The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228 by Dick Couch

(New York: Crown, 2001), 386

This book is an impressive look at what it takes to become a Navy SEAL. Dick Couch (a former SEAL) followed Class 228 through their BUD/S training and chronicles the pain and cold they overcame as a team. It is almost incomprehensible what they volunteered to endure, and the 15% graduation rate (20 out of the 137 who were at one time listed on the roster) speaks to the difficulty of the training. Reading this as a civilian increases my gratitude and respect for these men, and gives some perspective to their performance in combat we read about in books such as Lone Survivor.1

This quote captures two of the themes of Couch's chronicle of Class 228:

Very few trainees see this business for what it really is—a long and painful road to a warrior culture, one with ongoing physical demands and hardship as a way of life. They don't fully understand the SEAL saying "Training is never over" until they're in it. Some also questioned their suitability for this warrior calling, which entails the taking of human life, and they realized this profession was not for them. I once asked a highly successful attorney friend of mine why he was so good at his job. "Most guys with law degrees just want to be lawyers," he told me. "They don't really, and I mean really, want to practice law." I think it's the same with BUD/S trainees. A lot of them would like to call themselves SEALs, but perhaps not so many of them are prepared to do the work of Navy SEALs. (168-169)

First, the SEALs are a part of a warrior culture, which is a way of life.

Second, these men choose greatness. There are civilian equivalents, like the attorney mentioned. But to be great requires a choice, and it requires sacrificing almost everything else to achieve that greatness.

Notes


Contents


Introduction

  • "SEALs operate best in small units, and a key to their success has always been teamwork." (5)
  • Kim Erskin in Grenada: "Each thought he was going to die in that open field. Even Navy SEALs know fear, and here, we're talking about paralyzing, oh-please-God-no, pee-in-your-pants fear. They were scared, but they were also very well trained. In life-and-death situations, mortal fear can cause men to freeze—-totally immobilize them. Often, only the confidence instilled by repetition and drill can get them moving. Often, there is a fine line between preparation and bravery." (8)
  • "The account of Kim Erskin and the SEALs at the radio tower on Grenada is extreme, but perhaps not unusual. Intelligence about enemy troop strength and opposition forces is usually accurate. The radios usually work. But what if they don't? Then, it's all about the men in the fight. Are they true warriors? In the face of overwhelming odds, do they have the training and the will to fight and win?" (11)
  • "[SEAL training] is a sorting process that finds- young men who would rather die than quit, then instills them with a relentless desire to fight and win as a team." (12)

Chapter 1: The Beginning

  • "When one man in the class screws up, sometimes the whole class pays the tab. Sometimes a single boat crew pays or just the class leaders. But someone always pays." (18)
  • BUD/S: 2-week indoctrination, First Phase (conditioning), Second Phase (diving), Third Phase (weapons and tactics)
  • BUD/S Screening Test:
    • 500 yard swim using breaststroke or sidestroke in 12:30
    • 42 pushups in 2 min
    • 50 situps in 2 min
    • 6 dead hang pull ups
    • 1.5 mi run in 11:30 wearing boots and long pants
  • Instructor Reno: "You stay in the box and I'll help you. you get outside the box and I'll hammer you." (24)
  • "The students run six miles each day just to eat. BUD/S trainees live on the run and are always cold and wet." (26)
  • "The secret to underwater swimming is going deep early. The trainees learn that if they swim along the bottom in deeper water, the increased partial pressure of oxygen in their lungs will allow them to hold their breath longer and swim farther." (28-29)
  • PT: Focus is abs (sit-ups, leg levers, flutter kicks) and arms (pushups)
  • "Your best defense against the pain and abuse is your personal motivation and your class spirit." (33)
  • "The guys in the teams are a brotherhood. You'll be closer to them than you ever were to your friends in high school or college. You'll live with them on deployment and some of you may even die with them in combat. But never, ever forget your family. Family comes before teammates. Most of us will grow old and die in bed, and the only people who will be there to help us die will be our family. Put your family first. I want you to never forget that." (44)
  • "I think BUD/S training may be like childbirth; the pain is quickly pushed aside by the joy of having it behind you." (48)

Chapter 2: First Phase

  • "Secured to a stanchion just outside the First Phase office is a famous BUD/S institution—the bell. Tradition calls for a student who quits in First Phase to ring the bell three timesa ND place his helment on the grinder." (55)
  • Those that failed the 32 minute time for a 4-mile run on the beach are sent into the water:
    • "Over the years, the BUD/S medical department has developed an immersion table based on water temperature and activity. Hypothermia is no stranger at BUD/S training." (56)
    • "Those guys are winners; you guys are losers. You better start taking this training seriously of you're not going to be around here much longer. They paid the price up front and now they et a little time off. You didn't. You failed. And now you're paying a bigger price." (57)
  • Advice from CO Captain Ed Bowen (71)
    • Don't give into the pressure of the moment. Finish the day.
    • Take it one day at a time.
  • Six keys to getting through Hell Week: a positive attitude, teamwork, guts, a never-quit mentality, a belief in yourself, and focus (96)
  • "Your reputation in the teams will begin by how you handle yourself when you're cold, wet, and tired." (96)

Chapter 3: The Week (Hell Week)

  • "To survive Hell Week, a trainee has to do two things: take the punishment being dished out, and get past thinking about the punishment to come. Often, the latter will break a man quicker than the former." (118)
  • "BUD/S is a sorting process to identify those have a will to win—to win under any conditions." (131)
  • "It pays to be a winner—always." (153)
  • "All right, guys, I want you to take a minute and think about this. No matter what you do in the future, remember this moment; you men just finished Hell Week. Few men are able to do what you just did. Whether you stay in the Navy or get out and run a latte stand—whatever—never, never forget this moment or what you achieved here this week. When things get tough in lite, this will be your benchmark. Others will quit, but you won't. Because if you can do this, you can do anything, right?" (156)
  • "Each man finds a brown T-shirt with his name on it. It's only a cheap military T-shirt of a particular color, but it is everything—they're brown shirts." (157)

Chapter 4: Beyond the Week

  • "Hell Week is a curious and unique event. I'm not sure I understand it much better now, having just watched it, than when I went through my Hell Wek some thirty years ago. I do know that it changes a man forever. Future challenges and many of life's triumphs are now calibrated by this experience." (162)
  • Hell Week used to be the first week of training: "train-the-best, discard-the-rest" philosophy (163)
  • Officers train with their men: "The idea that officers have to train and suffer with their men, especially suffering on this scale, is unique in American military service. Today, officer trainees, like SEAL platoon officers, have to lead while under pressure, and have to suffer the same hardships as their men. SEAL work is a harsh, physically demanding business. If an officer is to lead from the front, he needs to be, at a minimum, as physically capable as the men he expects to follow him." (163)
  • History of the SEAL teams (163-165)
  • "One thing is clear: the instructors still have great power and influence. The skill with which they mete out punishment and approval, to individuals and to the class, has a tremendous bearing on the outcome. A large percentage of Class 228, like those classes before them, are led through or driven from training by their BUD/S instructors. It's a challenging time, both physically and emotionally, for trainees as well as staff. What's at stake for the individual trainee is the personal goal of a young life. For the instructors, it's the future composition of the SEAL teams and the character of this warrior culture." (167)
  • "Naval duty, both aboard ship and on shore, has a way of growing boys into men—helping them to sort out what they really want in life." (168)
  • "Very few trainees see this business for what it really is—a long and painful road to a warrior culture, one with ongoing physical demands and hardship as a way of life. They don't fully understand the SEAL saying "Training is never over" until they're in it. Some also questioned their suitability for this warrior calling, which entails the taking of human life, and they realized this profession was not for them. I once asked a highly successful attorney friend of mine why he was so good at his job. "Most guys with law degrees just want to be lawyers," he told me. "They don't really, and I mean really, want to practice law." I think it's the same with BUD/S trainees. A lot of them would like to call themselves SEALs, but perhaps not so many of them are prepared to do the work of Navy SEALs." (168-169)

Chapter 5: Into the Sea

  • "Midweek, one of the students lets the dip tank overflow onto the grinder. This minor infraction does not escape the attention of Instructor Spence Calvin. After their weekly four-mile timed run on the beach that day, Calvin makes them do it a second time. In addition to the two dives, and counting the trips to chow, they log about fourteen miles on the run that day. But that's what BUD/S students do. They absorb long days, cold water, periodic harassment, and a lot of running. They do this day after day, and they do it on very little sleep." (221)

Chapter 6: Across the Land

  • "Navy SEALs are proud of the fact that they have never left a man behind in combat. This mind-set begins here, where they learn that they can be totally exhausted and still carry a man out on the run." (243)
  • The BUD/S mentality: one evolution at a time, work as a team, get the job done, put out 110 percent, and don't piss off the instructors. (243)
  • Dick Couch's graduation speed (274)

Chapter 7: Beyond the Basics

  • 20 graduated while 137 failed. 10 of the original 114 (279)
  • Parenting: "I did learn something of Class 228 when I met their parents. Uniformly, they were men and women who had high expectations of their children; parents who set goals and subscribe to a strong work ethic. I sensed there was a commitment to personal and family values in their homes. It was difficult to tell who was more proud, the parents or the graduates, but few of the parents were surprised that their son made it through BUD/S. They expected it and were simply delighted to attend the graduation and share in their son's accomplishment." (280)
  • "I personally have come to believe the single trait that will get a man through BUD/S is the will to win. The desire to win is different from refusing to lose, or not quitting." (280)
  • "Eighteen-Delta is a twelve-month, intensive medical training course designed for Army Special Forces medics...Luttrell and others like him may be responsible for keeping their teammates alive and moving under the most extreme circumstances." (282)

  • Commonplace book: "Keep a wheel book with you and write things down" (295). For review board: "Bring your wheel book with you so you can take notes on anything you miss and can get back to us with the answer." (296)

    Admiral Eric Olson's guidelines for a SEAL officer:

    • You are not expected to know everything yet, but you are expected to work and lead at the upper levels of your knowledge, skill, and authority.
    • Be a teammate. What's good for the team has priority over what's good for you.
    • Demonstrate professionalism in all that you do. Be sharp, look sharp.
    • Learn the capabilities and limitations of your people and equip-ment. Acknowledge that the prime measure of your performance is their performance.
    • Realize that your people are sharp, motivated, aware, and skilled.
    Teach, coach, guide, and mentor your force, but don't claim experience you don't have.
    • Never sacrifice what you know is right for what is convenient.
    • Communicate up, down, and across the force to build maximum situational awareness for leaders at every level.
    • Live the life of a leader-one of values, character, courage, and dis-cipline. Use your off-duty time constructively, doing things that make you or others better in some way.
    • Realize that what you do and what you tolerate in your presence demonstrate your standards far more than what you say.
    • Empower your subordinate leaders to work to the full level of their authority. Cause them to take responsibility for their leadership decisions. Train them, trust them, and hold them to standard.
    • Understand that this is not a popularity contest. You don't have to be liked to be effective, but you have to be respected.
    • Above all, remember that you serve as a member of a most demanding branch of a most honorable profession. Treat every day in Naval Special Warfare as an opportunity and a privilege.

Five core tenets of the naval commando:

  1. We commit to the team and its mission.
  2. We persevere.
  3. We prize victory.
  4. We excel in ambiguous environments.
  5. We keep one foot in the water.

Epilogue

  • Read two "fine books": Black Hawk Down (307), The Soul of Battle (313), and Brave Men-Dark Waters (317)
  • "A Navy SEAL and a cruise missile are at the opposite ends of the military response spectrum...In the past, Americans have fought their wars on principle, in the cause of freedom or to oppose tyranny. If it was worth killing for, it was worth dying for. Now technology has given us an option to the dying, at least on our side of the kill ledger." (308)
  • "The defense against cruise missiles can be as simple and as low tech as several meters of reinforced concrete. Intelligence estimates suggest that dictators like Mu'ammar Gadhafi and Saddam Hussein may be doing just that to protect their weapons of mass destruction." (309)
  • "The Middle East, with its unique blend of religious fundamentalism, despotism, and petroleum-driven wealth, could quickly draw us into another regional war. So could Korea or Taiwan. The same possibilities exist along the Pakistani-Indian-Chinese border and in the former Soviet republics." (309)
  • "Each situation is different; each calls for a different application of force and different rules of engagement. These ROEs, often driven by bureaucrats in Washington or allied military protocol, can be complex and unwieldy. Today, there are a lot of young American military peacekeepers riding around in Humvees with ROEs the size of telephone directories, and these rules still don't cover all the bases...The rules don't cover all the contingencies, nor are they of much comfort to the soldier whose action may have been legal but, in hindsight, ill-advised. Some situations defy a set of regulations. In Somalia, Muslim women came at the young Rangers with automatic weapons swaddled with their infants. In such cases, the ROEs quickly deteriorate; a moment's hesitation can cost you your life. It becomes kill them all and let God sort them out. The difference between the rules of engagement and a war crime may be a twenty-three-year-old's split-second decision: Do I shoot, or don't I?" (310-311)
  • "The number of policy makers today who understand the culture of the military is less than it was several decades ago. And that number is shrinking. I believe this applies as well to the media and those who report on military affairs. There is a widening gulf between the general military culture and the civilian culture of the nation it serves." (312)
  • Women in SEAL teams? "It is a basic question of priorities: gener equality of combat effectiveness...The gain in gender equality would come at a tremendous cost in operational effectiveness." (315-316)
  • "Warriorship is as much a tampering of the spirit as a physical rendering...He enters the arena from a firm moral grounding—a worthy platform from which to project his power." (317)
  • Orr Kelly in Brave Men-Dark Waters says the SEALs are still looking for their niche in the post-Cold War U.S. Military. "I would submit that they have found their niche: the self-generation and maintenance of a small, highly capable warrior culture. They are talented generalists with a specific set of maritime special operations skills. This makes them highly flexible and very adaptive war fighters. Their mission could be almost anything, anywhere, with very little time to plan or rehearse. Then all those years of training and team building become a smart investment for the nation. These warriors can come from under the sea, from the air, or across the land. And when they get there, they can fight and win." (317)

Topic: Navy SEALs

Source

Created: 2025-02-20-Thu
Updated: 2025-06-03-Tue

  1. Marcus Luttrell, the "lone survivor" was in Class 228 from Phase 2 on, and appears in the story on these pages: 135, 183, 194, 200, 210, 235, 258, 282 ↩