Why everyone thinks that NAVY SEAL is the best

books:


	• Combat Swimmer: Memoir of a Navy Seal Robert A. Gormly Onyx, 1999 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 26 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent Memoir

The author receives command orders for Seal Team 6 after Marcinko is convicted for corruption. Gormly has to fix, but not neuter Marcinko's Seal Team 6 brain child and even go to combat with the team. Gormly is honest and straight-forward and does not pull punches-- he tells it like it is from Marcinko's recklessness to taking over a unit that was built on balls-to-the-wall audacity. He has to walk (and run) a straight and narrow line and tells that story very well. Excellent book and well written.

Why everyone thinks that NAVY SEAL is the best

How do you know that Seal is the best? What the hell you mean by universally recognized? And beleive me you're not the first person who assumes that navy seal to be the best special operation force. Do you know that 80% of Seals never see combat in their career? The real thing doesn't look anything close like people's perception.

Let's just say that I've been an infantriman for a little while and I'll admit that BUD training is very hard, but from a PURE PHYSICAL ASPECT, Spetsnaz is probably the hardest and the training can last up to five years. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, I've worked with Seals and Special Forces, and trust me, the Rambo aura people have about them is just what it is - an aura. They're highly trained individuals that can undertake very dificult missions that conventional force can't, but they're no supermen.

The British has among the finest and most elite special operations forces in the World, the SAS and SBS. They set the standard for special operations. And don't even start with the Israelis. When it come to low intensity warfare, their troops and special forces are more combat experience dthan anybody in the World.

Within the U.S armed Forces, the most elite special operations goup, Delta Force, is based on the SAS model. Delta has the lowest qualification rate than anybody in the U.S Armed Forces and Delta recruits from all branches of the military, including other special operations.

I think that one of the reasons that people think that navy seal is the best is because of good PR. I mean navy seal is the most popular of all the U.S special operations. More movies and documentaries have been made about navy seal than any other group. When was the last time anybody has seen a documentary about Delta Force Training. Part of your statement is right though. There's really a mystic about Navy Seal, but that doesn't make them the best. Hell, no combat group has been more mystified and romanticied than the French Foreign Legion. It's really a great fighting force, but that doesn't make them the best.

I don't want to take away anything from the frogmen, but people has to stop that better than anybody view they have of the Seal. They're exceptional soldiers with exceptional skills but the world doesn't revolve around them. They excel and fail just like everybody else.

P.S: By the way, this was a great book. I truly enjoy it.

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"a rollicking, good, and quick read"

There's a definite mystique unique to Navy SEALs. The Marine's Force Recon and the Air Force's PJs don't have it. US Army Rangers have a part of it, but only within the military community. It is a universally recognized fact that SEALs are King Badasses. The Britons know this, as do the Israelis, Russians, Congolese and everyone else.

(Ret.) Captain Robert Gormly's "Combat Swimmer: Memoirs of a Navy SEAL" breaks down this mystique step-by-step without lessening the esteem of SEALs. Combat Swimmer increases it. Gormly himself is in a unique position to deliver this enlightenment. Having joined the SEALs shortly after their creation (or, more accurately, their evolution from UDTs - the Underwater Demolition Teams of top-notch WWII frogmen). Like most books on SEALs, Gormly begins his book with the rigorously infamous training of SEALs wannabes, taking the reader through Hell week. One page reads:

Waddell stormed out of the instructor's hut and yelled "Class, ten hut." We snapped to attention. "Hit the deck." Sixty bodies slammed onto the wet asphalt, IBLs [bulky, heavy inflatable boats] crashing down on top of us. "Lean and rest." Sixty bodies pushed themselves (and the IBLs) up to the beginning position for push-ups: arms extended and locked under your chest, feet straight out behind you. I thought we we going to do push-ups until Instructor Waddell got tired-which might be a long time, since he'd been off all day resting. "Bernie," Blas said, "what are you doing? I'm in charge of this evolution. You can't just come out here and start giving my men orders." "Tom, you're being to easy on these pukes." "Bernie, these guys are tired-they've been working aaaaalll day." As the two instructors went on and on, my arms started quivering. The boat got heavier. And heavier. They did the good-guy-bad-guy routine for what seemed like an hour and was probably no more than three minutes. Finally: "Okay, Tom, I guess you're right. They do look tired. Class, on your feet," roared Instructor Waddell. I pulled my feet up under me, urging my men not to drop the boat. The instructors had already warned us to "take care of your equipment-it will take care of you." We struggled to attention. "Hit the deck, lean and rest," Blais yelled. "I'm in charge of you people, *I* give the orders." And so it went until they got tired. It was great to see the two instructors working in unison. We all appreciated the lesson in teamwork. When they finished playing with us, we hauled ass.

The rest of the book keeps the same fresh tone, making for a very enjoyable read. Gormly talks about his two tours in Vietnam, where the SEALs specialized in "taking the fight to Viet Cong, harassing them beyond the front lines, where they thought they were safe." Interestingly, Gormly notes that the mystique of SEALs worked as much against them as it did in their favor. The North Vietnamese had offered a $10,000 bounty for any SEAL, dead or alive, but Gormly's own superior officers had very little understanding of how make best use of SEAL capabilities. In most cases, they were simply told to kill as many enemies as possible and were given carte blanch to do it. Keeping in standard military memoir format, Gormly does talk a little about what went wrong with the war he fought in, liking Vietnamese situation to fighting with a giant lizard - the tail (soldiers) we kept cutting off (killing) kept growing back (new recruits). What we shouldn've done was lop off the head (concentrate on killing the top generals and political liaisons to China). Gormly finishes with his time in the Pentagon, working to combat drug lords between missions like Urgent Fury (the effort to free US hostages in Grenada) and Gulf War I.

In summation, the book is a rollicking, good, and quick read. Because of it's relative obscurity, it can be found for astounding value (I purchased mine used from Amazon for $1.84). I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the passage above.

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Great Memoir

Bob Gormly wrote a great book on his 30 year experiences as a Navy SEAL. He recounts how he passed the most gruelling toughest training in the world to be a SEAL. His 2 tours of duty in Vietnam are filled with pulse pounding action. He then led the most elite of SEAL's, SEAL team 6, into combat in Grenada. I really liked his discussion of Richard Marcinko the convicted felon who founded six and left it's reputation tarnished. This is a great book for those interested in SEALs or Special Operations Forces. Thanks Bob for this great memoir.

Three Soldiers' Stories

I've never served in the military, but I have great respect for those who follow that kind of life. I also have great interest in history, military strategy and tactics, and behavior in combat situations. I therefore checked out the following special-forces-related books from the library: Rogue Warrior, by Marcinko, Combat Swimmer, by Gormly, and Inside Delta Force, by Haney.

Marcinko's book is a classic testosterone-driven, adolescent Hollywood adventure story. I mean that in a (mostly) good way. The author's focus is on himself, on his grand escapades, and his ability to destroy his enemies, whether at war or in the chain of command. It makes for a fun read, although I never knew how much Marcinko might be inflating his exploits.

Gormly is in many ways the anti-Marcinko. Of course they knew each other, and Gormly goes into some detail about inheriting Marcinko's SEAL team and getting the house back in order. But more than that, Marcinko represents the unihibited ego, breaking all the rules and doing whatever he wants. Gormly is all about responsibility and chain of command. Don't get me wrong; he's not at all boring, but definitely comes off as a stiffer sort of character. I'd rather work for Gormly (more job security; less likely to get killed unexpectedly) but I'd rather have a beer with Marcinko (though too much of that, and you probably increase your chances of getting killed unexpectedly).

Haney strikes somewhat of a balance. He's more individualistic than Gormly, but more disciplined than Marcinko. He's also the best writer of the three, with a good mix of gritty reality and genuine philosophical reflection. That's probably why I liked his book the best. Marcinko's book is a fun ride, like a blockbuster action movie, but in the end didn't leave me with much to think about. After reading Gormly's book, I admired the man a great deal but didn't particularly like him. Haney provides all the adventure but he's clearly more of a thinker than the other two, and I can imagine a long, fascinating evening's conversation over a bottle of scotch.

I suspect that you would find all three types of individuals (and many more) in the military, and you probably need all of them to get the job done. All three memoirs are highly entertaining and quick reads. Which you prefer probably depends to some extent on your own personality.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Captain Robert Gormly served 29 years as a Navy SEAL, the United States's elite military force, where he undertook the most dangerous missions in the history of the nation. Combat Swimmer is an autobiographical account of Capt. Gormly's life as a SEAL: acting as platoon leader in SEAL Team Two in Vietnam, and later as commanding officer of that team; as the executive Officer of UDT-22, and as commanding officer of the legendary SEAL Team Six. This thrilling real-life story takes readers through the fiery life of a man who can literally be called "the best of the best."

Praise for Combat Swimmer:

"Gormly is a warrior for the working day...in a harsh world, it will comfort many to know that men with Gormly's spirit, character, and patriotism, wear this country's uniform." --Publishers Weekly

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