Navy Seals In Afghanistan: An Enduring Presence?

Navy SEALs are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. SEALs are typically ordered to capture or kill high-level targets, gather intelligence, or conduct small-unit special operation missions in various environments. They have been deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan (OEF-A) and have been involved in several operations in the country, including the search for a U.S. contractor abducted by Afghan militants in 2020 and the recovery of bodies and equipment from a U.S. aircraft crash site in 2020. While the number of SEALs in Afghanistan may fluctuate, they have been a persistent presence in the country as part of U.S. military operations.

Navy SEALs' role in Afghanistan

Navy SEALs are the US Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. They are hand-selected, highly trained, and possess a high degree of proficiency in direct action and special reconnaissance. SEALs are typically ordered to capture or kill high-level targets or to gather intelligence behind enemy lines.

In Afghanistan, Navy SEALs have been involved in several operations, including:

• Serving as a buffer between Afghans and the Taliban, working alongside Afghan commandos to prevent militants from gaining back territory.
• Conducting raids to locate and capture high-value members of the Taliban and caches of bomb-making material.
• Participating in the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Task Force Sword, a hunter-killer force whose primary objective was to capture or kill senior leadership within the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
• Carrying out search and rescue missions, such as the rescue of a US doctor who had been kidnapped and held hostage for several days in December 2012.
• Providing support to other US military branches, such as the US Air Force, during operations in Afghanistan. For example, in January 2020, SEALs recovered the bodies of two American service members who had died when their aircraft crash-landed in Ghazni, Afghanistan.
• Evacuating US citizens from Afghanistan, such as during the fall of Kabul in August 2021 when Navy SEAL Rear Admiral Peter Vasely, the top US commander in Kabul, helped keep the airport operating as Afghans fled the country.

Navy SEALs' history

The Navy SEALs (Sea, Air, and Land Teams) are the Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. The SEALs' main functions include conducting small-unit special operation missions in maritime, jungle, urban, arctic, mountainous, and desert environments. SEALs are typically ordered to capture or kill high-level targets, gather intelligence, or conduct demolitions.

The SEALs were established by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 as a small, elite maritime military force to conduct unconventional warfare. They were created in response to Kennedy's directive to expand the capacity for non-nuclear warfare. The SEALs were drawn from underwater demolition team (UDT) veterans, but with mission responsibilities that included airborne and land operations as well as traditional maritime activities.

The origins of the SEALs can be traced back to World War II. The Amphibious Scout and Raider School was established in 1942 in Fort Pierce, Florida, in recognition of the need for covert reconnaissance of coastal defenses and landing beaches. The Scouts and Raiders were formed in September of that year, just nine months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, from the joint Army-Marine-Navy unit the Observer Group.

During World War II, the Scouts and Raiders were trained to identify and reconnoiter the objective beach, maintain a position on the designated beach prior to a landing, and guide the assault waves to the landing beach. The first group included Phil H. Bucklew, the "Father of Naval Special Warfare," who saw action during the invasion of North Africa, Salerno, Sicily, Anzio, Normandy, and southern France.

Following World War II, the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) continued to see combat in the Korean War. The UDTs employed demolition expertise gained from World War II and used it for an offensive role. They continued to use water as cover and concealment as well as a method of insertion, targeting bridges, tunnels, fishing nets, and other maritime and coastal targets.

In the Vietnam War, SEAL units trained South Vietnamese naval commandos and conducted numerous counterguerrilla operations along riverbanks, on beaches, and in the hinterland. The SEALs were so effective that the enemy named them, "the men with the green faces."

In more recent times, SEALs have been involved in the War in Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq War, the Persian Gulf War, the Somali Intervention, and continue to play major roles in other conflicts. SEALs were also involved in the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

Navy SEALs' training

Navy SEAL training is designed to be some of the most mentally challenging and physically demanding training in the world. Candidates must pass rigorous physical screening tests before they can even be considered for SEAL training.

The training curriculum begins at the Naval Special Warfare Preparatory School in Great Lakes, Illinois. This two-month training period includes a Physical Screening Test (PST) to improve the candidates' physical readiness for the rigorous activity they will face at Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. The PST includes a 1000-meter swim, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and a four-mile run. Candidates who don't pass are removed from SEAL training and reclassified to other Navy jobs.

After the Preparatory School, candidates move on to a three-week BUD/S Orientation in San Diego, California. This phase introduces candidates to the Naval Special Warfare Center and the BUD/S lifestyle, including physical training and the obstacle course.

The first phase of BUD/S is seven weeks of basic conditioning, focusing on physical training, water competency, mental tenacity, and teamwork. Each week, the class is expected to increase their running, swimming, and calisthenics performance. The fourth week of this phase is known as Hell Week, during which candidates sleep only about four hours but run more than 200 miles and undergo over 20 hours of physical training per day.

The second phase, also lasting seven weeks, introduces combat diving and underwater skills unique to Navy SEALs. Candidates learn open and closed-circuit diving and must demonstrate a high level of comfort in the water.

The third phase, also seven weeks long, covers land warfare training, including basic weapons, demolitions, land navigation, patrolling, rappelling, marksmanship, and small-unit tactics.

After completing BUD/S, candidates attend SEAL Qualification Training (SQT), a six-month school in Coronado, California, that focuses on advanced training in diving, shooting, parachuting, small-unit tactics, mission planning, diving medicine, and medical skills.

In total, it takes over two and a half years to completely train a Navy SEAL for their first deployment.

Navy SEALs' involvement in the Maersk Alabama hijacking

On April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates hijacked the US-flagged cargo ship Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean. The ship's captain, Richard Phillips, prevented the initial takeover by ordering his crew to lock themselves in a secure room while he remained on the bridge. To safeguard his crew and free the Alabama, Captain Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates and boarded a lifeboat to be taken ashore in Somalia.

The next day, the US Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge arrived on the scene and began negotiating with the pirates for the release of Captain Phillips. While negotiating, the crew of the Bainbridge established a "control net" around the lifeboat to prevent the pirates from receiving support from pirate mother ships in the area.

On April 10, Captain Phillips noticed a lapse in the pirates' security and attempted to escape from the lifeboat by swimming to the Bainbridge. The pirates shot at him with their AK-47s and recaptured him. The pirates became more desperate under conditions of extreme heat, unsanitary conditions, high winds, and the effects of chewing khat and sleep deprivation. They hoped to drift closer to the Somali coast to have greater negotiating leverage.

On Saturday, April 11, the pirates agreed to be towed by the Bainbridge as one of them came aboard to begin negotiating for the captain's release. Later that day, a team of Navy SEALs parachuted into the area and were brought aboard the Bainbridge. They took position on the fantail of the Bainbridge, trained their sniper rifles on the lifeboat tethered behind the ship, and waited in the 100+ degree heat.

On Easter Sunday, April 12, Commander Frank Castellano, the captain of the Bainbridge, determined that Captain Phillips' life was in danger and ordered the SEAL snipers to take the shot. The SEALs opened fire nearly simultaneously, killing three pirates with bullets to the head. Captain Phillips was rescued unharmed.

The surviving pirate, Abduwali Muse, was held on the USS Boxer and was eventually flown to the US for trial. He was handed a prison sentence of 33 years and nine months.

Navy SEALs' involvement in the death of Osama bin Laden

On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot and killed by United States Navy SEALs of SEAL Team Six. The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a CIA-led mission, with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating the Special Mission Units involved in the raid.

The raid, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, involved two dozen Navy SEALs in two Black Hawk helicopters, launched from about 120 miles away in Afghanistan, where U.S. forces were stationed. The operation took 40 minutes, with bin Laden killed shortly before 1:00 a.m. PKT. Three other men, including one of bin Laden's sons, and a woman in the compound were also killed.

The SEALs flew into Pakistan from a staging base in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan after originating at Bagram Air Base in northeastern Afghanistan. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), a U.S. Army Special Operations Command unit known as the "Night Stalkers," provided the two modified Black Hawk helicopters that were used for the raid itself, as well as the much larger Chinook heavy-lift helicopters that were employed as backups.

The SEALs disembarked from the helicopters as soon as they were in position and stormed the compound. Bin Laden was found and killed within nine minutes. The team then spent the rest of the operation scrubbing the compound for information about al-Qaeda and its plans.

The death of bin Laden had global implications. The terrorist leader was a major player within al-Qaeda and a figurehead that attracted supporters and recruits from around the world. International reactions to bin Laden's death ranged from favorable to mixed, with some Arab countries and leaders condemning the actions of the United States.

The involvement of Navy SEALs in the death of Osama bin Laden was a significant and bold operation that most experts regard as a resounding success.

Frequently asked questions