<p>Hey Guys... I was making this thread to ask if anyone attending the Naval Academy has considered special operations and which ones... I was curious what kinds of special operations that you can pick upon graduation of the Academy and if anyone has any stories or heard anything about certain ones?? Just curious because I am thinking about doing Special Operations but I am not exactly sure which I would like to join! Well I look forward to reading your posts! God Bless!</p>
<p>Back in 1991, SpecOps from USNA included things like EOD, Divers, etc.</p>
<p>Not to be confused with Special Warfare, which is the SEALs.</p>
<p>If that has changed, I don't know.</p>
<p>Now, if my comment about aviation is true, it applies ten times as much for SpecOps/SpecWar. Study your ass off (and work out like a nutcase) or you'll be disappointed on Service Selection Night.</p>
<p>bump, i'm interested. does anybody have any other info about special ops (EOD)?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.specwarnet.com/americas/eod.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.specwarnet.com/americas/eod.htm</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.eod.navy.mil/%5B/url%5D">http://www.eod.navy.mil/</a></p>
<p>Good show to watch on Discovery's the Militray Channel " Navy Bomb Squad". It goes throught the training and responsibilities of EOD techs in the Navy. Looks like some fun stuff. It plays every so often, it was on last night, I think it's on next on June 9th <em>Check You Local Listings</em> haha</p>
<p>thanks. is Spec Ops just the officer version of EOD Technician?</p>
<p>No. Spec Ops officers serve on Diving ships and also complete tours in diving and salvage so the enlisted can be from the EOD, mine warfare or deep sea diving and salvage. The diving guys can be ship husbandry/salvage, EOD or saturation.</p>
<p>I did tours on a dive ship, salvage squadron, deep sea research, marine mammal, ammunition plants/storage and shipping facilities and the best of all, the Experimental Diving Unit. The enlisted always worked hard and played hard and when a job was to be done, got it done. I didn't enjoy surface line all that much as it seemed too political; however, spec ops was always interesting and the jobs varied, and the people you worked with were top notch including the many civilians in ordnance and diving especially saturation diving and the marine mammal programs. Best of Luck.</p>
<p>"The Special Operations Officer training pipeline is determined by whether the officer is being assigned to Diving Operations or the Explosive Ordnance Disposal."
Don't fret, it seems that EOD is still an option for SPECOPS Officers. Really cool outlook on the SEALs/SpecOps Programs...Check it out</p>
<p>Anyone have any information about SpecWarfare (SEALs) coming out of the academy?</p>
<p>I actually got to speak to VADM Rempt about this when I met him at a USNA AA dinner. He said that about 100 from the C/o 2006 applied for SEALs, and at the time, he said they had narrowed it down to about 40. He said they had about 25 slots to fill this year. Like Z said, it's absurdly competitive, and you had better be the best at whatever you do when you submit your packet.</p>
<p>Yep.</p>
<p>I have to wonder though, if re-applying to BUDS is possible once you've spent some time in the fleet?</p>
<p>The problem is that by the time an officer gets into the fleet as a SWO, he has had so much schoool and training that transfers to another community are extremely difficult to swing. You've got to be GOOD.</p>
<p>One other thing to realize about being a SEAL Officer. You will do two or three tours as an Operator, and the rest flying a desk somewhere. It's not like the enlisted guys, who serve for YEARS as operators and trainers. I got this from a SEAL who was getting out at the same time I was specifically because he didn't want to fly a desk anymore.</p>
<p>If I had to choose, I'd rather be an enlisted SEAL than an officer. You get to do the fun stuff MUCH longer.</p>
<p>I really hope someone can come in here and prove me wrong, but I'm not confident of it. Sorry if I burst any bubbles....</p>
<p>so how hard is special ops to get into from usna? same as SEALs? i hope not. Is the training easier than BUDs and all that SEAL training? I'm pretty much wondering if navy specops is a realistic goal for life after the academy or if i would be floatin a boat in the middle of the pacific.</p>
<p>Well, in my day, SPECOPS was just a hair "easier" to get into than SPECWAR, simply because you had a few more billets available. Since I'm hearing numbers as high as 40 for BUDS these days (an outrageous number in my day), maybe things are a wee bit different now.</p>
<p>As for training, SPECOPS is pretty intense, but not BUDS intense from what I understand. I wish I knew more, but I'm afraid I'm not an expert in the area.</p>
<p>If your goal is to do SPECOPS after graduation, that's great. Just make sure you STUDY, WORK OUT, and STAY OUT OF TROUBLE at USNA. Being a leader among your peers helps immensely, too.</p>
<p>If it doesn't work out, then floatin' a boat is always an option. ;)</p>
<p>Z,</p>
<p>That's what I understand too (concerning the limited field time as a SEAL officer.)</p>
<p>I've seriously considered enlisting for this very reason, but being an officer has always been my goal, so I'm going to stick with my current track.</p>
<p>No argument there. If you were a true SEAL wanna-be (IOW, being a SEAL was THE most important thing), I'd advise you to reconsider (with the understanding that you had BETTER pass BUDS), but for general service (as well as opportunities like command and aviation), Officer is the only way. Helps a ton out in the civilian world afterwards, too.</p>
<p>These are all things that youngsters have to weigh, and CAREFULLY, when deciding what they want to do.</p>
<p>I, for one, would LOATHE having done all that training to become a SEAL only to be forced to fly a desk after three years. I'd rather climb through the ranks and be a SEAL Chief.</p>
<p>Besides, the Chiefs run the Navy anyway. Whoa unto him who faileth to heed that lesson!</p>
<p>Zaphod...did you play any sports at USNA?</p>
<p>Nope. I'm afraid that I've never been much of a physical animal. I got through just barely and by simply refusing to quit.</p>
<p>My sports were intramural baseball, football, and raquetball, and for the last two years the SCUBA Club, where I was in the pool every afternoon teaching classes.</p>
<p>If you are lucky enough to get an officer slot into BUD/S know that if you ring out you will not be allowed a second chance, this excludes medical roll backs, failed evolutions etc to an extent.
However if you enroll through the enlisted pipeline you will be able to have several tries at BUD/S (3-4).
Keep that in consideration. If you are lucky enough to get a slot, be GTG.</p>