Tough Enough?

There are jobs that are justifiably called tough. Building skyscrapers is certainly tough. How about being a cop? Firefighter? There's no argument there. It takes a special person to punch the clock every day in any of these jobs. But, how about a job that, just to be considered, you have to be able to physically perform better than 95 percent of your peers.

Just to qualify for the elite Navy SEALS, a candidate has to swim 500 yards in twelve and a half minutes. Then, after a ten-minute rest, do 50 sit-ups. Rest two minutes then do 42 push-ups. Take two minutes and recover. Six pull-ups take as long as you want. Then, with long pants and boots, run a mile-and-a-half in eleven and a half minutes. If you can do this, the Navy thinks you might have what it takes to be a SEAL.

Being a SEAL is the ultimate challenge in the Navy, said Lt. Fernando Rivero, a Navy spokesman for the SEALS on their nationwide tour to attract new blood. "We can talk you into this," he said, "but we can't talk you through it." The washout rate for SEAL candidates is more than seventy percent. But for those who make it through the 62-week SEAL training, the rewards are great, including a $40,000 bonus once training is complete.

The term SEAL stands for sea, air and land. A fully trained SEAL is as close to a one-man force as a person can be. Every SEAL is trained in diving, combat swimming, navigation, demolitions, weapons and parachuting.

Right now the Navy's biggest challenge is to replenish its SEAL ranks. Like a lot of other businesses, it is getting older. And while restocking the shelves, the Navy also wants a little more diversity in this corps. If it can accomplish its goal of new blood and diversity, the Navy says, the rest will take care of itself.

"Our retention rate is pretty high," said Master Chief Victor Licause, a SEAL who has given more than two decades to the cause. Once a SEAL, "you don't want to leave," said Licause. Though the SEAL washout rate is high, its retention rate is nearly 90 percent.

The SEALS wrapped up a nationwide tour that began in Chicago and will ended in Seattle in late May. Part of its tour is participating in workouts with local fire departments and inviting the public to take its qualifying challenge. A recent SEAL challenge in Keller, Texas, attracted more than a thousand men and women.

The SEALS, who have been in existence since 1962 when President Kennedy had them created, take only male candidates between 17 (with parental consent) and 28. A candidate must be a U.S. citizen or have all immigration papers in order. They must be high school graduates or be able to pass the Navy's equivalent test. They must also be physically fit with eyesight that meets Navy standards.

The program isn't for everyone. "There were times I didn't think I would finish the training," said Licause. "But I thought that others had done it before . . . I can do it," he said. "Also, I didn't want to "ring the bell," he said. The bell is exactly what it says. Any SEAL recruit is free to leave at anytime. But in order to leave, you literally have to go before your peers and ring the bell, No one wants to do that.

"If you make it through the toughest training youll ever do, said Rivero, you're a SEAL
for life." You'll work as a part of a team and no matter the mission, "you'll never be left behind." No SEAL ever has. "Everyone comes home," said Rivero.