SEAL of Honor (22 page)
Authors: Gary Williams
Conclusion: You are a U.S. Navy SEAL, feared by the enemy and respected as the best maritime warrior in the world. Others envy your iron willpower and superior physical toughness. Countless men have dreamed they would become SEALs. Thousands have tried, but only a select few ever earn the right to wear the Trident. Wherever you go, whatever you do, whomever you meet, remember this: you are responsible for your actions. You must protect and defend your country to the best of your ability and uphold the honor of the U.S. Navy and the Navy SEAL Teams. There is no “I” in SEAL team.
You exist to serve the mission. No one owes you anything. You are always on duty, every moment of your career. Your responsibility to be fit and ready to fight never ceases. A crisis will not wait until you complete your next training
cycle or recover from a hangover. A warrior’s responsibility to be ready for combat never goes on liberty or leave. Think positive mission accomplishment at all times. Synchronize and train your mind and your will just as you train your body. Discipline yourself. Study tactical and leadership material daily. It is only a matter of time before you will engage the enemy in a gunfight. SEAL operations mean you may have to stand toe to toe with an enemy. For those who want to win, there is never enough time to train. Aggressively seek any knowledge that will assure mission accomplishment and make you a survivor and a winner. Never lose the desire to find a new tactic or technique that will make the difference for you and your teammates.
cycle or recover from a hangover. A warrior’s responsibility to be ready for combat never goes on liberty or leave. Think positive mission accomplishment at all times. Synchronize and train your mind and your will just as you train your body. Discipline yourself. Study tactical and leadership material daily. It is only a matter of time before you will engage the enemy in a gunfight. SEAL operations mean you may have to stand toe to toe with an enemy. For those who want to win, there is never enough time to train. Aggressively seek any knowledge that will assure mission accomplishment and make you a survivor and a winner. Never lose the desire to find a new tactic or technique that will make the difference for you and your teammates.
Be openly patriotic. You pay for that right. Wear your uniform proudly and with the same precision and quality with which you would execute a mission.
Live the legend of the teams every day. NCDUs, UDTs, and SEALs have been decorated for incredible acts of valor and accomplished seemingly impossible feats in combat. You are responsible for carrying the SEAL reputation above and beyond your predecessors. Carry yourself with SEAL confidence and professionalism. Leave all who come in contact with you with a positive sense of your combat skills, your loyalty, and your tactical savvy. Make the Trident stand out as the most select special operations insignia in the world.
Be passionate in the pursuit of excellence. Be cautious when working with those who are not. Never allow another man’s attitude to jeopardize the mission [or] your teammates’ lives. Look for the best in your teammates, not the worst. There are plenty of flaws within each of us. Look for the positive; help and assist those with weaknesses. Openly build and cultivate the close esprit-de-corps that has made the teams famous.
Never show weakness or dissension to anyone outside the teams. When you speak, you learn nothing; you learn only by listening. Listen, then speak, and speak from the heart. Take only those actions that make you a stronger SEAL or strengthen the teams. Think before you act. If an action does not make you or the team better, then don’t take it. You must use every precious moment of training to move forward and prepare for combat. You must always be aware that your every action affects the reputation of the team. Never lose the physical and mental courage that you discovered in yourself in BUD/S. You will fail at many things as an individual during your career but you will always face combat as a member of a team. Never be a loner; never leave a teammate alone. Rely on your teammates and never let them down. You are a member of the Naval Special Warfare community; you are the teams.
Looking back on the good times, the bad times, and the hard times in my career in the teams, it has been challenging, rewarding, and fun. If I had to do it all over again, I would relive my career in the teams. The experiences and the lifetime friends I have made are priceless.
Have fun, train hard, and when the time comes, kick ass. It was great working with you.
Cold-Weather Training—Kodiak Island, AlaskaEven though he now wore the Trident, Ensign Murphy was still assigned to the NSW Center for another mandatory training course. Like each of his previous training courses, it would offer new challenges and require the acquisition of an entirely new and different set of skills.
After twenty-four hours of well-deserved leave and another twenty-four hours of preparation, Ensign Murphy found himself on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Claiming more American bald eagles than seagulls, Kodiak is the largest island in the United States outside of the Hawaiian Islands. The SEAL training compound was located at Camp Spruce, home of the Naval Special Warfare Detachment, Kodiak, and consisted of two steel buildings that contained sleeping facilities, a classroom, equipment bays, a galley, and a small clinic. A third building served as a boat barn, an indoor climbing facility, and a smaller storage area.
This three-week training evolution was designed to train Michael and his classmates how to survive in some of the harshest conditions and terrain. This training had become vital because SEALs might find themselves involved in operations in the highest elevations of the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan.
The first few days were spent in the classroom, where the students received medical, nutritional, and environmental briefings and learned about cold-weather gear—how to use and care for it. They were issued their protective combat uniform (PCU), the cold-weather garment issue that formed an entire clothing system, consisting of multiple layers of special fabric and outer materials to protect the wearer in temperatures as low as 50° below zero Fahrenheit. The system had seven separate layers of varying thickness to permit the wearer to mix and match the layers to fit the environment.
They were also issued their field equipment, called personal environmental protection and survival equipment (PEPSE), which consisted of a sleeping bag, a sleeping shelter, ground pads, cooking utensils, water bottles, a portable stove system, boots, balaclavas (knit caps), several hats, and six pairs of gloves and mittens, as well as a water-filtration system, a pack shovel, a folding saw, and a climbing harness. For mobility they were issued snowshoes, crampons, and folding ski poles.
Their last issue was the military assault suit (MAS). A lightweight dry suit designed for surface swimming in frigid waters, it featured latex wrist and neck seals and a waterproof zipper. With built-in feet, it could be worn with sneakers or boots.
Upon completing a few days of classroom preparation, the new SEALs were off to the field. Their first exercise occurred over three days and two nights. The objective of this exercise was to familiarize the men with the equipment. Drills were conducted at low elevations in which the men used altimeters and contour maps to navigate their way through the rough terrain. During this first exercise
they carried only sixty-five pounds of gear—no operational equipment or weapons. The first night was spent near sea level. The second day found them operating at an elevation of twenty-one hundred feet, and spending the night at fifteen hundred feet.
they carried only sixty-five pounds of gear—no operational equipment or weapons. The first night was spent near sea level. The second day found them operating at an elevation of twenty-one hundred feet, and spending the night at fifteen hundred feet.
On the third day, the SEALs returned to sea level, where they developed a real appreciation of the equipment they were issued earlier. In what was called the rewarming exercise, each man stripped down to his underwear and waded into the 42° water up to his neck and remained there for ten minutes. The objective was to lower the body temperature several degrees. The men all knew that after those ten minutes they had exactly six minutes—a period known as the six golden minutes—to get warm. They were taught that their low core body temperature would go even lower as they began to move about and blood flow was restored to their arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, and toes. It was imperative that the SEALs get warm quickly. Working in pairs, they dried off with one layer of their PCUs while putting on another. After putting on a balaclava and a stocking cap, one got the stove going and began to heat water while the other erected a sleeping shelter. Both got quickly into their sleeping bags and then went into their shelter while the water heated up. The objective was to get warm liquids and a hot meal prepared.
After this training evolution, Michael and his classmates received a day off to reassemble and repack their equipment, then went back into the classroom, then went back out for another field training evolution. Before their three weeks of training were complete, they had practiced climbing and rappelling on dangerous cliffs in the most brutal of weather conditons with full gear, during both day and night, when the only light is that from the moon and the stars. Their final training evolution was conducted in weather conditions common to Kodiak Island—a full blizzard that delayed their flight back to NSW for two days.
After returning to Coronado, the men were released and dispatched to their teams. Those reporting to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Teams, including Ensign Michael Murphy, would remain at the NSW Center.
SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) TrainingVolunteering for the SDV Teams placed Ensign Murphy at the apex of the NSW teams. He participated in an intensive three-month program conducted at the NSW Command Detachment SDV in Panama City, Florida, which taught SEALs how to operate the MK-16 mixed-gas dive rig and to pilot and navigate the MK-8 SEAL Delivery Vehicle. The SDV is a “wet” submersible used to conduct long-range underwater missions. Much of the training and information regarding the MK-8 as well as the new Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) remains classified.
Graduating on July 1, 2002, Ensign Michael P. Murphy again signed for his Fitness Report and Counseling Record, which stated in part: “... completed two weeks of MK 16 Underwater Breathing Apparatus Operator course with 80 contact hours of instruction including maritime Combat Swimmer operations during day and night environments. Completed 10 weeks of SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) Operator/Navigator course consisting of 64 hours of high risk diving operations, 548 contact hours of instruction in basic pilot and navigator skills, SDV subsystems, maintenance procedures and mission planning.”
Having been promoted to lieutenant (junior grade), Michael Murphy served as the assistant operations officer, assisted with schools management, field training, and exercise planning and execution. During the period of July 3-10, 2002, he deployed to Central Command (CENTCOM) as an assistant operations officer. His Fitness Report and Counseling Record covering the period of July 3, 2002 to January 2, 2003 stated as follows:
LTJG is a model SEAL Officer. Possesses the superior leadership, creative ability and self-confidence traits to excel in any wardroom assignment. Deployed to CENTCOM AOR filling a Key 04 billet as a Joint Operations Center Commander. Assistant Operations Officer for Exercise Early Victor 02, involving five CNSWTGs, and one SDV Task Unit. Expertly coordinated eight full mission profiles and produced 35 daily situational reports and a detailed after action report. Tactical Operations Center Watch officer for a 14-day submarine underway period. Served as key information relay between underway SSN and SEAL Platoon in the field resulting in five successful at sea rendezvous and certification of the SSN/NSW/ DDS package. Extremely fit. Regularly scores outstanding on NSW SEAL physical readiness test. Junior officer mentor. Developed electronic notebook of NSW Warfare PQS study materials and requirements greatly increasing junior officer readiness for oral and written boards. Expertly coordinated five Combat Capability Demonstrations for VIPs including COMNAVSPECWARCOM and Secretary of the Air Force. Hard charging Officer with unlimited potential. Unquenchable thirst for knowledge of NSW. Recommended for early promotion, assignment as a Platoon OIC, and follow-on Post Graduate education.
Michael’s Fitness Report and Counseling Record for the period of January 13-April 9, 2003 revealed the following:
Ranked # 1 of 3 outstanding LTJGs. Proven Wartime performer! Flawlessly performed as SOCCENT Joint Operations Center maritime Operations Officer, a position normally filled by an O4/O5. Provided operational-level coordination, support and overwatch for highly successful maritime SOF missions in the opening phase of the Iraqi campaign. These operations were vital to securing southern Iraq oil infrastructure, directly supporting of the achievement of COMUSENTCOM strategic military objectives.
Chosen for advance party to establish transition of SOCCENT operational control into the CENTCOM AOR. Helped ensure a seamless shift of SOCCENT CO of ongoing operations.
Single-handedly developed mission tracker used by SOCCENT to monitor special operations missions. Tracked and facilitated combat operations in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. These operations involved more than 15,000 special operations forces from a variety of Coalition countries. Created flag-level briefings for COMSOCENT and COMUCENTCOM.
LTJG Murphy is one of the finest junior officers I have ever worked with. A rising star in Naval Special Warfare, his work ethic, devotion to duty, and overall professionalism far exceeds that of his peers. Detail to only the most demanding assignments. Promote now!
The following assessment of Michael’s performance comes from his Fitness Report and Counseling Record for the period March 1-July 3, 2003, during which he served with SDVT-1.
INTELLIGENT AND FOCUSED! LTJG Murphy excels in critical position of responsibility.
AGGRESSIVE OPERATOR. As ALFA Platoon AOIC, LTJG Murphy deomonstrated superior operational acumen and led 12 SEALs in executing five high-risk at-sea maritime/air training evolutions and twenty arduous combat swimmer diving profiles.
DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL. Hand-selected to deploy as Future Operations Officer for NSWTG-HOA. Led real world operational planning for sensitive and highly classified intrusive ISR operations, which encompassed three large surface combatants, a nuclear submarine, a P-3 squadron, for NSW RIBs, three SEAL platoons and an NSW Task Group. His efforts facilitated mission success and positively impacted the War on Terror!
Meticulous manager. LTJG Murphy’s skill with administrative technologies and attention to detail ensure accurate accountability for 16 platoon members and over $8M in material and equipment.
Personable mentor. Recognizes potential leaders and continualy challenges junior personnel to reach for new heights and apply for commissioning programs.
LTJG Murphy is a mature and motivated NSW Officer whos sound judgement and operationasl expertise foretell a highly successful NSW career. PROMOTE EARLY AND ASSIGN AS PLATOON COMMANDER!
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