navy seal

SEAL Team 6 Testing New Communication Headsets To Improve Performance

US Navy Special Operators from SEAL Team 6 will be testing new communication headsets that are supposed to maintain their peak performance during operations.

The Commander of all Naval Special Operations asked industry leaders at a conference in Washington, D.C. to develop and demonstrate technologies that offer “cognitive enhancement” capabilities to boost his elite forces’ mental and physical performance.

“We plan on using that in mission enhancement,” Rear Adm. Tim Szymanski said. “The performance piece is really critical to the life of our operators.”
Szymanski expanded on his remarks in a brief interview later, saying he has his eye on a number of technologies, including pharmaceutical aids. But the results of one breakthrough involving the direct application of electrical stimulation to the brain have particularly caught his eye.
“In experiments, people who were watching these screens … their ability to concentrate would fall off in about 20 minutes,” Szymanski said. “But they did studies whereby a little bit of electrical stimulation was applied, and they were able to maintain the same peak performance for 20 hours.”
Developed for elite athletes, the headset purports to work by stimulating the brain to enter a state of hyper-elasticity, allowing users to learn better and more efficiently. In physical training, he said, the technology has proven useful in developing explosive power for athletes whose sports require vertical leaps or sudden starts.
For operators, the same system could improve shooting performance, Wingeier said.
“Whatever you’re training on as far as a movement-based skill,” he said, “if you do deep practice, hard repetition, this accelerates the benefit of that.”

There have been different kinds of technology being tested including transcranial electrical stimulation that helped operators maintain their focus longer as well as a headset that resembles a set of Beats headphones by Dr. Dre made by Halo Neuroscience.

The Navy is also looking alternative performance-enhancing experiments and pharmaceutical aids such as a blood testosterone in the near future.

To read the entire article from Business Insider, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

Passing Selection, Land Navigation Without the Use of a Protractor

We covered a variety of subjects during our Land Navigation articles and one of the points we made was to tie down all of your equipment as to not lose track of any of it. This will play into our hands-on video this morning.

I have received some questions on my Twitter account, which I normally use for my NFL football writing. However, if any of our readers have any questions about Selection or the SFQC in the future feel free to shoot me a message on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected] and I’ll be happy to answer them.

The question I received from Twitter this week was as follows: “you wrote about not losing any of your gear. …you caCan you plot your points and navigate without the use of a protractor?” The answer is yes… you can but it obviously isn’t the preferred method.

In the attached video below, I use my spare US Army Lensatic Compass. Which is teaching point #1. During my days in Panama, another unit jumped into Gatun Drop Zone, probably en route to the Jungle Warfare School at Ft. Sherman.

Part of the Gatun DZ had tall elephant grass that would be burned off. Obviously, someone (probably an officer or senior NCO) jumped in and didn’t have their compass tied down to their LBE. And moving thru the elephant grass it pulled it right off on the edge of the cleared area.

A couple of days later we did a jump there and on my way off the drop zone, I found it, all wet from the previous day’s rain. It has been my backup compass ever since. I say this as we spoke about the draws of Hoffman where the Land Navigation portion of SFAS is conducted in. And the same thing can easily happen to you. Tie it down. Tie everything down.

And the question takes into account a candidate either dropping his protractor on the ground or not securing it inside his map case. More hands-on training pieces including some video will be forthcoming.

Check out the video here:

Photo courtesy of DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.05.2017

Back to the pool today for some swimming after hitting the gym for some work on the shoulders and back. After the longer rucksack march on Sunday, this couple of days with shorter runs and a swim will have given your feet a break. But we’ll get the ruck back on tomorrow.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, behind the neck (go as heavy as possible)

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, front

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

300-meter swim in fatigues and boots

Stretch well after completion

Trump Expanding Special Operations To Target Militants in Somalia

President Trump is expanding the Pentagon’s ability to and the US Africa Command to launch a more effective offensive campaign against the al-Shabab militant group in Somalia. This signing off by the President should clear the way for more airstrikes and a more active presence of U.S. Special Operations Forces on the ground.

This move should also mark a shift in policy where in the past, Special Operations forces were forced to act in a defensive posture or “self-defense” of US advisors and their Somali counterparts. Now they will be able to take a more offensive role in helping Somali units recapture territory from al-Shabab and putting more pressure on them.

American forces have been increasingly active in Somalia in recent years. The Obama administration never abandoned its “signature strike” bombing program in either Somalia or Yemen, which allowed for U.S. drones and manned aircraft to target groups of men who merely showed signs and behaviors of belonging to terrorist groups. The largest of those strikes came in March 2016, when U.S. warplanes bombed an al-Shabab training camp north of Mogadishu, killing what the Pentagon estimated were about 150 militants.
Late last year, the Obama team declared Shabab an “associated force” of al Qaeda, putting the group under the same tenuous legal umbrella that allows the U.S. government to wage war in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
U.S. commandos on the ground in Somalia accompany government forces on patrol, and have the authority to shoot back or call in airstrikes if threatened, under rules set down by the Obama administration.

General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of Africa Command has said that welcomes the ability to call for attacks and airstrikes from his command HQs rather than have to wait for approval by Washington.

He said the shift in policy from the Obama administration will give his commanders the ability to launch offensive strikes that would allow his ability “to prosecute targets in a more rapid fashion.”

To read the Foreign Policy entire article click here:

Photo courtesy of US Africa Command

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.4.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR Leg Day is a fun day with a trip to the gym today. Make sure you keep track of your times on the run in your workout log book.

Training:

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter dumbbell)

3 x 10 Leg Extensions

3 x 10 reps Standing Arnold Press

3 x 20 Sit-ups

30 x “V” Ups

3-mile run

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.3.2017

After a long rucksack march on Sunday, the run today is of the shorter duration, with the PT geared toward the UBRR. Monday starts a new week, so get motivated and keep grinding.

Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

2 x 1-minute Pushups

2 x 1-minute Sit-ups

2 x 1 minute, Crunches

2 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure

2-mile run

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.2.2017

Today is a just a long ruck, with just a few stretching exercises to get you warmed up then it is hitting the trail and putting some miles in. Try to not only maintain the pace needed to pass the course but to better it.

Try to push as hard as you can without running. Push yourself harder in the second half of the course. And remember to drink plenty of water on the course. Don’t let yourself get dehydrated.

Training:

Warm up 3 x 30 seconds Mountain Climbers

Warm up 3 x 30 seconds Spider-Man Planks

10-mile Ruck march over varied terrain with a minimum 45-pound ruck

Stretch well after completion

SOF Selection PT Preparation 4.1.2017

Continue to prep for the UBRR with the focus on legs and lower body today. Notate your time in your training notebook. Remember to stretch well after completing your run and always stay hydrated. You won’t feel like drinking on cool or cold mornings but it is important to remain hydrated.

Training:

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter dumbbell)

3 x 20 Lunges with kettlebell

3 x 10 Leg Extensions

3 x 10 reps Standing Arnold Press

3 x 20 Push-ups

3 x 20 Crunches

30 x “V” ups

4-mile run

Stretch well after completion

Narrative for Silver Stars Awarded To Special Operations Forces Reveal Valor

Since 9/11 there have been over 1000 awards for valor consisting of the Silver Star or higher awarded to US troops, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Almost 20 percent of those have been awarded to Special Operations Forces, Navy SEALS, Green Berets, Delta Force commandos and Army Rangers.

The Pentagon and the Special Operations Command has released some of the narratives that accompanied the soldiers’ awards. And they read like a Hollywood script. Some of the narratives were published to give the public a glimpse of the valor of the Special Operations troops, however, the names were blacked out for security concerns.

Taliban insurgents blew a hole in the eastern wall of the fort in east central Afghanistan with a car bomb. The base housed a Provincial Reconstruction Team, a military-civilian unit tasked with helping Afghans rebuild their country. After the blast, 10 insurgents dressed in Afghan army uniforms flowed through the breach with rifles, grenades and suicide vests.
The Army special operator, identified only as “the Medical sergeant” raced to the “sound of gunfire and explosions.” He killed the insurgent closest to him, while two of his fellow commandos gunned down two more. Turning a corner with another commando, they confronted six more insurgents and faced a hailstorm of gunfire and grenades. One bullet struck the sergeant’s helmet, knocking him to the dirt where he continued to fight to blunt the attack.
Sped to a surgery team, the medical sergeant refused treatment, insisting on guarding the medical personnel until more troops arrived.
“His efforts directly supported containing the enemy to the edge of the airfield and saved the lives of (1,400) personnel,” the narrative states.

The Pentagon is reviewing the awards and considering many for reclassification to a higher award. Many Special Operations troops frequently are awarded awards below what they’d normally get in a conventional unit. That is one of the factors in being the “Quiet Professionals”.

To read the entire article from USA Today, click here:

Photo courtesy DOD

SOF Selection PT Preparation 3.31.2017

After a swim day, it is back to a heavy day of UBRR preparation with pushups, sit-ups, crunches, and a longer ruck march. Keep a PT prep log of your times on your runs and rucks and you should be noticing a decrease in the times as we forge ahead.

Don’t forget your stretching and this is a great time to begin breaking in a second pair of boots. If anything happens to your best pair or they get wet when in Selection, (and they will), having a good broken in second pair is very important.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

100 x pushups (no time limit)

100 x sit ups (no time limit)

100 x crunches

3 x 20 dips or until muscle failure

25 x V-ups

6-mile rucksack march (45-pound minimum) over varied terrain, note your time

Stretch well after completion