by: Erasmo "Doc" Riojas        Email:       docrio

                        
UDT-22 in Artic                                                                                David F.  Godshall

Adm. Harward

Richard Marcinko

Zinke

Navy SEAL back to action 
49 when he re-enlisted in 2006; needed hip surgery By Jeanette Steele .May 2, 2010
Mike Carrol

Genesis of Navy SEALs

The Concept
By: Charles W. Sasser Date: September 7 , 2011 Special Contributor Credit: Navy SEAL and SWCC. 

Credit: Navy SEAL and SWCC. 

This is the first article in a three-part series from Charles Sasser, about the Genesis of the Navy SEALs. The second post is “Genesis of the Navy SEALs—The Early Years.” The third post is “Genesis of the Navy SEALS—Today.” 

Who do you call if, say, the most ruthless terrorist leader in the world needs his ticket punched? You call for a real breed apart, for men who are warned during BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL) training that “twenty five percent of you may not live until you’re thirty”—and they still take the job. 

How does America produce such men? 

Although World War II is looked upon as the start of the SEAL legend, the concept of waterborne commandos actually stretches back to at least Syracuse in ancient Sicily. Under siege by Athens in 414 B.C., Syracuse constructed palisades to impale enemy watercraft and dispatched swimmers to sabotage ships threatening the city. 

Tyre in present-day Lebanon used swimmers to cut the anchor ropes of enemy ships when Alexander the Great besieged it. 

Italians at the beginning of WWII were the first to actually deploy combat swimmers in modern times. They used swimmers with underwater breathing devices to sink three British ships at Gibraltar. 

Not that the United States lacked the capability for such operations. Even before Pearl Harbor, Americans had access to a remarkable self-contained underwater breathing system developed by Christian J. Lambertsen that permitted a swimmer to breathe underwater for an hour or so without expelling telltale bubbles. Since the U.S. Navy showed little interest in the beginning, Lambertsen went to the U.S. Army, where he was charged with equipping and training “operational swimmers” for the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of today’s CIA. 

Invasion forces preparing to land in North Africa in the autumn of 1942 faced a situation that required an unorthodox approach—combat swimmers. Vichy French had constructed a massive boom and net arrangement across the mouth of the Wadi Sefou River near Casablanca in Morocco. Beyond, a large stone fortress bristling with 155mm and 75mm guns guarded the river entrance against an invasion force. Planners recruited a demolitions expert, Navy Lieutenant Mark Starkweather, and 16 other men to clear the mouth of the river. Their official designation was CDU—Combat Demolition Unit. Starkweather became the grandfather of America’s undersea commandos. He was the first. 

On 11 November 1942, CDU succeeded in blowing up the obstruction in the river and clearing the way for a successful Allied landing. 

That same year, the Navy began to waken to the potential of combat swimmers. It banded with the U.S. Army’s Alamo Scouts to establish Amphibious Scouts and Raiders to function as commandos in island warfare. The concept of “sea warriors” serving as unconventional forces ashore had been planted, although Scouts and Raiders never became as broadly based as are the SEALs or Army Special Forces (Green Berets) today. Instead, on 6 June 1943, Admiral Ernest J. King gave orders for the unit to shift its primary focus to underwater demolitions. 

Navy Lt. Commander Draper L. Kauffman, a bomb disposal expert, was handed the task of organizing the first Naval Clearance Diving Unit (NCDU) at Fort Pierce, Florida. The unit was so secret that virtually no one in the Navy knew about it. Volunteers learned hydrographic reconnaissance and mapping as well as demolitions. They operated out of small boats and wore full combat fatigues with life belts and combat boots to protect their feet from coral reefs. Hooked to safety lines, they were not expected to do any swimming. 

However, the tragic invasion of Tarawa in November 1943 alerted the Navy to its need for underwater surveillance. Not because swimmers were used there, but because they weren’t. Landing craft loaded with tanks and Marines ran aground on coral reefs surrounding the island and were cut down by murderous Japanese fire from ashore. More than 1,000 Marines were killed and 2,500 wounded trying to breach the island’s reefs. More Americans were killed trying to reach the island than were slain in actual fighting. 

Following Tarawa, Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, amphibious fleet commander, vowed that such a debacle would never happen again. He issued orders for the creation of special teams of men trained to scout out enemy beaches, remove natural and man-made obstacles with explosives, and guide invading forces ashore. With Turner’s encouragement, LCDR Kauffman at Fort Pierce designed a tough new program for the soon-to-be designated UDTs (Underwater Demolition Teams) to train special men for demanding duty. 

LCDR John T. Koehler, commander of UDT-2, took the concept a step further in realizing that the future of UDT operations lay with swimmers. He abandoned conventional ties to watercraft, took to the sea, and began studying the use of fins and dive masks, compasses and mine-detecting devices. 

Kauffman’s and Koehler’s organizational setup became the pattern for all UDTs—and subsequently cleared the way for SEALs when they arrived on the scene. Each UDT consisted of one headquarters division and four operational platoons of three officers and 16 men each, for a total team strength of 100 men. Two teams (still designated NCDU at the time) were sent to the Mediterranean, where they participated in the invasion of France. One went to England and participated in the D-Day landing on Normandy. Two were sent to Guadalcanal and three were assigned for use by Admiral Turner out of Hawaii. It was said a man had to be “half fish and half nuts” in order to join up. 

Each man of a team in action was flagged with blue-green paint as camouflage and then marked with black stripes from toes to chin and down each arm in order to use his body to measure the depth of water near shore. “Frogmen,” as they were dubbed because of their unusual camouflage markings and near-naked bodies, caused a stir wherever they appeared. 

There is an amusing story of appreciation about how Kauffman was called by the landing beach master for a consultation on the Saipan beachhead. He and a UDT lieutenant hailed a passing amtrac and rode it in. They were dressed in swimming trunks and sneakers, and still had stripes painted around their bodies. 

A Marine looked out of his foxhole. “Christ, I’ve seen everything,” he cracked. “We ain’t even got the beach yet and the tourists are here already.” 

The “tourists” were here to stay, to eventually become the toughest, most flexible unconventional force in the world. By VJ Day 1945, UDTs had developed a distinctive pattern and methods that would later be assimilated into the formation of the more broadly-based SEALs. The idea of “sea warriors for all seasons” in the U.S. Navy had been born and a pattern was emerging. Symbol

Focus On: Special Operations Teams —The Early Years 

By: Charles W. Sasser Date: September 16 , 2011 Special Contributor 

This is the second article in a three-part series from Charles Sasser, about the Genesis of the Navy SEALs. The first post is “Genesis of the Navy SEALs—The Concept.” The third post is “Genesis of the Navy SEALS—Today.” 

It became apparent by the autumn of 1962 that the Soviets were moving intercontinental ballistic missiles into Cuba. SEALs, who had already been mapping possible invasion sites, training resistance forces and conducting spy and assassination missions against Castro, were tasked to provide evidence of the existence of missiles on the island. Events revolving around the USSR, Cuba and the U.S., as Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara put it, were forcing the earth to face its “greatest danger of a catastrophic war since the advent of the nuclear age.” 

Ham-fisted Navy Lieutenant Roy Boehm, commander of SEAL Team Two, and SEAL Petty Officer “Lump-Lump” Williams linked up with a CIA “spook” known only as “John” to obtain that evidence. “John” briefed the two SEALs aboard the submarine Sea Lion as it dove in the Florida Straits on its way to Cuba. 

“Gentlemen,” the CIA agent began. “You are about to embark on the most significant mission of your military careers. The forces of communism and the forces of the free world are being compelled into a standoff the outcome of which only God knows. The world may be only days away from nuclear confrontation. . . The United States has good reason to believe the Soviet Union has moved ICBMs into Cuba. President Kennedy will not back down, not even from nuclear war. The President will broadcast it to the world as soon as we can confirm intelligence reports that Castro and Khrushchev are installing ICBMs to target the United States.” 

The three men locked out of the sub off Havana in the middle of the night and swam ashore. Photos of ICBM sites they obtained soon appeared in Time magazine and other news sources and became part of a mountain of undeniable documentation that led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Newly-commissioned SEAL teams were starting to make their mark on a Cold War that was fast producing a new style and concept of warfare. Spy versus spy, covert terrorism, espionage, sabotage, assassination, snooping and popping to catch your enemy with his pants down. . . Specials operations forces like the SEALs were designed for the times, designed deadly and efficient like the man-eating shark. War entered the Atomic Age with its face painted black and green, an assassin’s dagger in one hand and a peace dove in the other. The dove blew up if you handled it wrong. 

May 25, 1961, five weeks after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, a year and a half before the Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy had announced his intent to build unconventional warriors for unconventional times. Addressing a joint session of Congress in one of the most important speeches of his presidency, he set a goal for rocketing an American to the moon before the end of the decade—and he called for a major restructuring of the nation’s military to pull it back from sole reliance on “massive nuclear retaliation.” 

“I am directing the secretary of defense to expand rapidly and substantially, in cooperation with our allies, the orientation of existing forces for the conduct of non-nuclear war, paramilitary operations, and sub-limited or unconventional war. . .” 

He ordered the Pentagon to set aside $400 million to beef up Special Forces, primarily Army Green Berets and a naval commando force capable of operations on land, in the air, and on and under the sea. UDTs from World War II would provide the foundation. 

In 1945, there were 34 UDTs consisting of about 3,500 men. By 1948, that number had dropped to a skeleton crew of seven officers and 45 enlisted men. Naval unconventional warfare may have died out entirely but for the insight of Commander Francis Douglas Fane, who struggled to preserve UDTs and expand upon their capabilities. 

“I realized,” he was to explain, “that if we were going to come in, in future wars, we would have to be better prepared than just swimming on the surface of the water. . . I thought of the idea of working underwater all the way. Working with submersible out of submarines. Coming in surreptitiously at night. Of being dropped by helicopter into the water. I envisioned this whole system.” 

The postwar role of UDT stopped shrinking as Fane sought to expand missions for sea warriors and worked with scientists from around the world to develop new equipment. By the time the Korean War erupted, UDT training had been modified to encompass land operations, small unit tactics and weapons familiarity. Frogmen previously confined to the water were looking to the land and to the air as well. 

Navy Bos’n Mate Roy Boehm survived WWII as intrigued by UDT Frogmen as Fane. The thought of sea commandos rising out of the depths like sharks to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy fascinated him. He completed the Navy’s First Class Diving School, then applied for and was accepted for UDT. He was the oldest man of approximately 240 who began UDTR (Underwater Demolitions Training) Class-13 in July 1954. Twenty one men survived the training; Boehm was one of them. The attrition rate for UDT was about 90 percent, about the same rate as for SEAL training today. 

Boehm always said he learned something vital in UDTR that he never forgot: the men you could depend on most were those who had to work hardest to get what they wanted. The bonding of a team through an experience such as UDTR built a band of brothers, elite operational rogues who would willingly sacrifice their lives for each other. 

By 1961, Boehm had been commissioned into the officer corps and was operations officer of UDT-21. The team’s skipper, Lt. Commander Bill Hamilton, shared Boehm’s vision of “sea warriors.” Although Boehm was aware of President Kennedy’s vow to create unconventional troops, he was unaware that plans were already underway deep in the bowels of officialdom toward that end. 

Hamilton summoned Boehm to his office following the Bay of Pigs. “Roy, can you make commandos out of our people?” 

“We’ve already started training them.” 

“Start selecting the men you want from UDT. This is classified Top Secret. I want you to select and train men as a nucleus for a Special Operations force to be incorporated into the Underwater Demolitions Units. You will discuss the creation of the unit with no one except me. You will volunteer information on the purpose of training to no one, not even the men undergoing it. Is that clear?” 

Boehm had been waiting years for an opportunity like this. 

“We’ve somehow been granted carte blanche to create the finest band of unconventional warriors in the world,” LCDR Hamilton continued. “President Kennedy has taken a lot of flack for the Bay of Pigs. He’s not going to let it happen again. He’s caught up in the unconventional warfare concept and has authorized us to do it the way we want. . . Lieutenant Boehm, I know how you’ve wanted to see this happen. Now, do it your way. Get men who can successfully complete any mission anywhere in the world. . . Work fast, Lieutenant. I don’t know how much time we have.” 

To Boehm’s surprise, he was assigned a Presidential Priority One in obtaining men and equipment. Thirty seven men reported aboard in January 1962; 19 more reported for duty as soon as they completed training or returned from other operations. They were men like Bob “The Eagle” Gallagher, who would become a legend feared by the Viet Cong; Gene Tinnin, later killed in action along the Cambodian border; J.C. Tipton, who would log countless missions into Latin America and Asia; Bill Bruhmuller, a brave man who let himself be captured by the VC in order to obtain information and escape; “Hoss” Kucinski; Hoot Andrews; Rudy Boesch; “Lump-Lump” Williams, who would soon accompany Boehm into Cuba and later go to Vietnam as advisor to the Vietnamese junk force. . . 

Over the next months, Boehm traded out training with Army Special Forces in parachuting, foreign weapons, small unit tactics, counterinsurgency, demolitions, espionage. . . His men learned to pick locks, fly airplanes, burgle buildings, escape from the enemy, sky dive in addition to military parachuting. . . 

There are a number of different possibilities on how the acronym SEAL (SEaAirLand) evolved. Whatever its origin, the designation and the men behind it soon became admired by allies and feared by enemies. Backdated to January 1, 1962, the U.S. Navy SEALs were commissioned into service as the Navy’s answer to guerrilla warfare and Army Special Forces in the Cold War. Sea warriors had become a reality. 

Boehm received orders as acting commanding officer of SEAL Team Two on the East Coast, over a force of ten officers and 50 enlisted. SEAL Team One under the command of Lieutenant Dave Del Guidice would soon be formed on the West Coast. Roy Boehm, salty old sailor and WWII vet, former bos’n mate, received the first SEAL orders. Acting commander of the very first SEAL team to be commissioned in the United States Navy. 

The First SEAL.  

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Today By: Charles W. Sasser Date: September 23 , 2011 Special Contributor 

CP Note: This is the third article in the three-part “Genesis of Navy SEALs” series from Charles Sasser. The first post is Genesis of the Navy SEALs—The Concept. The second post is Genesis of the Navy SEALS—The Early Years. A U.S. Navy SEAL team member, with Special Operations Task Force – South, provides security overwatch via hilltop during the early morning hours of a village clearing operation in Shah Wali Kot District, June 25, 2011, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Missions such as these are conducted in order to hinder Taliban influence and improve overall security throughout the province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel P. Shook. Caption credit: DVIDSHUB. 

A U.S. Navy SEAL team member, with Special Operations Task Force – South, provides security overwatch via hilltop during the early morning hours of a village clearing operation in Shah Wali Kot District, June 25, 2011, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Missions such as these are conducted in order to hinder Taliban influence and improve overall security throughout the province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel P. Shook. Caption credit: DVIDSHUB. 

Hardly had the Navy SEALs been formed than they were combat tested in Vietnam. Two instructors from Team One arrived in-country on 10 March 1962 to teach the South Vietnamese how to conduct clandestine operations. A month later, the first SEAL mobile training team (MTT) of 19 enlisted men and one officer, Lieutenant (j.g.) Philip P. Holtz, left for Vietnam on a mission to train the South Vietnamese Coastal Force in reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare. 

During this early period of the war, SpecOps SEALs and Green Berets were “advisors.” It was not until February 1966 that the SEALs entered the war for active combat duty when Team One sent Detachment Golf, consisting of three officers and 15 enlisted men, into the Rung Sat Special Zone near the capital city of Saigon. This zone was a delta area composed of huge mangrove swamps crisscrossed by meandering streams between Saigon and the South China Sea and the mouth of the Mekong River to the southeast. Control of the region was critical for both sides and became a major area of operations. Americans needed it because their supply ships had to be able to move safely up and down the river to Saigon. For the Viet Cong (VC), it was a major transit route from the vast Mekong River Delta to the war zones of the north. Struggle for the zone continued throughout the war. 

Working with the riverine patrols in the Delta, Detachment Golf, soon joined by Detachment Hotel, was the unit that most frequently clashed with the VC and the source of many of the legends about SEALs. Although there were never more than 200 SEALs in-country at any one time, the “men with green faces,” as they were now know, became the most highly-decorated unit of its size in the war: two Navy Crosses; 42 Silver Stars; 402 Bronze Stars; two Legions of Merit; 352 Commendation Medals; three Presidential Unit Citations. 

Vietnam refined the SEALs into the most highly-trained and effective commando force the world had ever known. Much of their effectiveness derived from the SEAL philosophy of always doing the unexpected and doing it with elan. 

“Hit the enemy tonight if he expects you tomorrow,” one SEAL explained. “If he waits for you to come by sea, go across the mountains or arrive by parachute. If he’s looking for a chopper, fly an airliner. If he comes at you with a knife, shoot him. Throw the rule book away. There are no rules in this kind of war.” 

As Lieutenant Roy Boehm envisioned, SEALs were truly becoming men for all seasons, ready and prepared to conduct any mission anywhere on the globe. From Kwajalein Atoll during WWII, SEALs and their immediate predecessors have fought in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Latin America, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and have conducted hundreds of missions in dangerous and little-known backwaters of the world. 

The U.S. invasion in October 1983 of the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada—Operation Urgent Fury—was the first time since before WWII that an avowed communist government was replaced by a pro-Western one. The action resulted in the deaths of four SEALs, the first combat losses of SEALs since Vietnam. 

Grenada was the most massive American invasion since the Inchon landing of the Korean War, involving 13 ships, hundreds of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and more than 7,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen. Twelve operators from SEAL Teams Four and Six were tasked to pave the way by inserting onto Salines Airfield to mark the drop zone for an Army Ranger airdrop. Eight-foot waves and 20-knot winds caught the SEALs as they parachuted through pitch-black darkness into offshore waters. Four SEALs vanished in the treacherous seas and became the first casualties of the operation. Official casualties for the action were 19 American dead, including the four SEALs, and 123 wounded. Forty-one Grenadians and 29 Cubans were killed and several hundred wounded. 

Four more SEALs were killed and eight wounded during Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. 

For years, the United States had been at odds with the Panamanian strongman, General Manuel Noriega. President George Bush set Operation Just Cause in motion on 20 December 1989 to depose the dictator and arrest him after U.S. Federal Courts in Florida handed down indictments accusing him of drug running. The essential task of shutting down Noriega’s escape routes fell to Navy Special Operations. Three SEAL missions were planned. 

As the operation began, SEALs aboard two Navy river-patrol boats and two Army landing craft closed off the harbor at Colon on the Caribbean side of the isthmus. AT 11:30 p.m., H-Hour minus one hour and fifteen minutes, four SEALs wearing black wetsuits and carrying satchel charges blew up Noriega’s yacht, the President Porras, as it rode its lines tied up to a pier in Balboa Harbor. That left Noriega’s Learjet at Panama City’s Punta Paitilla Airport as his last readily available means of escape. That was where things started to go wrong. 

Near midnight, a U.S. Navy patrol boat idling about a mile offshore in Panama Harbor launched fifteen Zodiac rubber boats loaded with three platoons of 16 SEALs and an Air Force combat controller, their objective the waterfront Paitilla airfield to disable Noriega’s jet. 

The SEALs reached the airport without incident. But as they moved toward the hangars, a force of PDF (Panamanian Defense Forces) guarding the Learjet opened fire. In an instant, seven SEALs were hit, one fatally. The storm of fire continued for almost a minute. 

“We were filling that hangar with rounds; 40mm grenades were going everywhere,” one SEAL recalled. 

The PDF retreated under withering return fire. Four SEALs lay dead on the runway and eight were wounded. A Panamanian intelligence officer later revealed that three PDF soldiers died in the exchange while eight others were carried away wounded. Surviving SEALs completed their mission by blowing a hole through Noriega’s jet with a 40mm grenade round. 

Mission always came first. 

Navy SEALs have continued to pull off operations like these in far-flung regions of the world, some of which are too secret to reveal. Often referred to as “the Quiet Warriors,” SEALs have a mandate to live in the shadows. Sworn to confidentiality, they rarely divulge secrets about their missions. You only hear about SEALs if something goes wrong, or if they go very right. 

During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, SEALs launched ops in the Gulf against shipping and trained Kuwaiti Special Forces. SEALs led the War on Terror after 911, conducting missions against ships suspected of having ties to or carrying al Qaeda. During the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, a joint Special Ops unit of Green Berets, SEALs, CIA and U.S. Air Force Special Tactics killed or captured over 200 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and destroyed thousands of pounds of weapons and ordnance. SEAL Teams began rotating in and out of the country, pulling top-level secret missions against Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. 

Highly trained in everything from direct action and hostage rescue to counterterrorism, they are America’s surgical instrument. They are who you call when everything has to go right. Cocky, confident and dedicated, they come from all walks of American life. They are intellectuals and scholars, rodeo cowboys and race car drivers, professors and doctors. . . Many speak multiple languages. It is said that the average SEAL can outperform the average Harvard student or the average Olympic athlete. 

Only approximately 2,000 in number, they are organized into two groups under the Naval Special Warfare Command and the U.S. Special Operations Command. Odd-numbered SEAL Teams One, Three, Five and Seven are headquartered on the West Coast under Naval Special Warfare Group One out of Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, California. Even-numbered SEAL Teams Two, Four, Eight and Ten on the East Coast belong to Naval Special Warfare Group Two at Little Creek Amphibious Base and Dam Neck Annex in Virginia. 

Each team is composed of six platoons and a headquarters element. Two officers and 14 enlisted men make up a platoon, which is generally the largest element committed to a mission. A platoon may be further subdivided into two squads or four elements. 

While there are eight confirmed SEAL teams, there is one additional team that is so highly-classified that no one is supposed to know it even exists. SEAL Team Six, otherwise known as Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) caught the eye of the world on Sunday, 1 May 2011, when 24 of them led by the CIA dropped into Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and delivered a simple but hard-hitting message: From American with love. 

The modern form of counterterrorism (CT) as practiced by SpecOps forces got its start in the late 1960s to thwart Palestinian terrorists hijacking airplanes in the middle East. Most countries lacked full CT capabilities until after the 1972 Munich Olympics during which so-called Black September terrorists massacred eleven Israeli athletes. Nearly every nation since then has fielded elite CT elements. 

Although SEAL Lieutenant Norman J. Carley of SEAL Team Two began training a special squad in 1978 called Mobility Six, or MOB-6, to act as a CT reaction force, the U.S. Navy’s official involvement in CT began with the failed 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Iran. During the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Pentagon assigned a tough Navy maverick named Ricard Marcinko to work on possible rescue plans. Commander Marcinko had already proved himself inhumanly tough in missions in Vietnam and other places—blowing up supply junks, charging through minefields, jumping at 20,000 feet with a malfunctioning parachute. . . It was said of him that he made Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Little Lord Fauntleroy. A sign at the entrance to Marcinko’s retirement estate bears the warning: Trespassers will be shot, survivors shot again. 

Ronald Reagan’s election as president in 1980 brought an end to the hostage crisis, but Admiral Thomas Hayward, Chief of Naval Operations, approved Marcinko’s plans to create a SEAL CT unit. He authorized Marcinko to design, build, equip, train and lead the best counterterrorist force in the world. SEAL Team Six with 75 enlisted men and 15 officers became operational as of 1 January 1981. 

Since its secret debut, Team Six has been involved in many classified missions, much of which are still classified. Those that are known include: the 1991 rescue of Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide under cover of darkness following the coup that deposed him; the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq; tracking down war criminals in Bosnia; rescuing Private Jessica Lynch after she became a POW in Iraq in March 2003; shooting pirates off the coast of Somalia; and, of course, the operation at Osama bin Laden’s compound. “Maritime,” Marcinko was famously quoted as saying, is any operation in which SEALs carry canteens of water. 

On 6 August 2011, 30 American Special Forces servicemen, most of them elite Navy SEALs, some from SEAL Team Six, died when a Chinook helicopter either crashed or was shot down during combat operations in Afghanistan. Kimberly Vaughn, wife of SEAL Aaron Vaughn, gave CNN a fitting epitaph for her husband. What she said of her husband could be applied to any SEAL. 

“There was no way—even if you could tell him this would have happened, he would have done it anyway,” she said. “All those men are like that. They’re selfless. I want to tell the world that this was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband and a fabulous father of two wonderful children. He was a warrior for Christ and he was a warrior for our country and he wouldn’t want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did.” 

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 SEALs—Today 

By: Charles W. Sasser Date: September 23 , 2011 Special Contributor 

CP Note: This is the third article in the three-part “Genesis of Navy SEALs” series from Charles Sasser. The first post is Genesis of the Navy SEALs—The Concept. The second post is Genesis of the Navy SEALS—The Early Years. A U.S. Navy SEAL team member, with Special Operations Task Force – South, provides security overwatch via hilltop during the early morning hours of a village clearing operation in Shah Wali Kot District, June 25, 2011, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Missions such as these are conducted in order to hinder Taliban influence and improve overall security throughout the province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel P. Shook. Caption credit: DVIDSHUB. 

A U.S. Navy SEAL team member, with Special Operations Task Force – South, provides security overwatch via hilltop during the early morning hours of a village clearing operation in Shah Wali Kot District, June 25, 2011, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Missions such as these are conducted in order to hinder Taliban influence and improve overall security throughout the province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel P. Shook. Caption credit: DVIDSHUB. 

Hardly had the Navy SEALs been formed than they were combat tested in Vietnam. Two instructors from Team One arrived in-country on 10 March 1962 to teach the South Vietnamese how to conduct clandestine operations. A month later, the first SEAL mobile training team (MTT) of 19 enlisted men and one officer, Lieutenant (j.g.) Philip P. Holtz, left for Vietnam on a mission to train the South Vietnamese Coastal Force in reconnaissance, sabotage and guerrilla warfare. 

During this early period of the war, SpecOps SEALs and Green Berets were “advisors.” It was not until February 1966 that the SEALs entered the war for active combat duty when Team One sent Detachment Golf, consisting of three officers and 15 enlisted men, into the Rung Sat Special Zone near the capital city of Saigon. This zone was a delta area composed of huge mangrove swamps crisscrossed by meandering streams between Saigon and the South China Sea and the mouth of the Mekong River to the southeast. Control of the region was critical for both sides and became a major area of operations. Americans needed it because their supply ships had to be able to move safely up and down the river to Saigon. For the Viet Cong (VC), it was a major transit route from the vast Mekong River Delta to the war zones of the north. Struggle for the zone continued throughout the war. 

Working with the riverine patrols in the Delta, Detachment Golf, soon joined by Detachment Hotel, was the unit that most frequently clashed with the VC and the source of many of the legends about SEALs. Although there were never more than 200 SEALs in-country at any one time, the “men with green faces,” as they were now know, became the most highly-decorated unit of its size in the war: two Navy Crosses; 42 Silver Stars; 402 Bronze Stars; two Legions of Merit; 352 Commendation Medals; three Presidential Unit Citations. 

Vietnam refined the SEALs into the most highly-trained and effective commando force the world had ever known. Much of their effectiveness derived from the SEAL philosophy of always doing the unexpected and doing it with elan. 

“Hit the enemy tonight if he expects you tomorrow,” one SEAL explained. “If he waits for you to come by sea, go across the mountains or arrive by parachute. If he’s looking for a chopper, fly an airliner. If he comes at you with a knife, shoot him. Throw the rule book away. There are no rules in this kind of war.” 

As Lieutenant Roy Boehm envisioned, SEALs were truly becoming men for all seasons, ready and prepared to conduct any mission anywhere on the globe. From Kwajalein Atoll during WWII, SEALs and their immediate predecessors have fought in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Latin America, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and have conducted hundreds of missions in dangerous and little-known backwaters of the world. 

The U.S. invasion in October 1983 of the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada—Operation Urgent Fury—was the first time since before WWII that an avowed communist government was replaced by a pro-Western one. The action resulted in the deaths of four SEALs, the first combat losses of SEALs since Vietnam. 

Grenada was the most massive American invasion since the Inchon landing of the Korean War, involving 13 ships, hundreds of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and more than 7,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen. Twelve operators from SEAL Teams Four and Six were tasked to pave the way by inserting onto Salines Airfield to mark the drop zone for an Army Ranger airdrop. Eight-foot waves and 20-knot winds caught the SEALs as they parachuted through pitch-black darkness into offshore waters. Four SEALs vanished in the treacherous seas and became the first casualties of the operation. Official casualties for the action were 19 American dead, including the four SEALs, and 123 wounded. Forty-one Grenadians and 29 Cubans were killed and several hundred wounded. 

Four more SEALs were killed and eight wounded during Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. 

For years, the United States had been at odds with the Panamanian strongman, General Manuel Noriega. President George Bush set Operation Just Cause in motion on 20 December 1989 to depose the dictator and arrest him after U.S. Federal Courts in Florida handed down indictments accusing him of drug running. The essential task of shutting down Noriega’s escape routes fell to Navy Special Operations. Three SEAL missions were planned. 

As the operation began, SEALs aboard two Navy river-patrol boats and two Army landing craft closed off the harbor at Colon on the Caribbean side of the isthmus. AT 11:30 p.m., H-Hour minus one hour and fifteen minutes, four SEALs wearing black wetsuits and carrying satchel charges blew up Noriega’s yacht, the President Porras, as it rode its lines tied up to a pier in Balboa Harbor. That left Noriega’s Learjet at Panama City’s Punta Paitilla Airport as his last readily available means of escape. That was where things started to go wrong. 

Near midnight, a U.S. Navy patrol boat idling about a mile offshore in Panama Harbor launched fifteen Zodiac rubber boats loaded with three platoons of 16 SEALs and an Air Force combat controller, their objective the waterfront Paitilla airfield to disable Noriega’s jet. 

The SEALs reached the airport without incident. But as they moved toward the hangars, a force of PDF (Panamanian Defense Forces) guarding the Learjet opened fire. In an instant, seven SEALs were hit, one fatally. The storm of fire continued for almost a minute. 

“We were filling that hangar with rounds; 40mm grenades were going everywhere,” one SEAL recalled. 

The PDF retreated under withering return fire. Four SEALs lay dead on the runway and eight were wounded. A Panamanian intelligence officer later revealed that three PDF soldiers died in the exchange while eight others were carried away wounded. Surviving SEALs completed their mission by blowing a hole through Noriega’s jet with a 40mm grenade round. 

Mission always came first. 

Navy SEALs have continued to pull off operations like these in far-flung regions of the world, some of which are too secret to reveal. Often referred to as “the Quiet Warriors,” SEALs have a mandate to live in the shadows. Sworn to confidentiality, they rarely divulge secrets about their missions. You only hear about SEALs if something goes wrong, or if they go very right. 

During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, SEALs launched ops in the Gulf against shipping and trained Kuwaiti Special Forces. SEALs led the War on Terror after 911, conducting missions against ships suspected of having ties to or carrying al Qaeda. During the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, a joint Special Ops unit of Green Berets, SEALs, CIA and U.S. Air Force Special Tactics killed or captured over 200 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and destroyed thousands of pounds of weapons and ordnance. SEAL Teams began rotating in and out of the country, pulling top-level secret missions against Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. 

Highly trained in everything from direct action and hostage rescue to counterterrorism, they are America’s surgical instrument. They are who you call when everything has to go right. Cocky, confident and dedicated, they come from all walks of American life. They are intellectuals and scholars, rodeo cowboys and race car drivers, professors and doctors. . . Many speak multiple languages. It is said that the average SEAL can outperform the average Harvard student or the average Olympic athlete. 

Only approximately 2,000 in number, they are organized into two groups under the Naval Special Warfare Command and the U.S. Special Operations Command. Odd-numbered SEAL Teams One, Three, Five and Seven are headquartered on the West Coast under Naval Special Warfare Group One out of Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, California. Even-numbered SEAL Teams Two, Four, Eight and Ten on the East Coast belong to Naval Special Warfare Group Two at Little Creek Amphibious Base and Dam Neck Annex in Virginia. 

Each team is composed of six platoons and a headquarters element. Two officers and 14 enlisted men make up a platoon, which is generally the largest element committed to a mission. A platoon may be further subdivided into two squads or four elements. 

While there are eight confirmed SEAL teams, there is one additional team that is so highly-classified that no one is supposed to know it even exists. SEAL Team Six, otherwise known as Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) caught the eye of the world on Sunday, 1 May 2011, when 24 of them led by the CIA dropped into Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and delivered a simple but hard-hitting message: From American with love. 

The modern form of counterterrorism (CT) as practiced by SpecOps forces got its start in the late 1960s to thwart Palestinian terrorists hijacking airplanes in the middle East. Most countries lacked full CT capabilities until after the 1972 Munich Olympics during which so-called Black September terrorists massacred eleven Israeli athletes. Nearly every nation since then has fielded elite CT elements. 

Although SEAL Lieutenant Norman J. Carley of SEAL Team Two began training a special squad in 1978 called Mobility Six, or MOB-6, to act as a CT reaction force, the U.S. Navy’s official involvement in CT began with the failed 1980 attempt to rescue American hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Iran. During the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Pentagon assigned a tough Navy maverick named Ricard Marcinko to work on possible rescue plans. Commander Marcinko had already proved himself inhumanly tough in missions in Vietnam and other places—blowing up supply junks, charging through minefields, jumping at 20,000 feet with a malfunctioning parachute. . . It was said of him that he made Arnold Schwarzenegger look like Little Lord Fauntleroy. A sign at the entrance to Marcinko’s retirement estate bears the warning: Trespassers will be shot, survivors shot again. 

Ronald Reagan’s election as president in 1980 brought an end to the hostage crisis, but Admiral Thomas Hayward, Chief of Naval Operations, approved Marcinko’s plans to create a SEAL CT unit. He authorized Marcinko to design, build, equip, train and lead the best counterterrorist force in the world. SEAL Team Six with 75 enlisted men and 15 officers became operational as of 1 January 1981. 

Since its secret debut, Team Six has been involved in many classified missions, much of which are still classified. Those that are known include: the 1991 rescue of Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide under cover of darkness following the coup that deposed him; the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq; tracking down war criminals in Bosnia; rescuing Private Jessica Lynch after she became a POW in Iraq in March 2003; shooting pirates off the coast of Somalia; and, of course, the operation at Osama bin Laden’s compound. “Maritime,” Marcinko was famously quoted as saying, is any operation in which SEALs carry canteens of water. 

On 6 August 2011, 30 American Special Forces servicemen, most of them elite Navy SEALs, some from SEAL Team Six, died when a Chinook helicopter either crashed or was shot down during combat operations in Afghanistan. Kimberly Vaughn, wife of SEAL Aaron Vaughn, gave CNN a fitting epitaph for her husband. What she said of her husband could be applied to any SEAL. 

“There was no way—even if you could tell him this would have happened, he would have done it anyway,” she said. “All those men are like that. They’re selfless. I want to tell the world that this was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband and a fabulous father of two wonderful children. He was a warrior for Christ and he was a warrior for our country and he wouldn’t want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did.” 

Symbol

         A SEAL Sniper Instructor's Review of The Movie Lone Survivor

From:Nick Nickelson 
to:     Al, Alan, Arles, Art, Bill, Bill, Bob, Bob, Brian, Brooks, Carl, Chip, Cliff, Craig, Dante, Dee, Dennis, Dick, Dick, Don, Duke, me, Eugene, Franklin, Gary 
From: Willits Sawyer 
Nick ,
A good review!

 
Willits Sawyer

From: Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2013
Subject: A SEAL Sniper Instructor's Review of The Movie Lone Survivor
To:  Doc Rio
Looks like a good flick!          

M.F. 

http://sofrep.com/30510/seal-sniper-instructors-review-movie-lone-survivor/?awt_l=HyBm.&awt_m=3h661Hx5QQVzztD

 A SEAL Sniper Instructor’s Review of The Movie Lone Survivor 
Lone-survivor-review-movie-sofrep-axe-luttrell-murphy 

If you don’t want to read on then I’ll just save you the trouble, and get straight to the point. It’s a great movie, go see it. I was invited to attend a screening of Lone Survivor in New York last week, and invited a few friends of SOFREP to attend (including Ian our radio producer) with me. I was excited about the movie but secretly hoping Peter Berg did right by Marcus, and his book since the movie has produced some drama surrounding Dan Bilzerian’s role in the film.

 The movie didn’t disappoint. Few movies in Hollywood do right by the military men (and women) they represent, but this isn’t one of those. The scene where they make initial Taliban contact on the mountain slope is intense, and my back, and head hurt just watching the falling scenes. My only criticism? I thought it was a mistake to put Marcus in a supporting role in the film, it felt awkward to me to see him on screen as one of the SEALs knowing he was the hero of the story. 

This may be my own personal bias, and because I know, and trained Marcus when he went through the SEAL sniper course. Ben Foster get’s a 5.0 eval from me on his portrayal of Matt “Axe” Axelson. I know Axe as one of my personal student mentor candidates from sniper school, a great guy, and the consummate operator. Ben nailed it, I felt like I was watching Axe all over again. One of my favorite parts of the book is the complex cultural dynamic that existed (ultimately saved Luttrell’s life) between the local tribe elders, and the Taliban. 

If you haven’t done your research on Pashtunwali, the un-written code of ethics that govern the Pashtun, it’s worth looking into. Berg, and his actors did a great job honoring the men that gave their lives on that lonely Afghan mountainside. Go see it, and let me know what you think.

Marcus Luttrell  "Lone Survivor"

Navy Fake SEAL Team 6 Commander Outs Don Shipley As Real Navy SEAL By Paul | December 17, 2013 
Don Shipley  SEAL Wannabe Buster !

Scott Co. natives working on submersible for U.S. Navy December 16th, 2013 11:13 am by Marci Gore  
  Craig Short

                    
               "Moki" Martin 
SUPERFROG'S Moki Martin donates $1,500 to Coronado Islander Sports Posted by Steve DaLuz on December 12, 2013SUPERFROG Inc., producer of the SUPERFROG, SUPERSEAL and SEAL SPRINT races, presented a check for $1,500 to the Islander Sports Foundation on December 10th, 2013 to benefit Coronado Islander High School Athletics On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 8:09 AM, Franklin Anderson <fwaranch@wildblue.net> wrote: 

Jim --- I have this information on Joe—I don’t think we have any corpsman that comes close to his achievements. I also have photo’s of HM SELLS, JOHN ROBERTS and other outstanding corpsman that contributed so much to the SEALs in the field. I’ll scan Page 2 in a different msg. Franklin Doc,

I thought I'd printed the story in the BLAST, but I guess not. List I have is attached. I'll put the story on my to-do list. I'm currently trying to get the UDT-SEAL Cuba stories: Bay of Pigs, Mongoose, and Missile Crisis. Want to stay focused on that, since that's been my goal to get that story for several years. Merry Christmas John Chalus 

Mike Naus

Willits, Kassa, ST-1 guys

z
BUD/S video                Navy Seals - Danger Close

Mike Naus

      
Albright                                                    H. Birky J                               Joe Mc Carthy

J. Tolison                                           Eiehard J.  Solano

 
 Murphy

Aaron Vaughn

Dustin Turner

Adam Brown

      
Harry Humphries                                                   Lourdes Tolentino & Rio

                                                          
Matthew McCabe                                               Lil Ron ROgers                                      John Luke

Ron "Lill" Rogers                                       Jim O'Neill and Brad Hamilton

            
Rick Springs                                                    Layton Bassett

                            
Jeff Gonzalez                                Joe Smith                                                       Jorge Trevño    

Darren Greenwells's collection of SEALs autographs in London England

Durwood White

                            
Cummings                                                                                             Steve  Elson MH School

 
John F. Rabbitt, Mike Naus, WO4 "Herb" ______  in Nha Be  Vietnam

                                                                                                  SEALs Team FOUR Grenada war

Four SEALs lost in Grenada

Kenneth Butler

Kevin Lundberg

Stephen Morris

Robert Schamberger

Operation Urgent Fury was a 1983 United States–led invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 91,000 located 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Venezuela, that resulted in a U.S. victory within a matter of weeks. Triggered by the house arrest and murder of the leader of the coup which had brought a revolutionary government to power for the preceding four years, the invasion resulted in a restoration of the pre-revolutionary regime.

In 1983, SEAL Team SIX members were also responsible for the rescue and evacuation of Governor Sir Paul Scoon from Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. 

During the predawn hours of October 24, 1983, in high winds, with little intel, 12 operators from SEAL Team SIX and 4 Air Force Combat Control Team members(CCT), were assigned to perform a night combat equipment water jump in the ocean about 40 kilometers off the north-northwest tip of Port Salinas, Grenada. 

One SEAL/CCT team performed  LAPES (Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System) to enter the water DropZone with Zodiac inflatable rubber boats. They were to do an Over the Horizon (OTH) transit approximately 40 kilometers to the vicinity of Port Salinas. Once there they were to scout out a suitable Beach Landing Site and send swimmer scouts ashore, infiltrate the island and cache the boats. They were to patrol the airfield, emplace the beacons and find a suitable hiding place and wait for the Ranger's airdrop. All the time sending intel reports back to the USS Guam. 

The four SEALs were lost during the parachute jump into the ocean. It is not clear why or how they drowned during the drop, but the hazards of jumping into the sea with a heavy combat load in high winds could have been overwhelming. These men were well trained for this type of operation, but even the best laid plans sometimes go wrong. 

The other SEAL/CCT team searched in vain for their lost teammates.  Dis-hearted they continued with their primary mission, however, half-way to the shore they had to take evasive measures due to an approaching Grenadean Patrol boat. As they cut their engines, the Zodiacs' motors were swamped by the Patrol boat's wake and would not restart.   The SEAL/CCT team then drifted out to sea and made contact with the USS Caron (DD970). The operation was aborted.

           
Everyone is dresseed like a  CPO.  Why is that HM3 not wearing the "BUD" ?

                                                                              Joe Hurt Bud/s Class 54

 
Joe Hurt    Bud/s Class 54
Joe !  Joe who?  I forgot his Last Name and CLass number !   HELP!

Email:   27Aug2013:  
From:Paul adkins
To: Doc Riojas 
Subj:  Joe !  Joe who?  I forgot his Last Name and CLass number !   HELP!

Doc ,
Lol....
You are so funny. Saw the pictures you added on page 16 my dad was Joe Hurt Bud/s Class 54 ( you put Joe who?) and the sniper one is Paul. Plus any word on LT. Norris sent email, smail and smoke signals? No word on my end? Any Morse code on your side. 
VR/ 
Paul Adkins 

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Joe

Gallagher & Warner

"Eagle" Gallagher and Warner aboard Carrier ??

       Manny Perez Email on the HM's in EAST Coast SEALs

  Subject: Re: Erasmo "Doc Rio" Riojas SEAL Web Page has changed
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 13:58:16 -0500 From: MANNY_PEREZ@fossac.navy.mil (MANNY PEREZ)
To: el.ticitl@worldnet.att.net 

Here it is. 

HMI Issac Suazo 1966
HM1 Robert Cline 1966
HM1 Lappohn Joe D'Angelo
HMC Mike Brown HMC Curtis
HMC Mallory HM2 Crumley
HM2 Sterret HMC Fullerton
HMC Dave Turner
HMC Mike Beske
HM1 Jeff Johnson
MH3 Kevin Vance
HM3 McCraken
HM3 Behymer HM3 Howard
Hawaiian: Na Koa o ke ka "or warriors from the sea.
HMCS Paul Rocca    email: PLRO1  [at]  aol  DOT  com
HM2 Daderria
HM2 Connaster

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Erasmo "Doc Rio" Riojas
SEAL Web Page has changed
Author: MANNY PEREZ   at FOSSAC01
Date: 2/2/98 1:51 PM 


Rio,

 I can't find it so I'll start again.
My fault for not saving it.
Robert "Bob" Harris was in SEAL TM 2, in the 70's. So were Jim Myers, Bob Poertner, Steve Shunk and Danny Day who is pictured in Harry's book erroneously as "Doc" Myers.

I have a picture of the 1st class of 8492 HMs that went through Key West in 1968, that were not Deep Sea Divers (8493) first. They were Joe Morgan, Jim Cantaloupi, Larry Hubbard, Jim Myers and Me. Cantaloupi, Myers, Morgan and I had all been to Nam previously.

I was with "C" Company 3RD Recon BN in 65&66. After I got out of the hospital I ended up at 2D Force Recon at Camp Lejeune.66-68. They sent me to jump school and SCUBA school. When I was in SCUBA school in June  67 they told me they were going to start a class for Corpsman to become 8492's in the coming year.  It started in Jan of 68 and I went to that class with the guys mentioned above. They just threw us in with the current UDT class.

After they left the HM's stayed on for recompression chamber operation and advanced medicine. When we finished that the rest of the guys went to jump school and I went back to the Marines. Because I was already jump qualified I always considered myself the first of the new breed 8492's (that is my license plate).

We graduated in Mar 68. In October of 68 I reported back to UWSS, Key West and filled a newly created billet for an 8492 to support the other 2 HM 8493's that were already on board.
Don Butler and Dale Moore were also in ST2 in the 70's. John Christy was another guy who spent a couple of years at SEAL Two in the mid  70's. He then went to recruiting duty and had a heart attack and died. I remember going to his funeral with a bunch of guys from ST2,in Dick Marcinko's Winnebago; but that is another story.

  Harold Sartin was in ST2 for a short time in the mid 60's but was afraid to jump out of air planes.  When he went to Key West for his SCUBA training he finagled an instructor billet there and never went back to the team. He was one of my instructors at Key West.

There was also a guy named Brian Bates at ST2 for a short time but he was kind of fucked up so we sent him to the Marines.

I hope this fills in some of the holes. I know I'll think of some more names of guys that came through UWSS while I was an instructor there.
A guy named Wolfe was one. He went to ST1 and lost his head to a helo rotor.

More later.
Manolito
  

webmaster:   Thank you very much Manny.  Doc Riojas

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18 April 2013 
From: Halolpal   halolpal  [at]  aol  DOT  com 
To:     Team guys

Plank owner Dennis McCormack took great pictures at the 2012 party. It's taken me 8 months to figure out how to put them in a slide show with music. Actually, I never did figure it out. Had to bring in a professional to crack the code. 

The young looking men in the pictures aren't Vietnam era SEALs who found the Fountain of Youth (except for Rudy). We invited a few active duty SEALs from Team One to give us an update on team life. It was great to have them with us. They impressed us and they had good enough manners to say we impressed them. 
Click on the video below and turn on the sound. I hope you enjoy. Thanks Dennis! 

https://vimeo.com/64320958  click on this link, please.

In the Save the Date that I sent on 3/12/13 I asked everyone to rsvp by July 15. We have 162 rsvps, more than we've ever received in the first 30 days. If you know you're coming and you haven't RSVP'd, please do so. We are concerned about capacity issues. 

RSVP at halolpal@aol.com. Include your name, name of guests), your class #, and which team(s) you were in. 
Thanks, 

Hal Kuykendall         http://www.flickr.com/photos/91857603@N07/page2/

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Hal Kuykendall

navy-seal-marcus-luttrell-honors-fallen-brothers

Rescue Copter shot down in Afghan Attack and Killed 30 Servicemen some were Navy SEALs  

August 11, 2011 

KABUL -- The Department of Defense has released the names of all the service members killed in Saturday's crash of a CH-47 helicopter in Afghanistan.  Their mission was to rescue a SEAL squad that was in a fierce firefight.

                    Navy SEALs awarded Navy Crosses

31 US troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, killed in Afghanistan 
7 Afghan commandos also die in attack; SEALs were from same unit but not same team that killed Osama bin Laden .         video interactive photos discuss x Next story in Afghanistan related.    Aslo 80 pictures released of the helicopter crash site.

The sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit that were killed are: 

  within 15 minutes www.HartzUltraGuard.com Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La. 

Be the first to know! Sign up for FOX40 breaking news alerts. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark. 

-- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas 

-- Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Mich. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif. 

-- Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C. 

-- Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah 

-- Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb. 

-- Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa.

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      Dave Barber and Rick Springs, BUD/S class 75 

           
Front row (lt to Rt): Jean Barber, Sandie Vick, Robyn Levy, Kitty McMillan, Jackie Watkins, Diane Springs, Madeline Kohler.  BACK row (lt to rt) Dave Barber, Dale Vick, Bob Ley, Sandy Mc Millan, Mark Wardman, Jim Watkins, Jerry RUggles, Rick Springs and Dave Kohler.

The Veteran's Day reunion of BUD/S Class 75 at Ft. Pierce, Florida was an outstanding succes

Pac NW: Details are provided by Dave Barber and Rick Springs class 75 summary. The report is intended for the absentee members of the class but they agreed to share with the Chapter.
Guys: 

The Veteran's Day reunion of BUD/S Class 75 at Ft. Pierce, Florida was an outstanding success. The only disappointment was not seeing those of you who were unable to attend. 

On Friday night at the crab and shrimp dinner the stories started coming out, and yes, believe it or not, we even sang some BUD/S training songs. Then Dale Vick broke out an amazingly large collection of photos from training. (How did he ever manage to have a camera with him during all those evolutions?) Dale had prepared two CDs for all of us, one with all the photos presented as still shots, and the other as a video. If you didn't get copies, I'm sure he'd be glad to send them to you. 

On Saturday morning Rick Springs and I were proud to represent the class in the 5K soft-sand beach run. Both of us made it across the finish line, but my tongue was just about picking up sand from the beach by the time I got there. 

At mid day the show started with a jump from the Leap Frogs, and followed with a speech from Ross Perot and a operations demonstration from SEAL Team 18. I couldn't believe those guys arrived and departed the objective area in armored vehicles. How come we had to walk way back then? Then the Vets of all ages, sizes, service branches and distinctions were recognized. Just about everyone in the stands was on his feet at one time or another. Afterwards we got to tour the museum and gathered at our ORP where the attached photo was taken. Sorry for the fact that the quality of this photo is not all that great, but many more were taken and I'm sure you'll soon be getting copies of better ones. Nonetheless, you can see that we enjoyed the company of these beautiful wives who had joined us for the weekend. 

I had never seen the Museum before. It has excellent displays of artifacts from World War II to the present day that are presented with written and audio descriptions. Obviously a lot of time, effort and money have gone into it, thanks to many people including Dave Kohler who is on the Museum's board of directors. 

On Saturday evening we all went to the Cobbs Landing restaurant for dinner, where more stories came out. We toasted lots of different things, but most important was the one to Bob Baird's memory. At the dinner we resolved that we should make a special effort to get every one of us back again in 2013 for the 40th YEAR REUNION OF OUR CLASS. SO, MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR VETERAN'S DAY 2013!!! No excuses! Tell your boss NOW that you want time off from work THEN! 

I understand there was a memorial service and the swimming to sea of ashes on Saturday morning. Unfortunately my wife Jean and I missed it because we had to be on our way back to Seattle before then. 

Thanks once again to Dave Kohler and Sandy McMillan for organizing our hotel accommodations and participation in the weekend events, and to Rick Springs who applied his detective skills from his career as a police officer to locate all of us and then initiate the communications. 

HOPE TO SEE YOU IN 2013!! 

Best regards, 

-- Dave Barber

Rick Springs remembers:

This past year, TIME magazine made "The Protester" as “THE TIME MAN OF THE YEAR.” I have never been a big fan of TIME, but still I read it. It is important to get our news information from various sources so our conclusions are based from mixed viewpoints. We all need to be open minded enough to at least consider what the other view is. 

Anyway, the runner up for Man of the year in TIME, and the first story told, which is always important; is our SEAL Admiral, "The Quite Admiral, William (Bill) MCRAVEN." When Ens, McRaven came to the TEAMS from class 95, in the mid 70’, he was initially assigned to UDT 11's, SDV Platoon under Lt. DAVE TASH. This is the officer from CLASS 75 that I had the deepest respect for. Even though it was always TASH and BAIRD, and you wouldn't say one name without the other, it was always a little more TASH than BAIRD. Mr. BAIRD had it a little easier because he was the gifted athlete. I know this also, if something would have happen to Mr.BAIRD in training and he had to drop out, for whatever reason, even during Hell Week, Mr. TASH would have made sure that the rest of us would have made it through. As far as I know, we were the first BUD/S Class to have a NO Quit Hell Week. We were a great class with great mentors. 

MR. TASH and Admiral MCRAVEN are still the BEST of friends. Mr. TASH has the deepest admiration for Admiral MCRAVEN and even more important to this story; Admiral MCRAVEN has mutual admiration for Dave TASH. Still today, when they email, Admiral MCRAVEN ends the email with “Your A.O.I.C.” Here is a 4 star admiral that respects Mr. TASH so much and what TASH meant so much from a time they worked together in the late 70's and early 80's, that still today he humbles himself and sign it “Your ASSISTANT OFFICER IN CHARGE.” No greater honor could be made to man whose military carrier was cut short do to a training jump that went bad. But Mr. Tash’s life didn’t stop there. 

As you will learn in the story, if you haven't already read it, Admiral MCRAVEN too had a parachute accident. Both accidents could have easily killed these men. Both men are honorable men; patriotic men and committed to those they have influence over. GOD kept them both here on this earth for a reason. I will tell you TASH'S story later, but you can read Admiral MCRAVEN'S story yourself. 

It is my strong belief that GOD would be honored if you posted Admiral's MCRAVEN's TIME story on your website. The reason I say this is this: Ens.Tash was the glue that kept us together. Lt. TASH and later LT. Commander TASH had this same affect on Ens. McRaven, who later became 4 star Admiral WILLIAM MCRAVEN. I am sure that Admiral MCRAVEN, like the rest of us, has had a number of mentors through his life, but it is obvious that Mr. Tash was one of his first. It is also my understanding that Admiral MCRAVEN'S Class, BUD/S Class 95, 20 classes after ours, was also a NO Quit Hell Week. Amazing how some things line up? 

It is our Christian belief that GOD set his plan in motion many many years ago, actually, billions of years ago. Admiral MCRAVEN has a unique relationship with this president that only GOD could have put together. Admiral MCRAVEN also had this same unique relationship with his fellow Texan President, GEORGE BUSH II, who was also my COMMANDER IN CHIEF, whom I did vote for. 

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102133_2102330,00.html 

Admiral MCRAVEN has influenced both presidents in a powerful way. This tells me that Dave Tash has had a considerable influence on a number of people in his life. But the biggest picture in all of this: OUR GOD is the master planner. HE sets life in motion and HE is the pilot of our universe and HE connects the dots. 

Rick

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Dave Barber and Rick Springs, BUD/S class 75 

                        
                 Michael H. Imhof                                                        Howard  Wasdin

    Lowell Gosser's  2011
Muster Pictures

              
                                            Larry Bailey,    Larry Lyons,  and   ??

                                          Lowell Gosser and Gang

                      
                                                       Billy Burbank

                     Bill Garnette and Clay Grady, and Margaret

                                            Bill Langley

                     Rudy Boesch, Doc Clark, Billy Burbank

                     Bill Daugherty and wife ?Phyllis?

                  
                                                                  Larry Bailey

Lowell Gosser's  2011  Muster Pictures                   

   JOSE TAYLOR (SEAL)  RIP 

    aka:    Lloyd Favor Taylor

He is holding a FALSTAFF beer.

It looks like the RVN Cross of Gallantry Medal

Jose photo from Roy Boehm  

Jose in Greece 1955 photo by Rudy Boesch  

This is how I will remember my teamate. Roy Boehm (contributed this photo)

Jose Taylor ST-2  photo by: Rudy Boesch

From:     Bob Nissley;  SEAPOACHER@aol.com 
Sent:     Sunday, October 16, 2005 2:15 PM
To:         bullfrogva@cox.net
Cc:         bgormly@gormlyintl.com;  maxtrack@erols.com; docrio@ev1.net
Subject: JOSE TAYLOR

RUDDY -

     It is most regretful that I inform you that "JOSE" passed away late Friday evening at home. He was admitted to the hospital last Monday and in all truthfulness I did not expect him to leave alive but he took a turn for the better and came home on Thursday but passed away Friday.

 His wife MARY ELISABETH and his little dog was with him backed up by a caregiver. His wife said he wanted to be cremated with no services and she will retain his ashes until she passes then she will be cremated and both interned at Arlington . 

He lived a full life and I truly believe it ended his way. His health had deteriorated this past year and he was suffering badly with a failing heart and lungs. I followed him for almost a year at NAD DA NANG and he was not just a true comrade but a compulsive "HUNTER" always on the prowl for the bad guy. 

Captain would you please put the word out to those on the West Coast who served/knew "JOSE." 

Best to all BOB NISSLEY..............

SEAPOACHER SENDS   

;

The Below Photographs are property of Mary Elizabeth Taylor (Jose's wife) and may not be used without her permission.    Email Doc Rio and he will contact her for you.

Doc,

  IF  Jose Taylor was the Ops boss at NAD DaNang, then he'd coordinate with the Vietnamese CSS.  CSS ran PTF operations up North; MST-1 did the maintenance on the PTF boats and conducted training in their maintenance.   Robert Stoner MCPO

   include these photos :            

                                  
                                          photo from Jose Taylor's collections                   data: by MCPO Bob Stoner

                                 Mi Vida Loca - Copyright ©1998 - All Right Reserved email: docrio45 [at] gmail DOT com

                                                                              Jose Taylor aka: Lloyd Favor Taylor

Lawsuit Against Phony SEALs Reveals New Concern for the Public at Large 

"A lawsuit filed by attorney Gene Odom, on behalf of his client, Retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief Don Shipley has revealed a concerning trend that is common among almost all "Phony SEALs" that they have encountered." 

BRANDON, FL, June 04, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A lawsuit filed by personal injury attorney Gene Odom, on behalf of his client, Retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief Don Shipley has revealed a concerning trend that is common among almost all "Phony SEALs" that they have encountered. That trend is a predatory disposition towards those more naive and vulnerable.

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                                                                  Don Shipley

                                                        
                                                                     Mitchell Lee Croft

Meet John

John Gulick has had two jobs in his entire life. The first, being a Navy SEAL, where he was awarded medals for valor. The second job has been as an attorney for the past 30 years, which involves its own unique version of combat. Each job requires energy, competence, courage, and focus.

Over 25 years of experience with consistent jury trial work. Graduated from Case Western Reserve School of Law with honors (Order of the Coif) and served as an editor of the Case Western Reserve Law Review.

U.S. Navy 1963-1967, service with U.S.S. Fletcher, Underwater Demolition Team 12, and SEAL Team ONE. Won Bronze Star (with Combat V) and Purple Heart.

http://www.gulicklaw.com/meet_john.htm

13NOV2011:  email from Jim Dickson

Franklin and Doc, 

For the last five years Veterans Day has found me at the Cupertino Veterans Memorial. This year I ran into John Gulick who said that after I was wounded he took over my .50 caliber machine gun. He said further that he could only get it to work single fire. I was not surprised because both the gun and I got blown up. 

He said that he was not part of the Nha Be' detachment but that the Mike boat was providing transport for him and a few other SEALs. We exchanged information and I will see him again. I also ran into a PBR sailor who was at Nha Be' the same time as I. 

This is a small world and getting smaller. 

Jim  Dickson