Navy Seals and Special Forces
 

We all have our images we love to keep of the special forces guys - being beyond supermen. While they are incredible people and very highly trained and conditioned, they are not the robot monster killing machines that so many of the kids and some adults think. I am sure many of us have known our fair share. Here is what I have witnessed:

1) They are not huge muscle head monsters but rather very lean and fit.
2) They are not crazy but rather very rational and cool headed.
3) They do not have a chip on their shoulders or mean but rather friendly and have a very good sense of humor.
4) They don't get rattled over anything.
5) They never ever talk about the tours or assignments but will share some stories about the pyhysical training.
6) They have a very deep sense of honor and commitment.
7) They are very humble.
8) Unless presssed, they would never tell you outright how they served other than they were in the Army or Navy and then it 'was a job'.

These are just my observations of several they I have known over the years - From Seal Team 2 to Green Barets to Jumpmasters for Airbourne.

The best ground pounders are usually the smaller( under 6 foot) spindly guy(160 lbs), same in the special forces. In most cases they can "hump" more and longer.

The "average" winner of the Ranger competition is 5' 9", 140-150lbs ...

I know one former SEAL, wouldn't have known it if it hadn't come up in first aid training. Calm, quiet, nice guy.

I know one person who spent '69-72 in SE Asia, but only 8 days in vietnam. Again, calm, quiet, nice guy. Only thing weird about him is that for deer hunting he went from rifle to handgun to archery to improve the challenge, and when that was too easy he started using a big azz knife on a full moon night...

The most polite and gentle man I know is a former Sniper. Not a make believe sniper like some on this board, but someone who has been on many missions. You have to know him very well before he will even admit his former occupation. I have only heard him talk about it once and that was a very unusual situation.

Lube nailed it.

me too! this guy, raises bees, makes candles,..gardens. wimpy stuff..not that i'm gonna say anything.

i bowhunt with the guy, dont drink, dont smoke, dont cuss. really cool dude. he has gotten fat tho.

my high school friend..Andy was a ranger. he died at desert storm doing ranger stuff. if he didnt bang such hot chicks back then, i would have thought he was gay. cool dude tho.

You mean the movie depiction of the special forces personnel are just bad stereotypes.

I hired a guy about 4 years ago who is a retired marine sniper. He's quiet and does his job well, no problems and no drama.
he has a large scar on his forehead, prolly 4" long and hard to miss.
I never asked about it but one of the other ex-marines here said he got a purple heart for that scar in combat and that this young man had "chased the elephant". Not sure what that means.

He's never brought up his military duty in front of me and it's none of my business, don't know and don't care. But as long as he shows up every day he'll always have a good paying job if I can help it.

I fully agree with all of you points except for number 4.

They do get rattled but they are able to over come it and continue very quickly.
They like other soldiers also go through anxiety between missions.

There is a lot of air force housing in my area thus a lot of air force families go to my church.

Honestly these guys look like accountants.

Until they start talking about their jobs.

When one of the guys was out of town on duty his wife told the story (because he wouldn't) about how he had crashed his plane and was stranded on a mountain side for four days in 40 degree temps with massive internal injuries.

Mike,

I trained and worked with people from the SAS to the SEALS and all were just as you described them, very professional and not boastful about their jobs. The SAS are even more "undercover" than the SEALS and are rightfully called the "Baby faced killers" as they are usually not large, muscle bound guys, they blend into almost any crowd only to emerge when needed.

Glad they are on our side!

Joe A

I've worked with some of them, typically I didn't know they were SOF until someone else told me. Consummate professionals, and very impressive.

I've known two.

One was ex Delta Force, from Nebraska and had a country way about him. BIG dude, and was certainly someone you could tell was not to be messed with.

The other was a SEAL and had become a Buddhist monk.

They make up all personality types, just like society at large.

"Seeing the elephant" has long been military slang for seeing action. Goes back to the American Civil War.

Cheers

d.

That, he did.

My only additional observation about the two examples that I've met (one a Special Forces with time in Viet Nam, one a SEAL) is that they both shared a deep intensity. Not that kind that you can see from a mile away like in the movies. Nope, both of these guys were pleasant, professional and could be "goof balls". But after you'd been around them for a while and you got to know them, you'd start to sense that whatever you saw on the outside, the inside was solid steel. If the order was given to kill you, you'd be promptly dispatched without any hysterics, and then they would go back to whatever they were doing.

That, and they both were very competitive.

One of my friends is a former Ranger. One day we were out at lunch time and he asked where I wanted to eat. I suggested fried chicken at a local place. He said "I don't eat chicken" like like that was normal for an American. I had grilled steaks for he and his wife just the week before so I knew he was not a vegetarian. I asked him about not eating chicken and he said that during a mission he had to eat a lot of raw birds. They could not start a fire or they would be discovered. He said that after a few raw birds he vowed to never eat fowl again. He went on to say he would eat just about anything if necessary, but he did not want to get to that stage ever again.

He would never leave the house without his knife & two full Bic Lighters. He never mentioned the mission or his Ranger days again.

Even notice how everyone knows a guy and they all seem to have actual ops experience? There are millions of servicemen and thousands of special ops guys(ranger thru delta and everything in between) who never fired a shot in actual combat. Between 1973 and 1993 you could have done a whole 20 year career in special ops and never had a mission.

And your point is?

my best friend just got out the service as an Army SF operator. we grew up with completely polar opposite backgrounds, but strangely we're very similar.

He speaks 4 languages, double majored in college, and enlisted, not OCS after graduation. Looking at him, you'd never know the stuff he's done. He doesn't talk about it. He's one of those guys that can truly accomplish anything.

He just got picked up by an ANG unit to go fly and he's training for that now. He'll do great.

between 1973 and 93..
they did stuff...
and then some..
there's snake-eater on this board..
his past other lives & current life are 'interesting'..
but he won't talk or tell you squat...
other than..
been busy..

Rika

I had a PSG who was ex special forces, and who'd served in Vietnam. Quite frankly, i never really liked him, he was downright mean. His last posting before coming to our unit was as a drill instructor, and it took him a while to shake all that off and mellow out to a more permanent party appropriate level. Later on I grew to respect him, but I never really liked him.

Also had a company commander that was a former NCO, and a tabbed Ranger. Very, very loud and boisterous, but IMO a great officer and leader of men.

My last Bn Sgt Major was an ex Paratrooper. He was definitely of the "larger than life" sort. Very loud, high spirited, and extremely likable. Really funny too. Always had a great line for anything you said.

Also, my favorite drill sergeant in basic was an ex 75th Abn Ranger that'd served in Grenada. He was one of the most braggardly men i ever met in my life, but he was the real deal with his CIB and right hand 75th patch at a time when very few troops had such things, so to me as a 17yo Infantry trainee, it just made him seem even more god-like. He was short and stocky and loud and demanding, but honestly, i really admired and respected him. Probably my favorite Sgt of my entire time in the military.

I think there is a HUGE difference when you see these men operating among other soldiers in a unit, or out in the field, as a comrade in arms, as opposed to meeting them at a picnic or having coffee or a drink with one as a civilian.

How long was your entire time in the military?

My point is of the vast number of indivduals who serviced in elite units over the last 40 years, the actual number who didn't see any real combat is larger than those who have. And the number of those who saw some action and actual killed is every smaller, but every time I hear someones story about knowing a guy who was this or that ,they seem to alway imply they were stone cold killers who been thru the deep sh##.

I see. I didn't get that impression. Not that it really matters when discussing these very special guys, the only one I got to know pretty well was a SEAL, and he'd seen and participated in some pretty hairy action in Nam. So had his brothers that I came to know as casual acquaintances. They were all great guys and didn't talk about their jobs.

I saw some stats somewhere a few months ago that suggested 4 out of every 5 people who claim to be a vietnam vet aren't.

I am sure google could find it.

Fixed it for you.


BTW, sometimes the goal is not to "fire a shot".

i had a friend who was in nam the same time i was in-country. '68. his trip was "interrogation". he still gets quite drunk each and every night. he is convinced god is going to send him to hell because of the many murders he committed. excellent craftsman, model employee. gets wasted every night. i knew a welder, his son fell off a ladder and died. absolutely wasted each and every night. i worked for two years with the senior enlisted spec ops man in the navy. midget ninja. he was there in '68. training RVN. anyone ever deal with the PRU?

I betting that would be most of the guys with the cardboard signs.

I can't even think of a valid number for the number of people that I have known in my lifetime. It is a large number. I can count on one hand the number of people that I KNOW have served and seen action in the special forces. No doubt that many people I know have seen the elephant but never mentioned it.

I thank any and all veterans & active duty that I do meet for thier service to our country.

You have the SEAL's we have the SAS.

Trying to choose a better team would be like trying to choose between Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee, either way the bad guys would lose.

The one who knows don't tell ... the one who tells don't know.

man you want to hear how many guys were alleged u.s. navy seals.................go hang out on some dive boats. i have been diving for 34 years now, and i cannot tell you how many guys have stated "yeah i used to be a SEAL", as they are putting their valve on backwards on their scuba tank! i am not pooing you!


you knew within about 60 seconds the ONLY CLAIM TO FAME THEY HAD WAS the monicker....................."I AM A FLOUNDER/SQUID!" as they burn thru a single 80 cu ft tank in 15 minutes and havent a clue about decom tables.


i have watched u.s. navy seal training on coronado island. they iz the baddest of the bad and they earn that title U.S. NAVY SEAL! same as any special ops nut case. i ran into some HALO guys. talk about NUTZ!


HALO= lets jump out of a perfectly good aircraft at 30,000 feet on oxygen, into the middle of the damn ocean, with rebreathers, weapons(HK's) and then swim ashore undetected and kill/blow everything up and then swim off into the sunset!



talk about balls the size of beach balls!!!! SHEESSSH! MY HATS OFF TO THEM ANYDAY!

Those that can, do, those that do...STFU about it....

I used to know a special forces type guy.. he didn't talk about it much, but I do know he was on a LRRP team in Nam and did some nasty things that bothered him decades later. the nightmares and bad memories got to be too much for him. his boss called one day and said he had not been into work all week and could we check on him.. I found him in his bed 3 days after he put a pillow on his chest and blew a hole thru his heart with a 357. 3 days marinating Au Jus in a small apt with a/c off in louisiana summer... he was ripe

The company I work for makes "stuff" for the military and we have a few ex special forces and military people. I just found out that one of my coworkers who I have known for 15 years was a Green Beret. Very low key and calm. Another one was a Ranger and he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. We have had plenty of people claim to be ex special forces but they don't stay very long when they realize the company they are in. We had a new guy a couple of years ago that had a Marine Corps sticker on his tool box. I asked him what he did in the service and he said he was in special forces. I said, " so you were Force Recon?" and he asked me what the fuch is that? I told him he would be wise to stfu because the real deal are present around him. We had another guy say he was an ex Navy Seal secretly employed by the government and was on call. He lived in a trailer park with his mom. I asked him what "Buds" stood for. It was funny watching him try to figure it out. It's pretty funny to watch these new guys come in and get humbled.

The guys that were the real deal aren't hanging out at the VFW telling stories over a beer. You also seem to assume that because we weren't at war our SOF spent their time on the couch eating chips and watching TV. The entire point of their existence is to accomplish missions in places they aren't supposed to be without anyone knowing they were there.

Seals are great, but are still human (i.e. not perfect). I wonder how the pilot of the downed secret stealth copter (the tail section of which is now surely on its way to China) feels after clipping the wall of the Osama compound and dropping it. It seems inexplicable that they didn't destroy the tail section along with the rest of the chopper. This, unfortunately, was a major F-up in what was otherwise a very successful mission.

i worked for an ex army super secret nam killing machine. he thought "incoming" meant mail call. in the south seas, i worked for an ex luftwaffe pilot. his father was ashamed of him. a real man fought from horseback with pistol and sword. what ever.