COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Personnel Crunch
SEALs Face Recruiting Woes
Virginian-Pilot
May 08, 2007
VIRGINIA
BEACH -- The 14 young men gathered in a parking lot at Little Creek
Naval Amphibious Base came in two basic shapes: thin and muscular, and
thick and muscular. Huddled on a patch of grass, they stretched backs,
legs and arms as they braced for a physical and mental onslaught
intended to test their bodies and psyche.
The calm erupted when a chiseled special operations sailor dashed
toward the group with the speed and malice of an NFL linebacker.
"You're going to fail!" he screamed.
He was right. Odds are these men will fail -- only 1 in 4 who make it
to the SEALs' grueling basic training actually break into the elite
force.
The rigorous weeding out is one reason the SEAL ranks face a shortage.
They've also failed to recruit enough new SEALs and are having trouble
keeping veterans from leaving.
Read a related Defense Tech entry on the SEALs
New blood is needed more than ever as this commando force of 2,450 --
roughly half based here, the other half in Coronado, Calif. -- is being
asked to do far more because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
SEALs are stretched so thin and strained by the most vigorous
deployment schedule in their 45-year history that defense experts warn
about their readiness and ability to contain hot spots around the
world. These days, nearly 90 percent of Special Forces deployments are
focused in the Middle East, leaving other volatile areas unchecked.
Special Forces are needed to train small foreign units to quell
terrorist threats within their national borders, Vice Adm. Eric Olson,
deputy commander of Special Operations Command, told senators during an
April hearing.
It's perhaps the commandos' most crucial mission, he said: "We know that we cannot kill or talk our way to victory."
Pressures on the SEALs -- and throughout much of the military -- worry
retired Army Brig. Gen. John H. Johns, a counter insurgency expert and
Vietnam War veteran. "We just cannot continue this without breaking the
military, including the SEALs," he said in a recent interview with The
Virginian-Pilot.
Symptoms of a slowly breaking force are showing already throughout the
ranks: troop exhaustion, the exodus of promising young officers and
experienced non commissioned officers, worn-out equipment and overall
readiness for the next conflict.
The Pentagon has ordered a 25 percent increase in SEAL forces by 2011.
SEAL recruiters say they are making progress, but the Navy's top
admiral, Mike Mullen, fears that there aren't enough men to reach the
goal.
The Government Accountability Office found last year that the Navy has
filled just 86 percent of the enlisted SEAL jobs allocated to the
force. Between 2000 and 2005, SEALs failed to meet their authorized
enlisted levels, much less increase their ranks.
Private security firms such as North Carolina-based Blackwater USA have
lured active-duty military away from the service with high-paying
security contracts, retired SEALs say. Former commandos can make more
than $100,000 a year in the private army; a typical SEAL with 10 years
of experience earns about $57,000 in salary and housing allowances.
Combat pay and re-enlistment bonuses can push enlisted pay rates higher.
Don Shipley of Chesapeake spent two decades in the Navy as a SEAL, retiring in 2003 as a senior chief petty officer.
Shipley left because he doubted he would get a chance to lead a small
unit in Iraq. He signed on with Blackwater, working as a soldier for
hire.
"You wanted a piece of that war," he said. "That's why a lot of guys go."
Don Mann, a retired chief warrant officer from Williamsburg, spent more
than two decades in the SEALs and now works for a defense contractor.
Mann has deployed to the Middle East several times, usually for a few
weeks or months at a time, he said. He works for a security contractor
he declined to identify, citing the employer's security rules.
"They're high-paying jobs and very exciting, too," said Mann, who added that contractors can triple a Navy salary.
For active-duty SEALs, their work is becoming harder and longer. Prior
to the war, a regular rotation consisted of 18 months of training
followed by a six-month deployment. During flash points of the war,
SEALs trained just 12 months between deployments. They have recently
moved back to 24-month cycles.
Still, the schedule keeps SEALs away from home for weeks at a time.
The teams have been running at a high tempo, said SEAL Cmdr. Bob Smith, commanding officer of SEAL Team 2 at Little Creek.
"It takes away from professional development time and it cuts into
their family time," he said. "It's been somewhat of a stress."
SEALs have been criticized for washing out too many recruits with tough screening tactics.
Government investigators blamed weak recruiting and the difficulty of
completing the basic SEALs school, known as Basic Underwater
Demolition/SEAL training, or BUD/S. It's held at Coronado Naval
Amphibious Base near San Diego.
SEALs turn a sailor into a warrior in six months. Recruits begin with
eight weeks of basic conditioning, battered with constant running,
swimming and hours spent in cold Pacific waters. After three weeks,
recruits reach Hell Week, during which they endure a 5-1/2 -day
crucible of constant physical and mental stress, with no more than four
hours total sleep.
The second and third phases of training teach recruits diving and land
warfare techniques. The few survivors -- historically 25 percent of the
class -- receive 18 more months of training before they can join a team
and deploy.
SEALs have begun to make adjustments to the training regimen but insist that they're not softening standards.
"You've got to prove to us that you're ready for the challenge," said
Master Chief Petty Officer Victor LiCause, a SEAL at Navy Recruiting
Command in Tennessee.
In 2005, the Navy temporarily eliminated the winter session of
training, traditionally the hardest to survive, to lower attrition
rates.
Since April 2006, the Navy has hired 28 former members of the special
warfare community in recruiting districts across the country to mentor
candidates. These mentors, or "motivators, " help young men set up
training schedules and prepare for the rigors of BUD/S and life in
special warfare.
LiCause said the force hasn't reached out to potential candidates. For
example, if a young man wanted to talk to a SEAL, he usually had to
live near San Diego or Virginia Beach, LiCause said.
The mentoring program is starting to pay dividends, he said. Shortly
before entering the program, every candidate must pass the physical
screening test. Motivators provide training tips, administer practice
screening tests, and stay in steady contact with recruits.
The pass rate for the pre-BUD/S physical screening test has jumped from
34 to 77 percent since the mentor program began last year, LiCause
said. For the first time in several years, the SEALs' Coronado school
is filled up.
In February, the SEALs had a higher-than- normal success rate during Hell Week, LiCause said.
The Navy has backed the effort with bonuses.
A recruit collects $40,000 for completing basic training. Retention
bonuses also have increased to compete with private-sector salaries. A
mid-career SEAL can earn $75,000 for a five-year contract and $150,000
for a six-year contract.
The Navy always assumed that ambitious young men would find the SEALs,
said Dick Couch, a SEAL officer during the war in Vietnam and author of
several books about Special Forces. But that passive approach has not
been working, he said.
"The Navy took their eye off the recruiting ball," he said.
The Navy recruiting command last year named special warfare its top
priority. The force once known as "the silent service" has begun a
vigorous public relations campaign. Television commercials tout their
stealthiness.
SEALs are traveling the country in a tractor-trailer, bringing the
world of special warfare to high school sports tournaments and NASCAR
races.
The work of the elite force is high-risk and demanding -- which is why the SEALs bristle at lowering their standards.
The ongoing wars have repeatedly tested their skills.
In June 2005, SEALs suffered the largest one-day loss in their history
during a rescue mission in Afghanistan. Commandos flew to save a small
reconnaissance team under attack by an overwhelming enemy force in a
mountainous region.
The helicopter carrying eight Special Operations soldiers and eight
SEALs was shot down by insurgents, killing all aboard. Three of the
four SEALs on the reconnaissance mission were slain. Six men came from
SEAL teams based at Little Creek.
Despite the dangers, the test of combat draws men to the SEALs.
Ben Smith, a young fleet sailor, completed the screening test last
spring at Little Creek despite the prediction of failure by the
screaming commando.
Smith's scores indicated he was a strong candidate to reach basic SEAL training.
At the end of the timed physical screening test -- a 500-yard swim,
1.5-mile run, sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups -- he graded at the top of
the group.
Smith, 24, finished first in the 500-yard swim. He easily bested the
minimum standards in other events and exceeded the higher levels the
Navy calls competitive. When a recruit hits the higher, competitive
levels, their chances of surviving basic training increase
substantially.
As a varsity swimmer at his Washington high school, Smith wondered if
he could make it as a SEAL. He spent a couple of years in college, then
landed a technology job with the government. He left his $60,000-a-year
salary two years ago to enlist.
After finishing his screening test, Smith beamed about his scores and offered swim tips to fellow recruits.
"This is really what I want," he said.
He was determined to get off his ship, the frigate Hawes, where he was
a hull technician. He worked out six days a week and had taken the
physical screening test "20 or 30 times."
Smith already had taken one trip to BUD/S, but he fell ill and had to
leave. "I just wasn't ready," he said. He had wanted a second chance
with the SEALs before his two-year Navy contract expired.
"I loved it. It's the only thing I'd want to do in the Navy," he said.
During the next several months, Smith pushed for another chance with
the SEALs. The Navy finally told him he would have to deploy with his
ship before he could join a new BUD/S class.
On Jan. 27, the Hawes left Norfolk for a six-month deployment --
without Smith. One day earlier, a disappointed Smith celebrated his
two-year anniversary in the Navy by filling out his separation papers.
He couldn't wait for a second chance with the SEALs.
His Navy career was over with just two weeks of SEAL training.
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