Denmark, 1980
Posted on 01/14/2012 7:49:44 AM PST by South40
Coronado, there from the start, remains the elite community's base
The Navy’s SEALs turn 50 this month. President John F. Kennedy, a Navy man himself, would probably be proud.
Created at Kennedy’s behest in 1962 to counter Communist guerrillas in Vietnam, the former World War II frogmen have transformed into one of the U.S. military’s elite forces, doing everything from traditional fighting to stealth missions to taking out pirates.
And while famously tight-lipped, these sea-air-land fighters created a story too big to keep quiet last year: The May night raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
(Excerpt) Read more at utsandiego.com ...
Or drunk.
Denmark, 1980
Ping
Already here I see. :-)
SEALS, a rare successful government program.
Yep. It’s sure changed since I was in, though. Most of my training would not have any resemblence to what they are doing now, focused on land ops in the ME. We were still stealthy jungle fighters, since all of the E-6s and above were VN combat vets. If you said in 30 years SEALs would be wearing heavy body armor, helments etc, I would not have imagined it. My training was closer to “VC tactics,” and now it’s closer to SWAT. If anybody had put a white light on a rifle in 1982, he would have been declared insane. Different era entirely.
When I was in high school, I ordered a book from our high school book club. It was about Italian frogmen in WWII. The stories were fascinating.
I just was thinking that I have heard very little of them since. I guess being on the wrong side does make a difference.
I also remember my Father mentioning that German frogmen tried unsuccessfully to destroy the pontoon bridge they were building over the Rhine.
Anyway, Congrats to the Seals and all of America’s elite troops.
happy birthday...
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.’
—George Orwell
And God bless all our men and women in uniform!
Sweet ‘do!
I have always been fascinated by military history. Even as a small child I read about ancient battles and ancient warriors such as Achilles, Ajax, Hector etc.
I think the first elite troops were the Persian Immortals. These 10,000 were given special training along with the best food, equipment etc. Then there were the Spartans who I consider to be somewhat dysfunctional due to the extremes they went to, to create an unbeatable army. Whatever, for a couple of hundred years they were the best in the world.
I think Alexander’s entire Macedonian Army would have qualifies as elite. By the time Alexander took over, Phillip had turned them into hardened veterans of countless battles.
There was also another dysfunctional group who were fierce fighters, the Theban sacred band.
I guess America’s original elites were the marines. I remember that Robert E. Lee chose marines to root out John Brown’s terrorists at Harpers Ferry. This was while Lee was an American officer.
I once mentioned to some “Sons of Confederate Veterans” in Savannah that I had ancestors who were in the First and Sixth Florida, also the 18th Alabama. I was surprised just how knowledgeable they were on history. They knew all about the First and Sixth Florida and paid me the compliment that they were considered elite troops by Lee.
In WWII I guess the Marines, Rangers, and Airborne were the real stand out groups with smaller ones also doing amazing things. I recall in Saburo Sakai’s book he mentions that American Marines had landed on New Guinea and were “fighting like demons”. The fact that the Japanese feared them is a good indication just how fierce they were.
Now we have so many groups that I can not keep up with them all but they are clearly great soldiers. Probably better than we deserve considering how the country now treats the military.
I watched some Seal and Ranger training on TV, also some of the Air Force elites too. The first thing which came to mind is I would not even try to compete with those men. No way I could do what they were doing and I think I was a very fine athlete in my youth.
Same opinion.....different generations, evaluations, technology etc ...
For which we are forever grateful ...
We had a long hair chit. Those were the days.
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