20 Rules That All Navy SEALs Must Follow
By Jack Clark
1 year ago
Integrity
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Having integrity is something that a lot of adults strive for, and some have to work harder at it than others. It is no easy thing to keep your integrity, especially when you're confronted with contentious issues and extreme situations. A Navy SEAL must keep his integrity when it comes to being able to operate at the highest possible level. A Navy SEAL must keep his integrity, whether they are being honest with another squad member about their performance, ensuring that they stay true to their morals, or even just keeping everyone around them accountable.Loyalty
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Loyalty is something that a Navy SEAL must have in order to be considered a great soldier and a valuable member of the squad. Being able to showcase loyalty to their team means that other soldiers know that they can rely on them regardless of what situation they may find themselves in. Navy SEALs are put through rigorous training and, once the training is complete, they are often rolled out to dangerous parts of the world to manage peace, help with operations and even fight if necessary. A Navy SEAL needs to be loyal to his team to help everything run smoothly.Discipline
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Being able to commit to a hard, rigid routine on a permanent basis takes a lot of hard work and isn't for the faint-hearted. Sticking to a set plan requires you to sacrifice other things, whether a social life or even family time, to pursue a goal or improve at a certain skill or job. The top Navy SEALs have amazing discipline when it comes to their life, especially when it comes to things like training. Discipline is what gets them through the hard parts of training, or the monotonous day-to-day activities that are synonymous with a career as a Navy SEAL.Teamwork
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Whilst a Navy SEAL is incredibly dangerous and competent when operating on their own, they are at their best when they are surrounded by a team of capable SEALs. All of their training has an overarching theme: teamwork. It doesn't matter what situation they find themselves in, they must operate as a team to get the job done. They live by an unwritten code of 'leave no man behind', and you'll never see a Navy SEAL deliberately let harm come to his fellow squad member. Teamwork is what makes the SEALs the best, and it is what keeps them alive.Accountability
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Navy SEALs are constantly trying to improve, whether that be operational knowledge, improving their training or even learning how to improve their mindset. They are also very hard working people who are aware of their own flaws, and are the first to admit when they make a mistake. A Navy SEAL keeps himself and his squad mates accountable for all of their actions, and no stone is left unturned. The top Navy SEALs in the world are some of the most accountable people on the planet, and you'll never see them make the same mistake twice.Excellence
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It is incredibly difficult to be selected for the Navy SEAL training course, let alone take part in it and officially pass out and become a Navy SEAL. It is one of the most exclusive jobs on the planet, and they can't just let anyone in. The Nave SEALs have a code of excellence, and every potential soldier must meet a certain set of especially high standards in order to make it. They operate in incredibly dangerous locations, and they absolutely cannot afford to have a weak link in their armour, as one mistake could cost everyone in the squad their lives.Physical Fitness
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In order to even be considered for Navy SEAL training, recruits must pass a certain amount of physical fitness tests that are designed to push an individual to their limits. The test involves a mile and a half run in under 11 minutes, pull ups, swimming and push ups. Even those who pass the tests might not even get in as it depends on how quickly you completed the exercises. This is because the Navy SEALs are required to be at their absolute peak physical fitness, and the Navy can't accept any less. Navy SEALs are some of the physically strongest and toughest people on the planet.Mental Toughness
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Developing a strong mind is a lifelong journey, and is something that those in the Navy SEALs work on every day. The Navy SEALs have a rule about mental toughness: "when your mind wants to quit, you've only exerted around 40% of your physical capacity". There is debate on the scientific accuracy of this, but the SEALs use this mindset as a tool to push through physically tough exercises or situations. The tougher their mind is, the more control they have over their emotions, which means they can continue to push themselves until they don't have to anymore.Adaptability
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Navy SEALs are constantly presented with dynamic situations that are volatile and prone to danger. A situation can go from calm to fatal in the space of a second, and a Navy SEAL must be able to deal with this in any way possible. Navy SEALs are some of the most adaptable professionals on the planet and, because of this, there isn't a situation that they either can't deal with, or haven't seen before. The training that they go through pushes so far out of their comfort zone that they either adapt or fail. Those who adapted in the training will always have that ability.Professionalism
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In most jobs, it is important for employees and workers to remain professional to their best ability. Whether they're dealing with customers, or just communicating with other people in their office, they have to do their best to not act out of accordance with the rules. Navy SEALs are no exception, as they are professional to a tee. The nature of the armed forces is that there is a hierarchy of staff, meaning that they must respect and be professional with those who are senior to them, and also those that they are in command of.Ethical Conduct
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There are lots of rules and regulations that come with being a member of the armed forces, even more so in the elite Navy SEALs branch. As part of the job, the SEALs must deal with a whole host of people, all of which differ in backgrounds, experience and views. SEALs must remain ethical and act in a way that dealing avoids harm, mental or physical, to those around them. The only time they can do this is when they are in a fight and, even then, they cannot take the law into their own hands and must abide by the ethical codes that are bestowed upon them.Communication
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In the heat of battle, giving clear and concise instructions on how to advance or deal with a certain situation is of paramount importance. In order to do this, Navy SEALs must be masters of communication, and must be able to articulate their information and orders quickly and without hesitation. You won't ever meet a Navy SEAL, current or veteran, that doesn't know how to communicate efficiently. When SEALs retire, a lot of them go into careers that have an emphasis on speaking, as they are some of the best and most articulate speakers around.Training
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Keeping up with the pace of the job is one of the most important aspects of being a Navy SEAL, and something they can do to make sure they don't fall behind is keep up to date with their training. Most Navy SEALs will continue training their body and their mind indefinitely, even after they have retired. This is because they have first hand experience of the importance of keeping their body and mind as strong and healthy as possible. You won't ever meet a Navy SEAL who is out of shape or isn't already training.Respect
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One of the most important things in any job, relationship or situation is having complete and upmost respect for the other people involved. Even if you disagree with them, even if you're angry, having respect for the people around you is super important. This is especially true with Navy SEALs. They must have great respect for their senior ranking officers and respect their orders, as they are more experienced than them and are looking out for them. The respect also goes the other way, as they must respect those who are junior to them and understand that they need guidance.Safety
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Being a Navy SEAL is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. They cannot predict what might happen on any given day, and they know that every single day they go to work, they could end up giving their life in service of their country. Even though part of their job is operating in dangerous locations, it doesn't mean that the SEALs don't practice safety. The main role of a Captain in the Navy SEALs is to keep his squad safe, regardless of what situation is in front of them. If they act reckless, it could lead the death of their squad members or even themselves.Secrecy
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Another key element that is engrained in the Navy SEALs culture is the ability to keep a secret when necessary. All the operations that take place in the SEALs are confidential and cannot be shared with the general public. It doesn't matter who is involved, a SEAL must be able to keep his mouth shut about current and past operations, as it could risk the lives of those involved. Most Navy SEALs do not share that they are a SEAL as even that can put a target on his and his families back. Even when you see a picture of a squad, a lot of the faces are blurred out.Resilience
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When going through the training to become a Navy SEAL, the recruits are pushed to their absolute limit, both physically and emotionally. This is to test a number of things, but one of the main traits that the senior ranking officers are looking for is a recruits ability to be resilient. Resilience means that, no matter how hard a certain situation might be, you can deal with it and even succeed in the mean time. Those who don't have any resilience, physical or mental, will not be able to become a Navy SEAL. Every recruit that passes out, will be the most resilient person you could ever meet.Trust
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Being a Navy SEAL means that you'll be presented with a plethora of different situations and you cannot control what will happen. Each squad member is incredibly reliant on each other to watch their backs and help protect each other as much as they can. This is where trust comes in. A Navy SEAL squad cannot operate properly and effectively if there is no trust. If a SEAL doesn't trust another, he cannot rely on him to help lookout for him and other squad members in dangerous situations, which can easily result in someone being killed.Initiative
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Based on the dynamic events that happen as a Navy SEAL, being able to take control of a situation and be able to think on your feet is one of the most important traits one can have. Taking the initiative as a SEAL can help change the outcome of a bad situation if they spot a way that they can resolve it. If that SEAL didn't have the ability to take initiative, the situation could go a lot worse. You'll often find that you meet a retired Navy SEAL, they'll be the first ones to jump head first into a social event or try new things, and this is because it is engrained into them.Emotional Control
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Another important aspect of being a Navy SEAL is being able to control ones emotions. There are so many different things that can happen on any given day, and you can't always guarantee that you'll be in a good mood. In the SEALs, you absolutely cannot let your emotions rule you as it can easily get you killed. Many SEALs have seen their squad members, their friends, killed in combat right next to them, and they have to get on with the mission and keep fighting regardless of what emotions they might be feeling at that moment.Take Calculated Risks
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Not everyone has the capability to take risks and pull them off, and it is a skill that has to be learned through experience, competence and the confidence that a job can get done. Every single Navy SEAL has the mental bandwidth to assess a situation logically and the physical capacity to take a calculated risk and have it pay off. The difference between competent people and reckless people is that reckless people don't ever assess what can go wrong if they take a certain action, whereas competent Navy SEALs are always are of the risks of a situation.Versatility
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SEAL stands for sea, air and land. A Navy SEAL must be highly skilled in military operations on any terrain, as they can never know where they might be deployed next. Having this kind of versatility means that it doesn't matter what situation you put them in, they will be able to adapt quickly and competently and will be able to get the job done. This makes them not only good soldiers, but when they retire and take up new careers, it means they'll have a great chance of excelling and out-performing everyone else because their skills are so versatile.Focus On Mission Objective
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There are many important rules that a Navy SEAL must follow, but possible the most important one is the ability to focus on the mission objective. Regardless of what the mission is, what is going on around them or their mental state, they must be able to solely focus on the job and get it done. Many recruits who fail in the training, fail because they cannot seem to solely focus on that one task. A veteran Navy SEAL will be one of the most driven people you'll meet, and if you give them a task you'll bet that they'll be able to focus intently on it.Understand Warfare
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This one seems obvious, but having the ability to come up with tactics and have a deep understanding of modern warfare is key in being able to succeed as a Navy SEAL. The modern battlefield is ever changing and enemies are constantly adapting to new technology and tactics, so a Navy SEAL must be able to out think them and come up with new ways to operate. Understanding warfare can be the difference of life or death, and every single Navy SEAL will have done their research, and continually learn new tactics and information to give them the best fighting chance.Show Humility
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Having the ability to admit when you're wrong and be humble is a skill that everyone should have, but not everyone does have. Navy SEALs are some of the most confident people in the world, and they are very assured in who they are and the skills that they possess. However, they also possess a lot of humility, and definitely aren't afraid to admit when they're wrong or if they've made a mistake. This is so important as a SEAL, as if you don't admit when you're wrong, it might lead to you continually making the same mistake, which could easily result in a bad situation.Operational Security
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The majority of operations that take place in the Navy SEALs are dangerous and unpredictable but, just like with safety, the security of that operation must remain of paramount importance. Everything about the operation but be meticulously planned with every single detail thought of. This, in turn, gives the Navy SEALs who are taking part in the operation the best chance of survival. If something goes wrong, the Navy SEAL will know that that has already been thought of and they'll know how to respond to that situation.Follow Orders
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This is especially important of younger recruits who have recently passed their training and find themselves in an operational squad. If a SEAL is in a position to give orders, it means that he has worked his way to that position, and has had a lot of experience in dealing with volatile situations. It is of vital importance that a new Navy SEAL, or any SEAL for that matter, follows orders given to him precisely, as deviating or not executing the orders properly could result in a fatality. The best Navy SEALs out there are the ones who can listen and absorb information and orders.Remain Free Of Stress
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Being in a war-torn country means that you'll be constantly exposed to stressful situations. Even Navy SEALs, who are incredibly resilient and mentally tough, can become stressed on the job. It is very important that they let go of that stress and remain calm. If someone is stressed, it can lead to them making bad decisions that can directly effect the outcome of a certain mission, so a Navy SEAL must practice stress relief whenever they can, and strive to keep their mind strong and remain in a calm and relaxed state.Show Leadership
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There are a strict hierarchy of ranks within the military, and it is no different in the Navy SEALs. The best Navy SEALs are often those who have the best leadership skills; people who other people want to follow. However, every single SEAL will have demonstrated their ability to lead other people, else they wouldn't have made it into the SEALs. Most Navy SEALs will go on to become some of the greatest leaders in our local and national businesses, as they have direct experience leading a group of individuals in extreme situations.Think Critically
