Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years

**Roguish Lawyer** · 03-17-2005, 07:51

by Kevin Dockery from interviews with Bud Brutsman

This is an interesting history of the SEALs which consists of history interspersed with lengthy "interviews" which are really 2-7 page autobiographical snippets. There is little discussion of the SEALs themselves; the focus is on the UDTs, NCDUs and Scouts and Raiders which preceded the SEALs. These units were started in WWII, some due to the Tarawa disaster, principally to surveil and clear approaches for amphibious landings. Then, they gradually moved up onto land. The history ends in Viet Nam, without thoroughly discussing the SEALs' role there.

It is a good read, but it gets rather repetitive. After a while, I found myself skimming over certain types of things like how tough selection (BUD/S or equivalent) was.

I suspect that there probably is more history that is omitted. While Tarawa does seem to be the genesis of the SEALs, one would think that there were Naval units that went ashore as raiders or whatever, other than the Marines, earlier. But that is speculation.

As relevant here, many of the interviewed sailors give lots of credit to SF for helping to get the SEALs off the ground. Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (ret.) Bill Bruhmuller, for example, writes: "A lot of young SEALs today don't realize this, but if it hadn't been for Special Forces, I'm not sure we would have gotten off of dead center as easily as we did. We owe a lot of thanks to them. And I don't hesitate to convey that to the young lads in the Teams today."

One open question I have is the extent to which SEALs are engaged in a UW/FID role, as opposed to just DA. I know they train HN SEAL-equivalent units, but there is some suggestion in the book that SEALs seek to some extent to perform roles that are similar to SF.

Anyway, not the greatest book ever, but not a bad read if you are interested in the subject.

**Bill Harsey** · 03-17-2005, 08:38

The beach on Ft. Pierce, Florida is the birthplace of modern SEALs.

Before the invasion of Normady this beach was declared top secret and was built into a replica of the German obstacles placed on the far western shores of Europe to keep the United States and her Allies from making a succesful invasion from the sea.

A very special group of Navy men was chosen to begin training there. They trained being dropped off of boats and swimming in charges to remove the obstacles.

This is where the Naval Combat Demolition Units or "NCDU's" were formed and trained for the D-Day invasion. The men of the NCDU Teams job on D- Day was to launch from boats and swim into the surf at all the landing spots for the invasion of Normady and place explosives on the German made anti-landing obstacles to clear the sea lanes for landing. They would be under heavy fire the entire time.

After the first wave of ships made it to shore the men of the NCDU continued to widen the sea lanes they had opened by swimming in more charges under extraordinary enemy fire. I believe I was told they took about 75 percent casualties that day.

This is why the UDT-SEAL Museum is on the beach in Ft. Pierce Florida.

Several years ago I was lucky enough to have been given a personal tour of the museum by Navy Chief "Patches" Watson who is a plank owner of SEAL Team Two and the Curator Emeritus of that museum.

Yes the Scouts and Raiders are given credit for beginning modern Naval Special Warfare.

JMH85 · 03-17-2005, 08:40

I might have to check it out. The last SEAL books I read were Warrior Elite and The Finishing School by Capt. Dick Couch. Both are really good books.

JMH85

**The Reaper** · 03-17-2005, 08:42

I would state that in order to do UW/FID effectively, you need a language capability, cultural orientation, and time in the AOR. Learning a second language opens your eyes to a number of cultutral issues at the same time. DA and SR is much easier to do well.

Beyond that, you need expertise in the subjects you are teaching, like small unit tactics up to the infantry battalion level or so.

You also need a strong background in politics, civics, ops, intel, etc. to understand the motivation and cause behind the opposition in order to counter it.

Maturity is essential, due to the sensitivities of the mission and requirement to maintain perspectives in dealing with the indig.

I will not take the bait and start another one of the Us vs. Them threads. All SOF have their strengths and weaknesses, and some are more appropriate for any given mission than others.

TR

**Roguish Lawyer** · 03-17-2005, 08:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I will not take the bait and start another one of the Us vs. Them threads. All SOF have their strengths and weaknesses, and some are more appropriate for any given mission than others.

Not intended that way. My understanding is they are doing primarily DA, with some training of HN units with similar functions, but not much more than that. There was some suggestion in the book (which does NOT address current units) that the idea was for the Navy to duplicate the Army's UW capabilities, or at least do something similar. But it does not appear to have developed that way.

Maybe Matchanu will be along to answer the question from his perspective.

**Roguish Lawyer** · 03-17-2005, 08:50

Or Ratliff? Welcome, by the way . . .