frogmanperspective

Frogman Perspective: Life in the Teams

Frogman Perspective

Life in the Teams

The Teams

 First of all, no two days in the teams are alike. Every day and every week of every year I was a SEAL varied according to the current world threats, team I was on, and what cycle of work up I was in – for example, being deployed, pre-deployment training, or individual professional development training.

I’m not going to give you the standard information about what SEALS do or what mission SEALS go on. I’m going to give you the day in the life version. The real Frogman Perspective of being a Team Guy. Most guys I talk to you only see pictures online, or how Hollywood portrays SEALS, and yes some of that information is true and it all looks badass, but what I want you to focus on is what was the work and sacrifice that led up to those cool guys pics, I’m going to give you some insights about that.

 

The New Guy

Once I became a SEAL I was on top of the world, I thought I was a badass and unstoppable. My mindset was I just completed SEAL training, there is nothing that can stop me now. I learned very quickly that just because you completed training doesn’t mean shit when you arrive at your first SEAL Team-remember this if you’re trying to become a SEAL and you make it through training. I took a different route post SEAL Qualification Training (SQT). After graduation I received orders to Special Operations Combat Medic School(18D). Finished the 6-month course and was then stationed on SEAL Team Four. I was assigned to 1 Troop, Alpha platoon. My main purpose in life at that point was to keep my mouth shut and learn everything I can, soak it all in and be prepared to work my ass off. There is a saying in the teams and its this “Earn your Trident everyday”. This is something that holds true during your entire career as a SEAL.

I showed up to Seal Team Four when the team had just got back from deployment so these guys were fresh off the battlefield, most were on leave when I checked in so it was quiet around the team for the first month, but as guys trickled in off their leave, I could tell the older operators could smell fresh meat roaming the halls. I showed up to the team everyday bright and early ready to work. Every morning I would get a workout in before work started because I knew I would be task saturated all day. I would then prepare my gear for about an hour. When I checked in, I was issued a mountain of personal gear, so I was constantly messing with it and organizing it. First, I set up my gear locker, organized all of my stuff into bags, labeled them for example: Assaults, MAROPS, Diving, Jumping. Once I was done prepping my gear for the days training, I would walk into my platoon hut around 8 am to check in with my Leading Petty officer (LPO).

The Platoon “Hut”

Each platoon has their own “Hut”, this is a place where the lions…senior operators come to hang out, plan missions, training, and other duties required through out the day. When I stepped into my platoon hut for the first time, I was scared shitless. Before I entered the room, I would make sure my uniform, haircut, and my composure were tight. When the new guys entered it was like blood in the water for the older guys, it was just a matter of time until they came in for a taste. I was constantly locked on the entire time I spent in that room, it was fucking exhausting sometimes, but it was my duty as a new guy. I knew I had to prove to them I was worthy to wear that Trident, because none of the older guys cared that I made it through training, they all did, and they all have been to combat, I was just a pion in their eyes.

After I was finished with my morning routine of working out and prepping my gear for the day, I would go into my platoon hut before all the older guys showed up. All of the new guys would show up and leave at the same time everyday we would also congregate together while we were in the hut because what the hell did we know, we were walking on egg shells in there. If we weren’t out in the in the field training, you would find us in the hut doing administrative work, planning up coming training trips, or just hanging out and socializing. Believe it or not we had a bar in our hut that some of the new guys built for the older guys and a fridge fully stocked with every beer you could imagine. It was normal after the end of each day the entire platoon would stay late, crack some beers and just shoot the shit with each, or give us new guys shit. I loved this part of being in the platoon, it really was when we all bonded and got to know each other, it was important that we did this together because we were going to be training and going on deployment together.

 

Team Training

The professional Development (PRODEV) phase of the SEAL Team cycle is a time where they send individual SEAL operators to learn new skillset or enhance the ones they already have. This phase was coming to an end and we were getting ramped to begin our official platoon training cycle. This was it for me, up until this point everyone was always separated going to schools or on leave but now, we are all together as a full platoon, and I was fired up to begin our training. The entire training cycle consisted of the following: Jump training, dive training, tactical ground mobility, Maritime operations, and Assaults training. Each block was rigorous in of itself, long fucking days and nights, especially when I was a new guy on my first training cycle. During each training block, there is this sense that every operator gets and that is the need to perform at a high level all the time, it didn’t matter if you were a new SEAL or a seasoned one, that is what is engrained in us ever since BUD/S. Everything you do is a competition, competition is a excellent motivator to make people to perform at a high level. Especially as a new guy, every training trip I was constantly at alert, stressed and always eager to perform better than other new guys. My goal was to be a better shot, more in shape, and a better overall SEAL than the average, it was important for me to prove myself at the time to the older guys because they needed to trust me with their lives on and off the battlefield.

Once the platoon training came to an end,  was almost bitter-sweet. On one hand the boys are relieved that it was over and the other you almost have that desire to continue and you miss being on the road with just the boys. Being on the road during the training trips, gives the guys a chance to relax and an opportunity to just focus on the job. Being home is great but there are distractions i.e. life, family, other temptations that can deter your focus from work. The greatest part about it, it’s the time where the platoon really becomes that brotherhood you always read about, we become FAMILY.


 

Deployment

Once the platoon training cycle ended, the team gets ramped up for deployment. Each Troop has an area of operation that they are responsible for. Mine was Central Command (CENTCOM) at the time, so we knew were going to the middle east but didn’t have an exact location about a few months our from deploying. Coming up on my first deployment after finishing my first full training cycle with my platoon was almost a surreal moment for me. It was a long road up to that point, I learned a shit ton, enhanced my skills as a Frogman, and I really felt that I was ready to go overseas and bring the fight to the enemy. My platoon was filled with nothing but hard dudes, seasoned war fighters. These guys groomed us new guys right because they knew what it would take to destroy the enemy when we got over there. Right before we all took leave, I was told that I would be going to Afghanistan with 2 troop because they needed a combat medic. Afghanistan was where the real fight was at, and I couldn’t have been more excited and nervous at the same time.

I will not be diving into the missions I did on deployment; I’m going to save that for another time. I want to talk about the experiences I had and the behind the scenes stuff you don’t see posted or hear about. My first deployment was hard both mentally and physically, I was young, eager, fired up, and nervous as hell. We all were especially us new guys, this was it, we arrived at the show. Boots on the ground we landed at our Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the Arghandab Valley. We were relieving a West Coast Seal Team. Reality hit me when we were going on our first turnover operation. Inserting via helicopters at night with two Supporting elements and one main element. On insert one of the helicopters crashed, hitting a side of a mounting. That night we lost a lot of good men and one lived. Without going into too much detail out of respect, this was the harsh reality we were in, this was combat, and anything could happen. This derailed our platoon significantly, being our first operation and losing close brothers, you could imagine what the boys were feeling. It took us about 2 weeks to get back on track and set a consistent battle rhythm. I want to say that the platoon bounced back great, it was hard, but we had a job to get done. The first four months of deployment flew by so fast its hard to keep track. Once winter hit it seemed like everything slowed down, some has to do with the weather in Afghanistan because it can get nasty, but it was in part that those savages didn’t like to fight in the winter, they were to fragile in cold weather, typical behavior for cowards of that caliber. For Team guys, we thrive in those types of environments, let’s just say we still found them and took care of business.

The last three months of deployment seemed to drag. We found ourselves counting down the days every so often. Boredom kicked in do the lack of Ops we were going on. A typically day for all of us would be waking up early or late in the afternoon, guys were on all different sleep schedules. It was hard to find a good one, so it was best to just get sleep when you could. When we woke up, it would be straight to breakfast if we had any, or just snack on whatever you had, mostly food from packages the boys received. It was off to the gym after chow, the gym was our sanctuary, at least for me it was. Physical fitness is what Team guys are good at, it also was a good place for the boys to blow off steam. Our gym down range was like the lion’s den. Imagine between 10-20 alpha male Team guys in a small space, all working out and trying to out lift one another. This was inflated ego at its finest and I loved every bit of it. Being around that caliber of men really pushed you to perform at a top level every single day otherwise you would be devoured. The last month of deployment when tensions started to rise, and guys become impatient. You can imagine being around the same people for that amount of time, its normal that we started to get on each other’s nerves to say the least.

Packing up, getting ready to return home we are told a tentative date that our bird will arrive and when we will be heading home. The harsh reality is that this date is never correct the first time. The date and time probably changed a dozen times. You want to know a good way to piss off a entire platoon of SEALS, keep giving them false information and delay them from seeing their families. Finally, the day had come to head home, and you can just see the sense of relief on all the boys faces, we all were ready to go home.

 

Post Deployment

Once the plane gets airborne and we prepare for the long haul to Germany. The boys began to scramble for the best spot to set up shop. This is a battle and hilarious at the same time. Guys bust out their hammocks and ground pads and begin hooking into anything they could find that could potentially support their weight. Some of us would even sneak up on top of the ISU storage containers to sleep, typically we got away with it until the aircrew caught us. Racked up and a couple ambien’s down. That 10-hour flight flew by. We landed on an Air Force base in Spangdahlem, Germany for a night, this was meant to be a refuel stop. This ended up being a bit more than just a “quick stop” to refuel, we ended up getting hotel rooms out in town, and of course the first thing we smelled was the booze. The boys checked into their rooms and immediately went down to the hotel bar, I will tell you this, the hotel was not ready for it. Some of the guys including myself were coming up with a plan to go out in town to have fun or some may say get into trouble. Me and the boys ended up finding the one and only bar in this small town. Spangdahlem had an interesting vibe, very small-town feel, we definitely stood out, again these small-town folks weren’t ready for some hard charging Team guys fresh off the battlefield. That night was long, filled with a lot of German beer. Going 7 months without drinking doesn’t quite set you up for success for pounding beers in Germany. From what I could remember we took a cab back, keep in mind that cabs in Europe are nice vehicles, this one was Mercedes. Our cab driver was driving like a maniac, hauling ass and whipping around corners, this led to me puking out of his back window giving his nice Mercedes a new paint job. Made It back to the hotel, we racked out and were up bright and early to catch our bird home, I felt like shit but I didn’t care because it was good feeling knowing I will be in the states soon.

 

Arriving Home

As soon as we got state side, there was a tour bus waiting for our arrival. The command set up a decompression stop for us in Ocean city, Maryland. This was a weekend stayover in the city, it was supposed to give us time to relax from deployment, meet with doctors, and bring us back to so called reality. I was a little frustrated with the fact, that we had to stay 3 hours from Virginia Beach for a whole weekend before we could go home, I knew the boys were also frustrated. Looking back now those weekends were much needed, the guys had time to relax, go out, and meet with doctors if needed. The Team did this with the best intentions, it made arriving in Virginia Beach that much sweeter. The 2-hour drive down to Virginia Beach was a surreal feeling, the bus was silent the whole way. The guys were excited to finally be back, I know I was, but like with any Team Guy, emotions were no- existent. We arrived at the Team before lunch time, as we pulled up we could see everyone’s family waiting on the side walk for the bus to arrive. The excitement really kicked in once all the guys saw this, I had a huge smile on my face. Once all the greetings and excitement subsided, everyone parted ways and went home with their families and I found my car that was still in the parking lot, I got in and went straight home. I had a lot of emotions running through me that day we all got home, good and bad, but I will tell you one thing, throughout my entire career going on three deployments overseas, those feelings never go away, I still experienced them every time I left and came home.

 

I hope all of you enjoyed this post and got something out of it. I challenge you that If becoming a SEAL is your goal, go after it no matter what. Reflect and make sure that the “why” behind wanting to become a SEAL is rock solid, and if it is, nothing can stop you.

 

TEAMS

Travis Kennedy

 

 

Frogman Perspective: My Journey of Becoming a Navy SEAL

Frogman Perspective

My Journey of Becoming a Navy SEAL

The Beginning

Over the past 12 years I have been serving in the United States Navy and 11 of those years I was serving as a United States Navy SEAL. I want to give you a quick history of who I am and what I did in the Teams to bring relevancy to this no bullshit guide to prepare you for the rigors of not only preparing for BUD/s but for when you actually arrive there.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I began to really think about what I wanted out of life. I knew I wanted to join the military and the Navy was the only branch I wanted to be a part of. At first, I was battling as to what I wanted to do in the Navy, I entertained the idea of possibly going to the Naval Academy and then move onto becoming a fighter pilot. That idea soon faded, I just didn’t have the grades or the passion to go for that specific career in the Navy. What ate away at me was I knew I wanted to be apart of something special, something that would set me apart from the rest and challenge me in ways I couldn’t even imagine. My father at the time was all about the Naval Academy idea but once that faded, he was determined to not let me just settle for anything, he wanted me to be elite, not just average.

            One day my father brought home a pamphlet on Navy SEALs. As soon as he handed it to me, I was blown away. Up until this point I have heard of them but that was as far as it went for me. When I started to read that pamphlet I was hooked, I knew that this job and career was for me. The SEAL mission set, the team camaraderie, the mindset, and the motivation to accomplish the impossible, these are the things that were inline of what I wanted in life. My life was changed from that day on. I began to conduct a lot of research about the SEALs, I bought books, documentaries, BUD/s Class 234 videos. I educated myself on what exactly SEALs did and what the job would be like. Once I set the goal to become a SEAL, BUD/s was just something I needed to go through to do the job, it wasn’t the end all be all for me.

I began my training and preparation for BUD/s my sophomore year of high school. I completely revolved my life around my training. My life consisted of school, sports, and training for BUD/s. My family was a huge supporter of me pursuing my goals to become a SEAL. My father even went as far as paying for a membership at 24-hour fitness that had a pool I could use 24/7 and paid for my scuba certifications because he knew I needed to be proficient in the water. My training consisted of 6 days a week with one rest day, typically on Sunday. I would run Monday through Friday. Starting the week off with a short distance such as 3 miles and finishing the week with a long 6-mile run. I would then swim 4 days a week. Two of those day would be swimming for time typically between 30-60 minutes straight focusing only on sidestroke. The other three days I would do hypoxic pyramid sprint work focusing on freestyle stroke. This drastically increased my cardiovascular and lung capacity. In addition to running and swimming I conducted calisthenics training 6 days a week. Exercises I focused on were push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, dips, flutter kicks, leg levers, v-ups, and arm haulers. This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but I just wanted to give you an idea of the exercises I did. Once a week I would add in a ruck run and an open water ocean swim with fins and a mask. Also, If you’re training for BUD/s buy your self a pair of Bates Lite boots and pants and get used to running in that and running in soft sand.

The Decision to Enlist

I enlisted into the Navy the summer of my senior year into a program called DEP. This allowed me to pick a date immediately following graduation that I could leave for boot camp. For my rate I chose Hospital Corpsman (HM). In 2006 you had to choose a SEAL source rating in case you ended up quitting or getting dropped from training you had a skill to fall back on, now a days it’s different and you enter the Navy under a SEAL contract if you qualify and you get put in a undesignated rate status. This should be motivation for you not to ever QUIT, because if you do, you are now at the mercy and “needs of the Navy” trust me she will do what she pleases with you. July 2006 I’m off to boot camp, then onto Corpsman school which was located across the street from boot camp. Corpsman school ended up being 11 weeks long, self-paced program. I enjoyed medicine so I found this training easy and It paid off later in my career. While I was attending Corpsman training, I got involved with the dive motivator program. This program changed me physically and mentally. Before boot camp I was training hard, while attending boot camp I lost a lot, due to the nature of the schedule, in today’s Navy things are different. You will be assigned to an all Special Warfare division that is comprised of candidates that have Special Warfare contracts. Post boot camp you will then attend an 8-week SEAL preparation training before you head off to BUD/s

In the dive motivator program, I trained alongside other guys who were going into Special Warfare programs after they finished Corps. school, or some were just waiting on their orders to pop so they could leave. Everyday was a grind and a competition. We always pushed each other everyday no matter what. Everyday we had to train before class even started, so we would be up at 4 a.m running, swimming, and doing PT. After classes we hit it again, this type of training really set me up for success not only physically but most importantly mentally. July of 2007, I arrived at BUD/s and I checked into the quarter deck, wearing my dress whites and to be honest I was scared shitless. I was 18 years old when I arrived to BUD/s, I didn’t have any life experience or knew really what I was getting myself into but I was determined more than ever, and the moment I walked onto that quarterdeck that fire got even stronger.

Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL Training

I classed up with BUD/s class 266 summer of 2007 and I had no idea what was to come. BUD/s didn’t come easy for me, I did well in majority of the evolution’s, but my weakness was running. Looking back on my training prior to BUD/s I wish I spent more time running. I ended up getting rolled to BUD/s class 267 post pool competency do to failing 4-mile timed runs. I ended up classing up with class 267 healthier than ever. Hell-week really messed my body up in class 266 it took me a long time to recover. But once I was in class 267 my body was right and the rest of 2nd phase went well. I had experience with diving prior to joining the navy, I got certified as a rescue diver in high school. I truly believe this really gave me the confidence I needed to be comfortable and success throughout 2nd phase. 3rd phase was where the fun started in BUD/s. It was the time you began learning to shoot small arms, small unit tactics, and demolition. This was the introduction to the job of being a Navy SEAL and I loved it. I graduated BUD/s February 15, 2008 at the age of 19 years old. It was a surreal moment and feeling for me, all the hard work and dedication finally came to fruition for me. Immediately following BUD/s I was off to SEAL Qualification Training (SQT). Over the course of the next four months is where SQT instructors really taught us how to be United States Navy SEAL. We honed our skills in all aspects from skydiving, marksmanship, combat diving, land warfare, and maritime operations. SQT is why you busted your ass in BUD/s for previous 6 months.

I graduated SQT and became a SEAL on 22 August 2008. This was the greatest day of my life. This Is why I have been busting my ass over the past 2 years to become to include all of my classmates. It’s hard to describe the feeling in words because it’s unlike anything else and few have experienced it. What I want you to take away from it is, its fucking worth it. Following SQT I was told I would be attending the Special Operations Combat Medical School (SOCM) in Fort Bragg, NC do to my medical background. This was a Joint service school where all special operations unit medics attend. This course was six months long and the most academic intensive training schools I attended throughout my military career and one of the most rewarding. After completing that school, I received orders to SEAL Team Four, where I was assigned to 1 Troop Alpha Platoon. I was a new guy, so my mindset was keep my mouth shut and ears open, remember that if you end up completing training and get assigned to your first SEAL Team. Here is the thing, everyone at the Team has done what you have done and then some, so you are a nobody when you check in, soak it all in.

My First Team

While I served at SEAL Team Four from May 2009 to May 2013 I successfully complete two training workups and two combat deployments to Afghanistan. I was fortunate enough to join the Teams at a good time and had the opportunity to go to combat. I had many great experiences overseas and some sketchy ones. But what I did learn is the importance of your teammate next to you, that is what it’s about, having his back, making sure you are always mentally and physically sharp. These are things that were instilled in me while I was in BUD/s and SQT and it was all coming to life for me on my first deployment overseas. I will tell you one thing, I had harder nights overseas that I ever did in BUD/s. The old saying “it only gets harder” is a real thing. Following my tour with SEAL Team four I received orders to become a Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Instructor at Naval Special Warfare Basic Training Command. This was a position I was striving to get prior to getting home from my second deployment to Afghanistan, and when I got the position I was stoked. I checked into BUD/s May 2013 and I was assigned to First Phase, this is exactly where I wanted to be. I wanted to be there at the beginning for the future Frogman. First phase is the selection phase, the most physically and mentally demanding phase of training. Here I was able to identify who really wanted to become a SEAL because a lot of people are just talk, there is a reason why it’s over an 80% drop out rate. Over the course of the two years I was there, one thing that stood out to me was the reasons individuals quit training. I concluded that each person that dropped on request (DOR) didn’t have a clear and solid “why” they wanted to become a SEAL. Often individuals were there for the wrong reasons, the only driving factor was so they could prove to themselves they could even go to BUD/s, complete hell week, or just complete BUD/s training itself. These reasons in of themselves are weak and provide no foundations and true motivation or desire to wanting to become a SEAL and most importantly do the JOB of a Navy SEAL. Identify your “Why” because I truly believe that it needs to be so solid that nothing can prevent you from becoming a Navy SEAL.

March 2015 my time was up as an Instructor and I received orders to SEAL Team Four again, going into the position of Leading Petty Officer of a Platoon. This was one of those rewarding career milestones that SEALs look forward to accomplishing in their careers. I was stationed at SEAL Team Four from March 2015 to March 2017 and in that time,  I successfully led a SEAL Platoon through a training cycle and a deployment to Colombia. After returning from Colombia I received orders to Naval Special Warfare Training Detachment Two, where I was the Leading Chief Petty Officer of Special Operations Urban Combat Training Division. In this division I was responsible for 8 other SEAL Instructors and a three-week course of instruction that covered a diverse skill set that included: Close quarters combat, urban warfare, leadership development, and small unit tactics. I served a two-year billet at this command and during the final year of my commitment was when I made the decision to separate from the military. This was probably one of the hardest decisions of my career.

Making the Difficult Decision

I Separated from the Military on 14 April 2019, with the goal to move back home to California and find a way to give back and help others. One thing I learned during my time as a BUD/s Instructor and running a training division is that I had a passion for teaching and mentoring others. After a month from moving back to California, I started Kennedy Defensive Shooting, the mission behind this company is to develop thinking shooters and provide quality firearms training and education to individuals who seek to better themselves personally and professionally. Now I’m developing a mentor program for people who seek further guidance and direction on their pursuit of becoming a SEAL. This mentor program is also tailored for those who just want to join the navy and need help understanding the life or the process of enlisting.  Honestly, I didn’t move to California with the intentions of starting a company. The idea and passion hit me in the face one day and I fell in love with it. Where I am in life right now, this falls in line with what my goals are, and that is to give back and pass on the knowledge I learned over the past 12 years as a SEAL.

I challenge you to sit back and reflect on your goals. Really make sure your “why” is clear regardless if you want to become a SEAL or not. This will help guide you on your path to success and give you the motivation you need to accomplish any goal you set for yourself.

I really hoped you enjoyed this. Please give me feedback and let me know what you think. Ask questions and if you want me to go into greater detail on a topic let me know.

 

Keep crushing.

Teams

- Travis Kennedy