BUDS
Basic Underwater Demolition School
NAVSPECWARCEN Coronado, California
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Hoo-YAH feels good - Hoo-YAH feels GREAT! |
Side-by-side, our arms linked, the snake-like row of men in green fatigues stood waist-deep in the murky water under the clear, midday sky. There was no emotion on any of the 24 faces - their chafed and battered bodies hurt too badly for that.
After four hours' sleep in five days, all the concentration they could muster was riveted on the man standing on the sea wall above them. Despite the fatigue, despite the pain, they stood poised to perform at his command.
The only sound was the lapping of wavelets against the wall. Suddenly, the man shouted: Sing 'Gilligan's Island'!
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It's Mind Over Matter Gentlemen - If I Don't
Mind - It Doesn't Matter! - A Favorite BUDS Instructor's Saying |
In perfect unison, but slightly flat, we sang: Now sit right down and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...; We droned on to a close: . . heeeere on Gilligan's liiiiisle.
Then silence fell again. Finally, the man spoke again:BUDS Class 147, secure from Hell Week!
We were stunned. We had done it. Slowly the grim-faced trainees let the emotion well up from their water-logged feet to their hollow eyes. Some cheered, some laughed, some cried. Those who couldn't climb out of the water were lifted out by born again classmates.
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The Only Easy Day Was
Yesterday! - A Famous BUDS Motto |
Hell Week is the highlight of Phase One, the physical conditioning phase of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. During the five-day whirlwind of non-stop action, you are pushed beyond what you thought your limits were.
During the first three weeks, is conditioning you for Hell Week. That's the toughest week at BUDS. They test their mental skills and physical conditioning, and They observe the student to see how much he can take.
From the mud flats of south San Diego Bay to the demolition pits at Camp Elliott to the punishing obstacle course within sight of the posh Hotel del Coronado, the would-be SEALs learn the value of cool-headedness, perseverance, and, above all, teamwork.
There were times when I didn't even want to move anymore, but the other guys had the spark that I needed:We held each other together. If somebody was losing his wind in the boat, someone else would take care of him and the other four would bring up the stroke.
| (Physical Training/Physical Torture) If you've ever been there, you'll swear it was torture. |
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Class 147 was only the third BUDS class to earn the no bell prize! So named because any student can ring a brass bell three times if he wants to quit.The class has to be really tight, with good leaders and good students, to win the 'no bell. In this class we had strong officers who the men looked up to a lot. That helped them pull through Hell Week without anybody quitting.
Officers and enlisted men go through the same training: except the officers get more respect. By this I mean , 'Yes, sir. No, sir. Sir, get wet. Sir, get down in the mud.
When there is a question of leadership, the instructors actually come down harder on the officer students. If you're in an emergency situation in a SEAL team, you want a guy who can react on a moment's notice with the right decision.
To an outsider, BUDS training in general and Hell Week in particular look like cruel punishment, but the students' mental and physical stress level is carefully calculated.
One confusing drill I went through; We thought they were playing head games with us.They kept blowing the whistle, we kept falling down every 30 yards, covering our ears, opening our mouths and crossing our legs.The class later learned that this position will help protect them from a nearby explosion.
"You're always wondering what they're going to do next.It keeps you so sharp that we just snap of their fingers and you're doing what you should.
Because we were taught how to react in all situations We could encounter as a SEAL, We trust the instructors not to hurt us. Crawling under the barbed wire in the demo pit with simulated charges going off and smoke everywhere, I thought how I could actually be doing this in some combat situation,You can't get up, you can't scream. You have to think of what you need to do to get out of that situation.
Thinking under pressure is a must for BUDS students. In Phase Two training; You don't necessarily have to tolerate a terrible amount of pain, but they have to be able to think through a problem, whether you're under stress or not.
All Hell Week students are checked daily by a corpsman.Your systems are pretty well stressed, so you're susceptible to infections.
The biggest danger to BUDS students is stress fractures. The corpsmen are always after us to come in right away if they feel anything, because if it's caught early it can be handled; A lot of these kids wait, because they don't want to start over again. They'll try to run on an injury and it'll get worse.
That kind of attitude will not get a student through BUDS. The instructors tell us, 'Rambo types don't make it.
The ideal BUDS student is between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-1, weighing from 150-190 pounds. He's got a medium build, and he's somebody who can just go and go and go.
The biggest difficulty is the mental aspect of BUDS - getting up the confidence to know you can make it through. If we see a guy whose confidence is wavering, we can pick it out right away. I think we ought to be psychologists sometimes.
| On Average, 70% of BUDS students choose to
ring-the-bell and drop out from training on their own. They are
then sent back to the fleet to finish their time with the Navy: It needs professional painters.
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The Phase One instructors use confidence builders:like 25-yard underwater swims.Once they do that, So your confidence starts building. If they can get them to do a 50-yard swim, and in most cases they can, yur confidence is way up again.
I'm getting it into my head that the limitations I used to carry were needless & Anybody can make it through here if they want to do it.
