What is hell week?
Five and a half days of soaking, screaming, and exhausting military training. Running off of 4 total hours of sleep, Naval officers have put everything on the line to prove they are worthy of being a part of one of the eight seal teams. Since 1943, this week has been training America's most elite special forces operations unit. The Navy Seals!
The year is 1943, Adm. Ernest J. King - the commander-in-chief of the US. Fleet, ordered that Naval Demolition Units be formed. Months later training began at Amphibious Training Base in Solomons, Maryland. However, it was later moved to Fort Pierce, Florida. This new location was under the leadership of LTDP Draper Kauffman. The first of graduates were volunteers in the Navy and those who trained alongside the other SOF units; Scouts, and Raiders (SOF - Special Operations Forces).
Hell week was now an easy thing to get through. 76% of officers quit the training week, without even fully completing it. In interviews and documentaries with Navy Seals, they said, “Hell week wasn't about proving how strong or fast you were, it was about proving that you have the mentality to get through anything.”
Navy Seals have rightfully earned their place among the top Special Operations Forces. From locating Bin Laden, fighting on D-Day, pushing Okinawa, and fighting for foreign freedom in Vietnam, it makes sense why the training program is so tough. Even looking at who is known as the toughest man alive (David Goggins), he has been through the seal program twice. He described it as one of the most challenging things he's ever done.
In conclusion, the Navy Seals Hell Week has been going on for over 80 years and has supplied the US. Military with some of the best-trained officers that the world has ever seen. Standing in the face of battle from one war to the next and showing the rest of the world that America develops the perfect soldier to accomplish anything no matter the challenge or sacrifice, in order to protect the country that we love so much.
https://www.nsw.navy.mil/NSW/History/WWII/#:~:text=MAY%20%2D%20JUN%201943,BUD%2FS)%20training%20classes.
navysealmuseum.org/about-the-navy-seal-museum/the-origin-of-the-national-navy-udt-seal-museum#:~:text=It%20was%20officially%20called%20“Introduction,and%20endure%20the%20same%20hardships.
Why do you think so many people fail Hell Week?
Would you like to be a Navy Seal?
If you had to be stationed on any operation what would it be and why?
Replies
Lovce the topic and very well done Grant!
Hell Week sounds very tough on the people mentally and physically. I think it makes sense that it's when people start dropping out because it gives you a taste of what being in the force is really like, and some people realize that they can't handle it.
Super true, Hell week sounds just like the name! I agree that many poeple drop because they can handle what Spec. Ops is like. Unlike Basic Training this system is designed to pump out the strongest and best soldiers in all of america. But yes, noumerous people can not handel it.
Hell week sounds like a very mentally and physically tough week that only the toughest people can get through. Most people, including me, would not have the mental toughness to get even a day in. I think being a Navy Seal would be a great thing to do for my country, but it is not a job I want or could do. If I was stationed anywhere I would want to be in Iceland because it's so pretty and a place I want to visit.
I think its safe to say most of these people failed hell week. I'd have to assume most people failed because they didn't know what to expect and werent prepared for the occasion, which I understand, becasue who would just know how to prepare for something like this. You'd need go tactics and skills. You'd have to be strong mentally and physically.
I think that so many people fail hell week is because they are not read for the challanges that they have to face and they go into the challanges thinking this is going to be easy and don't tell themselves they will have to put extra work into it. I personally would not like to be a navy seal, I think that it is very cool what these people do for us and our country.
I completly agree, I think that a majority of the people going into the program have focaused on physicaly training for the siturations that the week will bring on. When the time comes, they find out that it is mentality based, and they are underprepared.
I think that many of these people failed because they were not ready and expecting the challenges that were put infront of them. I don't think that I would be able to be a Navy Seal because I know I don't have the mental or physical strength and readiness that many have.
I think they failed because they did not have enough mental strength and perhaps not even physical strength, it is something quite rude and exasperating if you have not slept enough and you still have to put in physical effort. I find it interesting but I don't think I'll be able to withstand so much pressure. I'm not sure which operation I would like to be in.
I would never be a navy seal becuase I don't think I am mentally strong enough and it is so phsically taxing. It is for these reasons that so many people fail Hell week. To be honest I don't know what operations there are so I couldn't choose one.