval Special Warfare Medic before joining an operational Team. Once outside the formal schooling environment SEALs entering a new Team at the beginning of an operational rotation can expect 18 months of training interspersed with leave and other time off before each 6-month deployment.

Entering training to become a Navy SEAL is voluntary, and officers and enlisted men train side-by-side. To volunteer, SEAL candidates must be between 18 and 29 years old, and US citizens in the U.S. Navy. Occasionally, personnel from foreign armed forces allied with the United States will also be invited to take part in BUDS training. For a period of two years, of an initial seven planned, members of Coast Guard were allowed to attend SEAL training until the exchange program was suspended in 2011. Waivers are available for 17-year-olds with parental permission and on a case-by-case basis for 29- and 30-year-olds. Academically, all applicants must have the equivalent of a high school education, have a composite score of at least 220 on the ASVAB and be proficient in all aspects of the English language. Medically, all potential applicants must have at least 20/75 vision, correctable to 20/20, be able to pass the SEAL Physical Screening Test and have no recent history of drug abuse. Lastly applicants must have "good moral character" as determined by his history of criminal convictions and civil citations.

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