“By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.” These words taken from the SEAL Ethos allude to the philosophy of the SEAL community that no SEAL can ever rest on his laurels or be satisfied with his current level of knowledge, skill, physical fitness, or any other aspect of serving as a Navy SEAL. This philosophy has been summarized in a statement known to all SEALs—Earn Your Trident Every Day!
This statement, as powerful as it is brief, reminds every SEAL that there is always something that he can do to improve, and that in the SEAL community, continuous improvement is something that is expected. It is simply what SEALs do, and it applies to everything they do, for as long as they live.
“Earn Your Trident Everyday” means that every day one must push past the limits of yesterday's performance or achievements. It means turning weaknesses into strengths and strengths into superior capabilities. It implies that perfection is the goal; and that at the end of every day every SEAL must be able to reflect that he did everything possible to improve himself and, by extension, his beloved SEAL brotherhood.
Despite the grueling training a newly-designated SEAL has undergone by the time he reports into his first operational unit, he still has a long way to go before his teammates are willing to put their lives in his hands. A new SEAL has much to learn and experience before he will be counted amongst the proven and seasoned SEALs in a unit. The traditional “welcome aboard” reception that awaits new SEALs has evolved over time as a way of impressing upon them that even though they now wear the Trident, they are still new and can’t be fully accepted as operators in the fullest sense. Enlisted or officer, every new SEAL will once again face a series of “evolutions,” except that unlike those in BUD/S and SQT, these evolutions and tests are, for the most part, unscripted and unscheduled, with the sole purpose of humbling the incoming rookies and reminding them that their journey as SEALs has just begun; that they indeed must earn their Trident every day!
Selection Is Continuous
In a previous chapter you learned the differences between military courses that are designed for training versus selection purposes. Every major special operations unit in the world has some form of selection process that serves as the gate through which one must pass in order to become a member of the unit. As in the SEAL teams, members of these units soon realize that the hard work and evaluation process doesn’t end with passing the selection process. In other words, if getting into the unit was hard, remaining in it is even harder!
“Selection is continuous” is a phrase utilized to signify that the testing will continue. Whether referring to an exceptionally arduous training evolution, or simply referring to the fact that all newbies are at the bottom of the pecking order in the unit, it means that you will continue to be measured against the other SEALs or even against yourself on a daily basis. If you are to truly understand how SEALs think and approach life, you must carefully study and reflect upon what you are about to read in this chapter.
Why SEALs Continuously Test Themselves
The journey to becoming a SEAL is a long and difficult one. So difficult, that 75% of those who enter the training pipeline fail to successfully complete it. It is a well-known fact that the training will often be physically and emotionally brutal. Why then, do so many young men subject themselves to such agony?
One psychologist working within the Naval Special Warfare community told me, “The men who desire to become SEALs have an innate thirst for high-achievement. They want to separate themselves from other men by way of their accomplishments and by achieving things that most cannot.” He went on to say that most high-achievers in sports, the business world, science and academia, automobile racing, etc., share a common need for excitement and the surge of adrenaline that is associated with performing at the outer limits of whatever it is they are doing at the time.
Studies have shown that the levels of adrenaline, endorphins, and other “feel good” substances produced by the human body are as comparable in stock traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, doctors performing lengthy surgical procedures, and salesmen pitching their product or services to high-level executives, as they are to those found in extreme athletes or military personnel engaging in high-risk operations. In other words, SEALs, like most high-achievers, crave the excitement associated with taking on significant challenges, including ones that involve the risk of death or serious injury.
“We want to be in a situation under maximum pressure, maximum intensity, and maximum danger. When it is shared with others, it provides a bond which is stronger than any tie that can exist.”
—SEAL Team Six Officer
“It’s a mindset that is prevalent in the SEAL community,” said the psychologist, who has worked with SEALs for almost a decade. “What you have is a bunch of highly trained, very capable men who don’t seem happy unless they are being measured or evaluated in some way, by others or by themselves. The higher the standard they are being judged against, the better.” He went on to say, “Most outsiders would think that once a man becomes a SEAL and joins a team, he’s able to relax a bit and enjoy his newly-acquired status as a member of an elite group of warriors. That’s not what happens. Instead, newly minted SEALs discover that while they are now wearing the same highly coveted Trident insignia as their more seasoned teammates, they are being looked at as unknown quantities and must prove themselves worthy of being trusted with the lives of those who have been operating as SEALs for a decade or longer. It is part of what makes the SEALs unique; the test is never over and you have to earn your Trident every day.”
What Motivates SEALs
Why do the vast majority of SEALs continuously seek to push themselves beyond established limits, when most people are content to settle for far less demanding lives? Here’s the psychologist’s response, “It’s the innate need for achievement that is shared by most SEALs, the accomplishment of goals, specifically, exceptionally demanding goals that are typically seen as unattainable by most people. Coming in as a close second motivator is the competitive factor. SEALs love to win and the only way one is able to win is to compete. The competition can be against fellow SEALs, or anyone for that matter; but I can assure you that if a SEAL is in a room with at least one other person, he’s competing in some way against that person, even if that person isn’t aware of it!”
Studies of top level achievers in various professions and competitive environments such as world-class sports depict the same need for success and attainment of lofty goals, and a sheer love of competing against someone or some type of measurable standard. For SEALs, whether the goal is to become the best sniper in his unit or finishing a night land navigation exercise in record time, achieving success with a competitive edge is the sought after prize. They enjoy knowing that they are among the few who have dreamed of living the life of a SEAL, and actually achieved the dream.
“It’s a sense of identity,” said one SEAL. “The SEAL community is very small. There aren’t many men who have the ability to continuously train and push themselves to the degree that we do. Professional athletes earn a lot of money and fame, but to be honest, I’d rather have the feeling of knowing that I’m living a life (as a SEAL) that very few men can live.”
The Adrenaline Factor
The adrenaline factor likely plays a role in explaining why SEALs constantly seek to test themselves against the outer limits of various physical and mental skills and challenges. An “adrenaline surge” courses through the body when the adrenal glands are stimulated through heightened activity or other stressors. This surge is part of the release of a number of hormones, including adrenaline. For many SEALs, this feeling is one that they cannot get enough of.
“A lot of SEALs openly admit that they are seeking that rush,” says a Navy psychologist who has worked with the SEAL community. “They’re looking for those sensations they get from putting their life on the line during dangerous training evolutions or even actual combat operations. For many, it is a feeling that they cannot get elsewhere—a feeling of acute awareness and crystal-clear focus, of knowing they are exceeding expectations. They either succeed and live—or they die. It’s very much a primitive thing, but SEALs love it and they seek it out at every opportunity.”
Pushing the Limits
Why do the vast majority of SEALs feel a need to push themselves to the next level, closer to the edge of established barriers and limits? Why is it that their last accomplishment is never good enough?
“SEALs say that it simply isn’t rewarding to repeatedly accomplish the same goals or conquer the same challenges, even if they are quite significant and perhaps even dangerous,” says the psychologist. “Performing the same activities and doing well at them simply doesn’t bring the same amount of excitement as it did the first time, so they want to push themselves even farther and go for the next big goal.”
He went on to say, “It is a mindset that men who are drawn to the SEAL community are risk takers. This trait, combined with a love of pushing themselves past previous physical and mental limits, is what makes SEALs unique as individuals. When you have a few hundred of them assigned to the same SEAL team, what you get is a group of high-achievers who are constantly competing against each other. The result is what you’d expect—a high-testosterone ultra-competitive group of winners who revel in testing themselves against any and all opponents and challenges.”