Home

SWAT Officer – I Think About One Failure

October 2, 2013
No Comments NSWC

Many have written to me that they are wanting me to bring more stories of, “Have You Ever Been A Tadpole?“, asking readers who have been to BUD/S to come forward and share with us their SEAL trainee experiences in Coronado.

I wanted them to share with all of us, (especially those young men who are planning to give it their best shot at BUD/S) their story on not making it through the SEAL training program.

The first response, “The Quitter“, was the first story of many different perspectives of a program that few graduate from.

The second response, “The Smurf – A BUD/S Story”, gave an interesting “shorter” perspective.

The third response “X-Division – A True Coronado Story”, comes from an individual who wanted to be a SEAL and ended up in the SWCC training program.

The next response comes from one of our homeland heroes; a current police narcotics officer and SWAT team member.  Thank you for sharing your story with all of us.  Your past experience provides wisdom to so many others.  Thank you also for protecting us now as a police officer.  I salute you!

“Hello, I was a member of BUD/S class 196 almost 20 years ago now. I, like so many others, quit. My time came just a few days before Hell Week and that decision has haunted me in some way almost every day of my life since.
I spent 10 years in the US Navy. I now have a successful career as a cop. I am a narcotics detective and a SWAT team member. I am a successful husband and father. I do not consider my life a failure, but…. everyday, I think about one failure, my failure at BUD/S. 
I wanted to be a SEAL since I was in middle school. I dreamed and read and even visited NAB before even joining the Navy. My father was a 23 year veteran of the Navy. All that dreaming and wanting did not make me a Navy Seal.
I have read now that there is a prep course for students before they get to BUD/S. This I think I a wonderful thing. And, I hear it is improving the graduation rate. Another wonderful thing.
If I could give advice, I would tell people who think they have what it takes; first of all, try it, no matter what, you will definitely learn something about yourself and what you are or are not capable of. Second, don’t make decisions while your in the middle of an evolution. I know this has been said before but its very true. Third, think real hard if you find yourself with that self doubt coming into your head, making you think you need to quit. You could end up like me a man with a lifetime full of regret. 
Former Tadpole RM2/IT2″

Leave a Reply