ETHOS 1

IT’S NOT YOUR NORMAL TAD ASSIGNMENT. CMDR. CHRIS CASSIDY’S FIRST TRIP OUT OF THIS WORLD JUNE 13 INVOLVES A STOP AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. DOES ANYONE KNOW THE PER DIEM RATE THERE?

Ethos is an authorized official production of the Naval Special Warfare Command Public Affairs Office, 2000 Trident Way, San Diego, Calif. 92155-5599. Send electronic submissions and correspondence to editor@navsoc.socom.mil or call (619) 522-2825.

Front cover photo courtesy NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Image by Reto Stockli, enhancements by Robert Simmon. Data and technical support by MODIS.Table of contents image, above: Cmdr. Chris Cassidy runs a simulation in a trainer at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Photo by MC2 Dominique Lasco

Back Cover: Members of NSW’s Flyin’ Frogs mountain bike team train at Mission Trails in San Diego. Photo by MC2 Dominique Lasco

PRODUCTION MANAGER > MC1 (SW/AW) Andre Mitchell ASSOCIATE EDITOR > Ms. Mandy McCammonLAYOUT AND DESIGN > Ms. Mandy McCammon, MC2 (PJ) Michelle KapicaSTAFF > MC2 (SW/AW) Arcenio Gonzalez, MC2 (SW) Shauntae Hinkle-Lymas, MC2 (SW/AW) Dominique Lasco , MC2 (SW/AW) Erika Manzano

COMMANDER > Rear Adm. Edward Winters III FORCE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER > Cmdr. Gregory Geisen

DEP. PAO/EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS > Lt. Nathan PotterDEP. PAO/INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS > Ms. Patricia O’Connor

EDITOR > MCCS (SW/AW) Scott Williams

ST

AF

F

THE DUKES OF HAZARDOUS BIKES

8

72 QUIET PROFFESION-ALS

SEALS IN SPACE

16

13

2226

28

THE MOST SUPER OF FROGS

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

THE NERDS OF NSW

TRACKING THE PRODEV OF OUR OFFICERS

COURAGE ISN’T JUSTA COWARDLY DOG

The NSW bike team is a little known secret. The best part? They’re really good.

SEALs don’t typically seek individual praise or acclaim. In fact, they shun it. Being appreciated for being the best is thanks enough as the media and world audience recently discovered.

The SuperFrog triathalon brings athletes of all ages and abilities to Coronado each year. Some come to win, but most just come to cross the finish line.

NSW’s tactical training is some of the best, but according to a survey of mid-level officers, their professional development track was missing some rails. Not anymore.

It’s a virtue. It’s fundamental to good character. But, really, what is our community without courage, physical and moral? An essay by retired SEAL Bob Schoultz.

Cassidy ... sits at his desk ... and stares.

Even tough guys can be nerds. Read more about how NSW loves its video games.

With a Range Program Office now established at the headquarters, NSW has set its sights on putting the right pieces in place to ensure long-term range sustainability, a critical element to combat raediness.

ETHOS 1

THE MEDIA FRENZY began in earnest but was met with stony silence from our community. Requests for interviews with the operators were denied. Photo ops didn’t materialize. Navy officials confirmed the operation and the fact that Naval Special Warfare was involved and let it go at that. This type of reaction to a showering of media love was absolutely baffling to the world, but we understood. Glory-seeking isn’t in your ethos. You didn’t get into this business to

draw attention to yourselves or launch a reality television series. In fact, the way this was handled only reinforced what you stand for – quiet professionalism. The humble approach to meeting personal and professional challenges is what distinguishes operators from the vainglorious “specops” caricatures portrayed in movies.

It takes physical and moral courage to do dangerous jobs with professionalism and be satisfied. No accolades necessary. In this issue of ETHOS, our contributing academic writer, retired

SEAL Capt. Bob Schoultz, provides an insightful analysis of the difference between the two virtues on page 28.

At this point, it should be no surprise that in the quest for professional excellence, one of our own is now quietly preparing for a whole new unearthly challenge: space. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy – Navy commander and SEAL, no less – will depart on a mission to the International Space Station next month. While other operators are training or performing real-world missions, he will be on un-Earthly space walks. Check out the full story on this most rare of events beginning on page eight.

Personal challenges are a daily task for the special warfare community, even off-duty. Competitiveness reaches a whole new level with the feats accomplished by the NSW bike racing team. You can check out how they take on the competition, themselves and Mother Nature’s most formidable terrain via two wheels and leg power on page two.

With this issue we begin our second year of publishing Ethos. We have gone through some dramatic changes of our own as we attempted to find the right words and pictures to portray this special community of people. We strive to communicate the commander’s intent, which is to ‘promote the character, culture and actions that define our Naval Special Warfare way of life, and

examine the issues that shape our community.’ We remain open-minded to input because this is, after all, your community magazine. There is no other publication wholly owned by and meant for NSW, so if you have a story suggestion, criticism or question please contact us at editor@navsoc.socom.mil or call the WARCOM Public Affairs Office at (619) 522-2825.

- MCCS(SW/AW) Scott Williams

A dramatic confluence of events marks this first anniversary of the publishing of Ethos magazine. In April, our operators flawlessly

rescued an American freighter captain held captive at sea by Somali pirates. Scan Eagle UAV footage and eyewitness reports quickly revealed to the world what

may ordinarily have been a clandestine operation. Suddenly, NSW found itself in the limelight.

We’ve uncovered a little secret.Until recently, it was kept under wraps by the sometimes dirty dozen involved. Now the story -- and it’s a good one -- is revealed. Twelve SEALs who compete in endurance mountain bike races -- they do it for fun, family and even NSW recruiting.

It’s a hot, sticky Saturday night in Temecula, Calif., and Chief Special Warfare Operator Mike Everett should be at home enjoying an evening with his wife. Instead, he’s eating rock and dirt, mixed with sweat as he navigates his full suspension mountain bike down a rugged, dimly lit, nine-mile trail. He has managed to avoid breaking his bike chain (unlike the unlucky soul he passed a few miles back) and he has narrowly missed falling on some sharp rocks and breaking a collar bone (like the guy he saw being carted off in an ambulance).

Sounds dangerous? Well, it is.And Everett loves every minute of it.

2 ETHOS

ETHOS 3

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

Flyin’ Frog members Curtiss (left) and Skalski practice thier skils on a local path.

Smith was talking about Lt. Eric Skalski, a SEAL attached to SEAL Team One. He reinvigorated the team, developed a rigorous schedule and brought in younger, very competitive mountain bike racers.

“So the good news for the old guys was that the team was getting faster every time one of the young guys showed up,” Smith said. “The bad news for us old SEALs was that staying on that A-team got really tough!”

Once the Flyin’ Frogs team was formed, Smith, who was director of recruiting for the NSW Center at the time, saw its great potential as a no-cost NSW recruitment tool.

“Mountain bike racers are used to pushing themselves to the limit in less than perfect conditions. Those are the type of people NSW is seeking, so where better to find potential SEAL candidates than at a down and dirty, butt-kicking mountain bike race.”

Having a presence at races also gave potential SEAL candidates the opportunity to sit down with a BUD/S instructor, a SEAL sniper or a command master chief and get real insight into life within NSW.

“We wanted to make sure they got to know a SEAL,” Smith said. “That they were able to recognize that some of the things they were doing everyday in their life as an athlete gave them a higher likelihood of success at SEAL training.”

As a member of the Navy SEAL Flyin’ Frogs mountain bike team, this scene is quite familiar to Everett, who races with the 12-man crew. Since they began nearly four years ago, the team has been a well-kept secret at Naval Special Warfare. Made up of both enlisted and officers, the team has taken winning titles in races as close to San Diego as Temecula and as far away as Conyers, Ga. Those include the Suzuki National 24-hour race series in Utah and Georgia and the 12 Hours of Temecula race series.

But being a part of a winning team is only a piece of the story.

According to Flyin’ Frogs member Capt. Duncan Smith, there was an unofficial squad of NSW mountain bike riders that would occasionally get together and race for fun around California. They were decent technical riders but inexperienced when it came to organized cross country mountain bike racing.

“It was kind of joke. We were a bunch of old guys just racing for fun and we were surprising ourselves by actually winning once in a while!” said Smith, a SEAL attached to Naval Special Warfare Command. “LT Skalski came on board and really professionalized

(the team).”

BIG WIN The Flyin’ Frogs accepts a trophy

after winning the Suzuki National 24-hour race

series in Moab, Utah in October 2008. Their most recent win came April 25

at the Hurkey Creek 24 Hours of Adrenaline held

in Riverside County, Calif.

4 ETHOS

MC

3 M

ike

Lepo

rati

But recruiting the starry-eyed individual with dreams of becoming an elite warrior was not the only goal. Going out and winning races was the primary objective – and that’s exactly what they do.

Race day is always a fun and busy time. It’s a day filled with excitement, lots of water and carbohydrates. Teamwork, something that SEALs are inherently good at, and family support is the key to the Flyin’ Frogs’ success both on the trail and at home. Both result in never having to motivate your teammates to go out for that next lap because everyone is already motivated. The team mentality also means that everyone pitches in to make sure the next rider has a clean bike, lubed chain, proper tire pressure, food, water — all he needs — before the lap.

“The fun part is the family part. The race part is the competitive side,” said Skalski. “We always like to have our family out there because not many of our races are in California. I’ll tell you, it’s hard to juggle work, family, training and racing.”

Injuries, whether it’s a few scratches or broken bones, are a very real aspect of

The amount of money it costs to buy and equip a full suspension mountain bike. Cost does not include regular maintenance fees like cracked bike helmets and tires.

The bowls of pasta a team member would have to eat to replace the carbohydrates lost during a 24-hour race on a five-man team.

The average number of calories a team member burns while competing in a 24-hour race on a five-man team.

The average number of miles a team member would ride on a five-man team in a 24-hour race.

The average number of times Lt. Eric Skalski has fallen over his handlebars—to date.

Here’s a look at some facts and figures that get thrown around on the Flyin’ Frogs on a regular basis.

ETHOS 5

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD Top:

Smith and Lastra congratulate each other

after a good practice. Bottom: Everett carries

his dismantled bike after a blowout at a

local trail.

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

mountain bike racing. There’s no recovery time on race day — it’s game on and time is everything. In order to prevent injury, the guys on the team work hard to keep their bodies in tip-top shape.

“Athletic conditioning carries over from one sport to another,” team member Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Brian Curtiss said. “But with the mountain bike or with any (sport) you still have to spend a lot of time on it.”

However, the Flyin’ Frogs don’t really

worry too much about getting hurt because they practice so much. You’re going to fall at some point –- it’s inevitable when you’re riding full-speed on a bumpy, downhill trail. “Compared to war, it’s like going to Sunday mass,” laughed team member Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Luis Lastra, command master chief at Advanced Training Command.

Each team member has his own fitness regime. Curtiss likes to mix it up with surfing, tennis and hockey. Skalski hired a coach to help him with his training and nutrition. Smith just likes to get in some riding time. To each his own, but one thing is for sure -- everyone is prepared on race day.

Training in the core areas of strength, flexibility and endurance is important. As Navy SEALs, training for endurance comes naturally, but their mountain bike training is very different from what professional cyclists, like Lance Armstrong, would do.

“In endurance mountain biking which is called ‘cross country’ you’re riding a bike that’s lighter than what the downhill racers use. Instead of bombing down a ski run in the summer on a bike that resembles a motorcycle without an engine, cross country riders are racing much greater distances over varied terrains,” Smith said. “So you’re climbing as well as going downhill.”

Varied terrains indeed. Depending on which race they are doing, the course lap

is usually between nine and 20 miles long. The terrain is typically littered with rocks, dirt, grass and the occasional road kill. As riders navigate the tumultuous paths, they must focus on technique: Look forward and once you pick a line to ride don’t concentrate on what you don’t want to hit. Focus on where you want to go. Climbing 1,000 feet over the course of a half mile shoulder to shoulder with your competition can feel like biking up Mount Everest. The riders use whichever techniques they have adopted to keep them from thinking about their sore bodies and allowing their thoughts to wander. Just like marathon running, endurance mountain biking is a mental game. Finally, they must pay attention to the trail’s camber and to every rock and rut or they may find themselves head over handlebars, which puts a costly dent in their personal and team’s time.

There’s a lot to remember. Nevertheless, when the NSW Flyin’ Frogs set foot inside the SEAL/SWCC tent, their home base on race day, it is business as usual. Skalski is stretching and excited to race after enjoying an IHOP pancake breakfast. Smith is making sure each team member has enough water, gear and other essentials to get them through the race. Everett is strolling in from the parking area with his bicycle, taking off his SEAL-issued shades and taking deep, cleansing breaths. Yep. Business as usual.

They face other hungry competitors and occasionally their friendly challengers, the Marine Corps Special Operations mountain bike team, but once they are out on the trail, they’re racing against the clock, and it’s just their thoughts and the trail ahead. As Lastra put it, “I’d be doing this whether it be for recruitment or just for myself. I love it!”

- MC2 Shauntae Hinkle-Lymas

6 ETHOS

Here’s some interesting information about the current team roster.

Lt. Eric Skalski: Team Captain. Said he wants to see some new, young blood on the team.

LCDR Joseph Butner:Climbed one of the world’s highest active volcanoes- Mt. Cotopaxie in Ecuador.

here are a few things that you may not know about the Flyin’ Frogs.

SOC Hans Garcia:Has raced bikes since 1987. He now recruits athletes to be SEALs--so it’s not just a job.

SOCM Luis “Lu” Lastra: Raced in the ’87-’88 Olympics trials. He also has 9,643 skydives, and holds 2 world skydiving records.

Capt. Duncan Smith: Adventure raced in the 1990s in various countries, including South Africa, New Zealand and Nepal.

SOC Ted Bair:Also known as ‘the chain breaker,’ because he’s always breaking his bike chain during races.

SOC Mike Everett:Rides his Harley to every race with his bike attached to the side of his motorcycle.

SO1 Brian Curtiss:The lone ‘blue shirt’ on the team and is fluent in French.

SEALs seek no attention for genuinely valiant deeds.

“What’s the purpose?” Rocha said. “How does that help you do your job?”

Who are these people? Who can so easily shrug off the spotlight, which, today, only burns brighter if there’s actual heroism involved?

Check out Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the U.S. Airways pilot who made that emergency landing on the Hudson River, sparing all 150 passengers. He was a media darling for weeks after his incredible landing. He was on “60 Minutes.” He was invited to President Barack Obama’s inauguration. He and other crew members received a standing ovation before the Super Bowl.

Who wouldn’t want a piece of that?Well, SEALs wouldn’t.“They’re silent warriors,” said Cmdr. Greg

Geisen, a spokesman for the Coronado-based Naval Special Warfare Command.

Geisen was swamped with requests from the media wanting to talk to the SEALs who saved the life of the cargo ship captain, Richard Phillips. Some were surprised no interviews would be given.

SEALs don’t do media interviews because they don’t like to be singled out. They are members of a team, and their team is first and foremost, Geisen said. Publicity also could endanger them or their families if their identities were revealed.

The SEALs have a creed that says, in part: “I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions.”

They live up to it, even now, when multimillion-dollar athletes can make national news for whining that they don’t get the ball

enough.

I half-expected them to appear on “The Today Show.” Or maybe toss out the first pitch at that new Yankee Stadium. Or show up in grainy video on TMZ.com, grabbing a latte at Starbucks.

I’m conditioned that way. In this age of instant celebrity, I figured the three Navy SEAL snipers who took out three pirates off the coast of Somalia last week would get the full star treatment.

Lady GaGa gets it. David Beckham gets it. Even a sweet Scottish spinster who can belt out Broadway tunes is getting it. Not these guys. We won’t even learn their names. They remain anonymous because they and the Navy want it that way. The SEALs are true heroes, of course, but they’re the old-fashioned kind. They do the amazing and then slip back into the scenery, leaving us to wonder who they were.

They’re different. Way, way different. And that’s refreshing.

“It’s not about accolades, medals or recognition,” said Nicholas Rocha, a former SEAL and co-founder of the United Warrior Survivor Foundation in Coronado, Calif., which helps spouses of special operations forces killed in the line of duty. “It’s about that person to your left, that person to your right.”

SEALs go into it knowing they won’t be needing any Hollywood agent, no matter what they pull off.

It’s ironic. Many in today’s world seek (and get) publicity

for the most ridiculous reasons. They go on

reality shows to date a fading rock star.

They have eight babies.

This recent SEAL action was unusual because it took place so publicly. Pirates boarded a cargo ship and took Phillips hostage, drawing international media coverage.

The pirates held Phillips for five days onboard the ship’s lifeboat. The Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge was sent to help. The SEALs parachuted from a helicopter and climbed onboard the Navy ship.

From the back of the ship, they took aim at the pirates in that bobbing lifeboat, only their heads and shoulders exposed. When ordered to shoot, the snipers simultaneously fired. Three shots. Three kills.

The world was riveted.“Normally, our operations are secret,”

Geisen said. And, of course, dangerous.More than 240 special operations warriors

from units across all branches of the military have died since Sept. 11, 2001.

It was the loss of a fellow SEAL in the mountains of Afghanistan that inspired Rocha to start his support group in 2002.

Many widows need more assistance than what the government provides, so the foundation gives college scholarships and other support to those women. Many put their ambitions on hold when following their husbands’ military careers.

About the only local spot that publicly honors SEALs is McP’s Irish Pub in Coronado. Pictures of Vietnam-era SEALs hang on the walls of the place, which is owned by a former SEAL, Greg McPartlin.

I asked the bartender, who wouldn’t give me his name, if SEALs ever boast at the bar about what they do.

No, he said.Even after a few beers?No.If they ever say anything about what they

do, he said, it’s “only under their breaths, to each other.”

JUST HONOR FOR SEALs

No stardom, no glitz.

8 ETHOS

Integrated EVA/RMS Virtual Reality Simulator Facility in Room 2116, Building 9,

at Johnson Space Center in Houston is not the picture of what one might imagine a high-tech NASA laboratory should look like. The lab looks like a cross between

the rehearsal space for a high school garage band and the audio/visual department of the local Best Buy. More than forty computer monitors and flat screen televisions of varying sizes grow out of the walls at every angle, spilling down onto two cluttered desks sitting parallel to each other in the middle of the room; surrounding them is a wild overgrowth of chords and wires that seem to have sprung up organically, like Morning Glory left unchecked – the type of vines that would gargle weed killer and laugh. On the walls not otherwise inhabited by monitors, a collage of autographed photos, former mission patches and movie posters advertising the likes of Space Cowboys and IMAX Space Station 3-D narrated by Tom Cruise ensure that no space is left bare.Between the desks, the unstoppable

computer chords have seemingly ensnared two hapless victims at the front of the room: Doctors Tom Marshburn and Dave Wolf, who sit with their backs to each other in swiveling office chairs. Marshburn

ETHOS 9

A University of Texas at Austin Aerospace Engineering graduate with a black Mohawk and glasses, the young flight controller and mission designer says his specialty is robotics. “The Space-to-Ground Antenna,” he elaborates. “Basically, that [handle] gives him a physical ‘something’ to hold on to so it matches the model. Without this training, they wouldn’t be prepared for the flight.”

he model that Lou refers to is the computer-generated scenario that is playing out on the majority of the forty-plus screens in the room. A large, centrally located 42-inch plasma television shows Wolf’s avatar in NASA’s famous white spaceman regalia, hanging upside down by his feet from a large mechanical arm over the International Space Station miles above the planet

Earth. What his virtual doppelganger is wrestling with in his hands resembles a giant satellite dish attached to a large, unwieldy metal box. With handles.

“But this is how I don’t want to hold it,” Wolf says. The screen shows that there is not enough room in Wolf’s virtual

world to properly attach the SGANT to the exterior of the space station. After several minutes of calm negotiation and creative brainstorming amongst the STS-127 crewmembers, a suitable solution does, in the end, prevail and the crewman in the blue button-down consults his manual once again to press on.

“Alright … Can you lock the SGANT, please? And we would do Alpha-4, clockwise two against sixty-three foot pounds, eleven turns, Dave. Thank you. And you can give Julie the ‘go’ whenever we’re ready.”

“Okay, Chris, ready for your call,” responds Wolf.Chris, who sits beneath an autographed photo of Miss Tulsa 2000, is

what the other astronauts call a “first-time flyer” – meaning STS-127 will be his first space mission – though by all indications, the average observer wouldn’t know it. He guides the two astronauts through their multiple tasks with meticulous confidence throughout the hours-long exercise, a computer-generated virtual spacewalk that takes place during Extravehicular Activity Two (EVA-2).

“He’s doing really well. I’m always impressed with Chris’s utter calm. Nothing fazes him,” says Holly Ridings, a 10-year NASA

veteran and the Lead Flight Director for STS-127. “It’s that whole focused Navy SEAL thing.”

he goals in my career really just seemed to sort of happen,” says Cmdr. Christopher Cassidy, mission specialist for STS-127 and the second Navy SEAL in NASA’s history to become an astronaut. “You know, good coincidence, timing and luck kind of play a lot into it.”

So, as Cassidy would tell it, by sheer stroke of luck he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 1993. From there, he continued on to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, Calif., where he happened to graduate at the same time Class 192 needed someone to be their Honor Graduate.

and Wolf, both astronaut mission specialists for Space Transportation System 127 (STS-127) aboard the shuttle Endeavor, scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center June 13, are clad in virtual reality “suits” consisting of a bulky shoulder harness, motion-sensitive gloves and oversized insect-like goggles suspended from the ceiling by a series of

ropes and pulleys that give both of the astronauts the look of patients in traction. Yellow and black CAUTION tape crisscrosses the entrance to their physical domain, while the remaining crew members of STS-127 man the desktop screens which broadcast their virtual progress.“Hold it just like that, Dave; hang on a minute …” a crewmember in a light blue, button-

down Oxford shirt consults a manual as he scrutinizes the action on his screen. “Like what?” Wolf asks.“Like that.The way that you need to install it,” he responds.Wolf, turning slightly in his chair, is using both hands to maneuver a crude figure-

eight-shaped handle fashioned of little more than PVC pipe and duct tape.“That is representing the SGANT handrail,” explains Anthony Lou in a hushed voice.

10 ETHOS

Above: Members of the STS 127 crew practice a space walk in the integrated EVA/RMS Virtual Reality Simulator Facility.Left: Cmdr. Cassidy (center) monitors the progress of the space walk using the virtual reality image on a computer.

Then, after receiving his first assignment to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two (SDVT-2) in Little Creek, Va., Cassidy happened to find himself on the telephone with Capt. William “Shep” Shepherd, who, in what may have been the most statistically improbable coincidence in history, happened to be the first Navy SEAL in NASA’s history to become an astronaut.

“This ensign called me one day back in the ‘90s when he was getting ready to get out of BUD/S … and he said part of his interest was to, maybe, be positioned in his SEAL career so that being an astronaut was an option available to him,” says Shepherd, now the Head Science Advisor of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), laughing as he recalls that first phone conversation with Cassidy. “Chris is kind of an anomaly! He’s a pretty exceptional guy and I think he is somewhat modest about his own capabilities.”

After his first tour with SDVT-2, Cassidy spent 10 years as a member of Navy SEAL Teams, including executive officer and operations officer of Special Boat Team 20 in Norfolk, Va.; Platoon Commander at SEAL Team Three in Coronado; and Platoon Commander after returning to SDVT-2. In the course of four, six-month deployments to Afghanistan and the Mediterranean theaters, Cassidy was awarded the Bronze Star with combat ‘V’ and Presidential Unit Citation for missions with the Army 10th Mountain Division on the Afghan/Pakistan border; he was made an honorary member of the 10th Mountain Division by its soldiers, a rare honor given to few; and in 2004, he received a second Bronze Star.

“But, really,” says Cassidy, “the seed of my desire to be an astronaut was sewn at the SDV Team and in conversations with Capt. Shepherd about, you know, what life as an astronaut is like. And it excited me to think about putting on a spacesuit and going outside and doing the work the [astronauts] do.”

Following in Shepherd’s footsteps, Cassidy applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), eventually getting his Masters Degree in ocean engineering in 2000. Shortly thereafter, with support from his command, he applied for NASA’s space program through the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS).

“They have a board where they screen everybody who’s applied ... And then, from that board, they’ll send the selected names down to the NASA Astronaut Selection Office, which, in turn, has received the packages from each military service and from civilians directly. And then they file through all those applications and pick the folks that they want to bring down for an interview,” says Cassidy.

t this point, he had little clue as to what kind of questions the NASA panel would ask in his upcoming interview, but it was clear that one question would have to be answered before any other could be approached, “Why would a Navy SEAL go to space?”

“I’m asked that question a lot,” Cassidy says with a knowing smile. “The misconception is that to be an astronaut, you have to have been a pilot or have time as a pilot of some type of aircraft, and that’s just not true … the [fact] is anybody can apply to be an astronaut! There are very basic requirements, you know? A bachelor’s degree in some technical field… maybe a few other ones pertaining to eyesight and height and weight and that sort of thing. But, when you come right down to it, pretty much anybody can apply.”

“We have veterinarians, medical doctors, military folks from all sorts of backgrounds – helicopter aviators; P-3 pilots; myself as a SEAL; Navy divers – so, we have a broad array of folks,” he adds.

“There are several reasons why [Naval] Special Warfare people – SEALs, and SWCCs (Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman) – are really suitable to do this,” says Shepherd. “One is that we understand what a team is. Most of the experience in the SEAL community is about being a team. It starts with BUD/S… The concept of ‘team’ is really what defines us as a community. And that this would translate to a space mission is pretty obvious.”

Cassidy would soon find out, however, that NASA’s selection office had a few preconceived notions of what skill sets a Navy SEAL had to offer, thanks in no small part to his predecessor, the man NASA veterans know as “Shep.”

“He’s notorious around here for his interview to become an

ETHOS 11

The nickname for our community, the symbol… has always been the frog, the Frogmen. I think it’s interesting that we still have some of that legacy because if you look at everything about special warfare and the SEAL community, above all else, we’re adaptable. And I think that it’s very distinct that the symbol of all of this is the frog, because the frog, at the end of the day, is pretty adaptable.” – Shep

astronaut,” says Cassidy. “The legend … the NASA lore, I should say … [is that] they asked him, ‘What special skills do you have?’… And his infamous answer is, ‘I know how to kill somebody with a knife.’ So, when I got here, that was the very first thing that everybody always asked me! ‘Can you kill somebody with a knife, too?’ I just kind of laughed it off and let them live the lie …”

Whatever questions were asked, Cassidy’s answers seem to have sufficed. He was accepted into NASA’s Astronaut Candidacy Program in 2004, beginning a two-year training program that would help decide whether or not another SEAL would indeed go to outer space.

“The first two years … are what we call your ‘Astronaut Candidate’ period, where you’re an AsCan (pronounced ‘ass-can’) and, ironically enough, the motivation to complete that training is so you don’t have to be called an ‘ass-can’ anymore,” he explains, laughing. “During that time, I would equate it largely to being in grad school or a college program where you have intense classes and coursework and then you follow that up with time in the simulator. In the analogy to studies, you can think of a simulator like a lab; you know, you take the lessons that you had in the classroom and then go in the lab and do those experiments.”

And in the school of NASA, Cassidy, it would seem, has been an honor roll student.

ne lab that he and his fellow astronauts spend extensive time in is the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at Johnson Space Center. The NBL houses one of the largest swimming pools in the world at

202-feet long by 102-feet wide, holds 6.2 million gallons of water and can accommodate a nearly complete mockup of the International Space Station (ISS) for training purposes.

As the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” echoes around the cavernous space, blasting from the above-ground and the underwater speakers, Cassidy, Marshburn and Wolf, a seasoned EVA veteran with more than 158 days in space, don their “school uniforms.” The get-up includes full spacesuits (an air-and-water-tight, lighter training suit that, sans astronaut, weighs only 175-pounds vice the 285-pound flight suit that they will wear during their STS-127 missions); the tools and extra equipment required for their spacewalk, and various counterweights for stability and buoyancy. Each astronaut in full gear weighs upwards of 550-pounds.

“Moving this suit around, what he’s going to be doing today, just for him to raise his arms to do something, he’s fighting all this weight and pressure,” says Knight, referring to the more than 4 pounds per square inch of pressurization in addition to the suit weight that the astronauts have to endure during spacewalks.

“We’re in an area now where people are living continuously away from the Earth. They’re off the planet,” says Shepherd, explaining the importance of EVA to the space program. “We’ve never had this in our space program. But, we’ve had people in space, on space station continuously now for eight years. And it could be for a lot longer than eight years in the future. The point is, this is a step in

12 ETHOS

Clockwise from left: Cmdr. Cassidy is lowered into the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at the beginning of a training session; Cassidy lays down to put on his space suit prior to training; Cassidy struggles as he is pulled into the top portion of his suit; Instructors and safety professionals monitor the three astronauts as they train underwater.

taking humans beyond the Earth to other places in the solar system and elsewhere. And the things that you have to do to do that? You have to have big vehicles; these vehicles are too big to be built on the ground and launched in one piece. They’ve got to be put up by big boosters; they’ve got to be assembled in Earth’s orbit. You need EVAs to do this. So, what Chris is doing … he’s showing the capability of the space agencies that are working together now to be able to build and operate big vehicles in space. And if we can’t do EVA successfully … we can’t pursue this objective of having humans travel elsewhere in the solar system and do these expeditions, these explorations.”

For this reason, NBL EVA training exercises can last up to 6 hours at a time and are incredibly taxing on the astronauts’ body, says Knight.

“When these guys come out, they’re dead on their feet,” he says, adding later, however, that, “Chris hops out like it was nothing.”

Cassidy shrugs off such praise, quick to give credit where he feels credit is due.

“I was really blessed with great mentors and folks who kind of guided me when I was [at] the SEAL Teams … There are so many opportunities that exist in the Navy … the biggest thing is: Do your job and do your job well. And, if you do that, the doors are going to open, open wide for you to all kinds of other opportunities.”

n June 13, 2009, the Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled to take Mission Commander Mark “Roman” Polansky; Marine Corps Lt. Col. Douglas Hurley; Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Julie Payette; Tom Marshburn and Dave Wolf to space.

Cassidy will also be on that flight, and he’s looking forward to everything such a mission has to offer.

“On the mission, the bulk of my work will be involved with spacewalks. Our mission has five of them. I should

mention that most space shuttle missions are 11-, 12-, 13-days long. Ours is a little bit longer [at 16 days]. And we have an extra spacewalk than most missions … The space station has the ability to transfer power from its solar arrays to our space shuttle and that allows us to stay up there a little bit longer than other missions.”

The 16-day mission will have three tasks, according to Cassidy: An ISS crewmember swap (Army Colonel Tim Kopra going up; Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata coming down); changing out the cache of batteries which store energy from ISS’s solar arrays; and installing mechanical components (such as the virtually troublesome SGANT) to the Japanese portion of the space station.

Outside of concentrating on the demands of the mission, though, Cassidy has found that there are some things for which even a Navy SEAL may not be entirely prepared.

“I’m very, very comfortable with the technical things that I will have to do on the mission,” says Cassidy. “What we don’t really train on that much is all of the human things that you need to do every day. And it’s a lot like a camping trip, you know? If you’re a kid going on your first big camping expedition, there’s a little bit of unknown about, you know, going to the bathroom; brushing your teeth; where you’re going to sleep; how you’re going to sleep … all those things! And I think, among us astronauts, we kind of all talk about those sorts of more personal things like, you know, ‘Okay, no kidding. All joking aside, how do you go to the bathroom in space?’”

There have also been some unexpected challenges to Cassidy’s home life, he says, like living up to some unexpectedly high expectations. Smiling, he recalls his first day of work five years ago:

“So, I come home, at the end of the day, my son was all excited – he was five at the time – and met me at the door and said, ‘Dad! Dad! Did you go to the moon today?’ And I said, ‘No, son, I didn’t. But check with me on Thursday, you know? Maybe I’ll knock that out by then.’”

For his three children – now nine, 11 and 14 years old – Cassidy will be bringing personal mementos for each of them on his mission to space, a courtesy that NASA extends to all of their astronauts. He will also be bringing coins and patches from his commands past, as well as mementos from the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla., with the intention of presenting the items to each respective organization upon his return to Earth.

Excited about the mission, Cassidy adds that while his future may be as boundless as the stars, he remains grounded in the proud Naval tradition which helped shaped him today.

“I’m really humbled and honored to represent the SEAL Teams and the Navy here at NASA and on my space mission. I realize every day that it could be anybody … so, it’s just really, really humbling to be here and be the fortunate one to be selected and I feel fortunate every day. That said, I’m excited and motivated to take my Trident to space and execute the perfect plan perfectly. And that’s what I plan to do and do proud by Naval Special Warfare.”

- MC2 Terrence Siren- photos by MC2 Dominique Lasco

Cassidy smiles in the

hangar bay at the T-38 Talons

at Ellington Field.

-Knife fighting skills

-Breath holding skills

-Not throwing up in the

T-38 skills

-Master of G force skills

14 ETHOS

A squelched voice calls over the headset telling you of contact in the second window.

Carefully, you peer around the corner, set your reticule on the target and slowly squeeze the trigger.

Your team converges on the building in one fell swoop, bullying the door. A quiet beep echoes in your headset, “Mission Accomplished.” You and buddies high-five each other and put your controllers down to watch the next scene.

This scene, played out by military personnel from all the services with games such as such as SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation; Rainbow Six; and the Call of Duty series, has definitely become part of Naval Special Warfare Sailors’ culture. Playing first-person shooters allows them to fully immerse into a mission. They perform as a team to achieve an objective, reinforcing the skill sets needed in Naval Special Warfare.

“There are some fundamental aspects that apply to both game and real-world,” said Chief Gunner’s Mate (EXW/SW) Nicholas Peters, Logistics Support Unit One’s Weapons Leading Chief Petty Officer. “Shoot. Move. Communicate. If you fail to do all these, then you will get killed.”

The graphics aid in the enjoyment of the games, but more importantly, said Peters, is the accuracy and plausibility.

“Folks [who play these games] want [and expect] an emphasis on realism. Others are fantasy-based, [e.g. Microsoft’s Halo]. According to Peters, SOCOM is the first game that accurately depicts Arabic script and voices intelligibly. “It adds to that overall fun factor for me, since I can read and write Arabic.”

These game scenarios and characters aren’t just fiction. The developers have gone to great lengths to create realistic scenarios. In

some instances, they’ve met with operators, learned about the kinds of missions SOF personnel undertake and incorporated personalities,

places, and environmental details into the games. According to SOCOM designers, to recreate the characters more realistically they hired professional

actors to move like Navy SEALs, recapturing the movements then sending it to artists

to add finer details. Additionally, software engineers are pushing their respective platforms to squeeze as much raw processing power out to generate some of the most detailed

backdrops and building nuisances. Adding details such as more doors, cracks in concrete, shadows and color contributes to setting the scene. Now, a player can walk into an apocalyptically bombed-out city or elaborately detailed market street with the sounds of people talking and mosques calling people to prayer.

“Having [the games] tied to actual missions in the real-world enhances the feel and desire to play,” said Peters. “There is an appeal to feel like an operator on the day or night mission, but at the same time, you want to be able to test your own mettle.”

Infinity Ward, the design team from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, went a step further to achieve the realism it desired by visiting Logistic Support Unit One’s armory in October. They took photographs and notes of the more than 35 different weapon systems used by the operators for the designers’ upcoming game Modern Warfare Two.

“When we designed these weapons … from pictures we found on the web, we got a certain look,” said Mark Rubin, producer at Infinity Ward. “But when we visited the Marines and Special Warfare and took photos of the actual weapons, we had to … redo all the textures because we realized we weren’t making an authentic representation of the weapon systems. It was a huge help for us to be able to do that so that people in the service could have something [in the game] to actually recognize.”

The design team also spent time with other weapons systems and on ranges, firing off weapons, recording their sounds then recreating them in their studios. This sounds like all play and no work, but according to Infinity Ward, the realism and details aren’t easy to recreate. One tank in Modern Warfare took more than two months of almost nonstop work to create.

“Infinity Ward works on one product at a time,” said Rubin. “Everything takes a really long time. And, unfortunately, as we advance in technology, it takes even longer.”

They spent more than two years from start to finish on Call of Duty Four: Modern Warfare, but its hard work paid off for them in the form of compliments and respect from their military fans.

“We are actually huge fans of the military and we enjoy and respect what the military does. Earning the respect of the people who actually do this for a living and making an authentic experience that they enjoy is a huge win for us. It’s one thing to get a teenage kid to enjoy the game, but … getting someone who does the stuff in the game for real to enjoy it … is really gratifying.”

- MCC Jeremy Wood & MC2 Dominique Lasco

Images courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment

THE NSW RANGE PROGRAM

A VISION TO ENABLE COMBAT READINESS

-OR-

HOW SEALS take out targets

from so far away

16 ETHOS

April 11, the United States was three days into a standoff with four Somalian pirates off the coast of Kenya. They were unable to overtake the motor vessel Maersk Alabama - the 21-man crew didn’t allow that - but the pirates took the ship’s captain, Richard Phillips, hostage on a small life boat. The U.S. crew then tried negotiating a trade for a captured member of the pirates’ crew but to no avail.

Then there were the three shots heard round the world. They brought NSW screaming into the limelight, but for the three men who took those shots, it was a pretty regular day.

Under the cover of darkness.On a moving ship. Out at sea. Aiming at a moving target - make those three moving targets -

on a boat, with a hostage. No room for error. Waiting for the perfect moment.You know, your typical day at the office-type scenario. Calls from NBC, CBS, ABC came pouring in to WARCOM.

Letters to the Editors of papers around the country praised the SEALs’ bravery, skill and professionalism. Everyone wanted to know. “How are these men so adept, so exacting in their shots?” They were told of the Navy’s intense, second-to none training regimen for its most elite warriors. The months of dedication, the preparation, how the Training Detachment works tirelessly creating scenarios to prepare these men for anything that may come their way. How advanced schools like sniper training make world-class marksmen and observers in just 12 grueling weeks.

But there’s a group of unsung heroes missing from all these amazing training stories.

He can’t speak up or say his name. He goes largely unnoticed – only until he’s not there anymore.

And he and his buddies are in danger of going away every day.He is the range these men train on.There is simply no substitute for live training in preparation for

combat. Ranges that are adaptable, flexible, and provide a venue to employ assigned weapons and equipment are necessary for combat readiness.

The Contemporary Operating Environment (COE) can change rapidly in days, if not hours. TRADETs constantly review live fire training scenarios to provide dynamic live fire for both individual and collective training requirements based on Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs), but without a range, those scenarios are not worth the paper on which they’re written.

Historically, each of the Naval Special Warfare Groups has been responsible for training conducted on the more than 89 ranges throughout the US.

“NSW is training at a faster rate than ever before, on a myriad of ranges,” said SEAL Capt. Rick May, force range officer. “We have sniper ranges, close-quarters combat, fire and maneuver ranges, shoot houses, as well as underwater, riverine and ground mobility ranges. We are training teams on both coasts simultaneously and are having to compete for safe, quality ranges with not only our sister services, but with other government agencies.”

While there have been environmental restrictions and urban

ETHOS 17

encroachment issues for decades, eight years of high operational tempo, wartime deployments and evolving training requirements based on combat experiences have definitely changed the landscape.

The ranges issues needed to be solved, but up until that point, there was no one group of people dedicated to range MILCON planning and successfully securing POM funding enough to solve some of the community-wide range issues. It became increasingly obvious that without a dedicated range manager, staff and range master plan, we would run the risk of not being able to sustain and modernize our ranges, but we could also run the risk of losing ranges we currently use.

“There comes a point when you can’t just ‘make it work’ and ‘ORM’ it anymore,” May said.

That point came in 2007 – NSW established a Range Management Program Office at the HQ, bringing responsibility for training ranges and resolution of long term issues under the Operations Department N3/5.

NSW now has an official Range Program, with a vision to enable realistic, live-fire training beginning with the effective execution of three things:

1. Range modernization, 2. Range operations, and 3. Range safety Capt. May was brought on to the staff as the Assistant Chief of

Staff (ACOS) for the Range Program. His job is to develop policy, assist in outlining procedures, and to specifically focus on the resourcing of ranges to provide realistic live fire training toward combat readiness. And, although he is a SEAL, he is still only is one man. According to May, in order to accomplish the vision of his position, a team effort across the claimancy is and will continue to be required.

So voicemail suggestions anyone?

Range modernization is the effective funding, planning, design,

construction, and instrumentation of live fire training ranges. Range projects built with Military Construction (MILCON) and the upgrade of existing ranges using Operating and Maintenance (O&M) funding require a total team effort among the key players. To that end, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has now also established a range team under the J7 Training Directorate.

So what does that mean for us?

For NAVSPECWARCOM, the community of practice began to take on great importance as the Fiscal Year 2010-2015 budget allocated by USSOCOM authorized $70 million dollars of MILCON for new range projects and $61 million dollars in O&M to maintain current range infrastructure. But the answer to how to use that money changes significantly depending on whom you ask.

“There are so many people with a piece of the ‘range pie,’ and their own idea of what is most important,” said May. “There are the engineers, TRADETS, the environmental and safety officers, budget officers, the range department, all who have their own ideas of how to make the best of what we have. We have to find ways to work together and find common ground.”

Although this coordination is invisible to many, building a range capability for SEALs/SWCCs to achieve combat readiness lies with the synergy between everyone involved to define the requirements, capabilities, and battle-space of SEAL Training Ranges for the NSW community. It is vital for the prosecution of an effective program.

Venues for communicating were put in place to foster that synergy. The first being the NAVSPECWARCOM Range Program Management Review held semi-annually. The second

18 ETHOS

MC

3 Bo

Fla

nnig

an

PH2

Eric

Log

sdon

is the annual Range Workshop.“The workshop is held to provide

education and training for the community in all facets (training, construction, instrumentation, environmental, safety) of execution,” explained May.

The program also includes the range project planning process, entailing the Planning Charrette, Design Reviews and range inspection for issuance of a Record of Compliance.

Cultural differences, inherent in any complex endeavor of this size (terms, definitions, acronyms), are overcome by two simple principles. The first principle is of ownership: this is our program and we will make a concerted effort to make it successful. The second principle is impact: that what we do on a day-to-day basis in the planning and execution of the Range Program has far reaching implications for insuring SEALs/SWCCs have the realistic training ranges to effectively train to fight and win on the battlefield.

So, back to that money.“We can’t ‘rest on our laurels’

following the initial successes of the FY2010-1015 Budget,” May said.

“Several key questions relating to the path we will pursue in future budget proposals still remain unanswered.”

Questions like: Do we see Stennis as just a venue for SWCC type training or

a potential Combat Training Center that could serve not only NSWG-4, but NSWG-1/2/3 as well? Where do we wish to concentrate resources for Tactical Mobility Training; Niland or Fallon? Are we pursuing a viable “home station” training strategy or are we still pursuing a piecemeal type of live-fire training because we have been guilty of a “stove-piped” training approach which scatters resources? Do we possess the willingness to “think out of the box” and establish processes and/or venues which link the training community with the engineers, budget, environmental and safety staffs to lay out our requirements and acquire the resources we need? Do we have a common vision for live-fire training; if not, why not?

Most importantly, do we have the right number, type and locations for live fire ranges that adequately support the capacity of our future force?

To strive for a vision of supporting combat readiness, we need to be willing to ask these hard questions, even if we disagree on the answers. And even if we have all the answers, new ranges – or

There are the engineers, TRADETS, the environmentalists,

budget officers, the range department,

all who have their own ideas of how to make the best

of what we have.

We have had to find ways to work together and

find common ground.

ETHOS 19

(Counter clockwise from Top Left) A SEAL SQT candidate scans the perimeter as part of cold weather training in Kodiak, Alaska; Mem-bers of a SEAL Team use simula-tion rounds for training in Close Quarter Combat (CQC), preparing for real world missions; SEAL SQT candidates practice land naviga-tion as part of cold weather train-ing in Kodiak, Alaska.

Program was initiated in 2007, but what May is trying to do is to improve on what’s already there, making sure every single person is properly trained and retrained on practices and procedures.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel or make every group train exactly the same,” May stressed. “But on that same note, we do need oversight in order to avoid duplicating efforts and improve readiness. The programs we have instituted for range safety and operations follow closely to what the Army has.”

Maintenance and sustainment become critical to supporting readiness as pre-deployment and BUD/S training have specific time allocated to achieve readiness. Projecting or predicting the type of maintenance necessary is as much an art as a science, but procedures have been established to review O&M funding during the semi-annual Program Management Review (PMR) to ensure proper allocation of resources for these necessary repairs.

SEAL/SWCC live fire training is not without risk. NAVSPECWARCOM Instruction 3500.2A was implemented to incorporate a robust Operational Risk Management process for mitigation of that risk. Although it has been said that “Rules were made for intelligent people to use as guidelines,” there can be no equivocation with range safety.

The first step in moving toward successful range safety is to define success. Accordingly, COMNAVSPECWARCOM Instruction 3591.1B was written to define Range Safety Procedures and requirements for the Range Officer in Charge (ROIC) and Range Safety Officer (RSO). NAVSPECWARCOM Center, Groups and Training Detachments collectively run periodic instructional venues to insure compliance at the operational level.

In other efforts to further enhance education, N31 has coordinated to have seats made available for the Inter-Service Range Safety

Certification Course held once each month. The five day course is taught by qualified Range Safety personnel from the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army. The curriculum covers the methods to review

even keeping the ones we have - don’t simply appear overnight.“It takes roughly nine years to build a range, and three just to complete

the EIS (Environmental Impact Study),” explained May. “Laying the groundwork now is vital to saving the program.”

Range Operations enable the manpower resources, infrastructure maintenance and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be in place for the purpose of running live-fire training on a day-to-day basis. Of special importance are the SOPs put in place by each Naval Special Warfare Group. These SOPs define the roles, responsibilities, and procedures by which live fire training is conducted as ranges vary by type (indoor/outdoor), topography (desert/vegetative), and scenarios to be taught (urban operations/tactical mobility).

There was already standing doctrine in place before the official Range

20 ETHOS

PH1

Jim

Ham

pshi

re

From Left: Special Boat Team 22 demonstrates waterborne operations of their new Special Operations Craft, Riverine (SOC-R); SEALs practice Over The Beach (OTB) training; SEALs on patrol during a training exercise.

surface danger zones, weapon danger zones, and demolition safety among many other relevant topics. Thus far, nine NAVSPECWARCOM personnel have graduated. Also, nine personnel from NAVSPECWARCOM N31 and across the claimancy participated in the SOCOM Shoot House Workshop held at Ft. Bragg, N.C. to review existing policies and procedures applicable to Close Quarters Combat (CQC) Training Ranges. Results of this and other range safety efforts will be topics of discussion at the NAVSPECWARCOM Range Program Management Review.

Ultimately, safety lies in every range users hands, May reminds.

“Anybody who is on an evolution on a range can stop it just by saying so,” states May. “We all know that we must accept some risk when using a live-fire range, but that does not take away from the fact that we must do everything we can to mitigate this risk.”

In the past year, there has been a renewed focus placed on range safety and ensuring that all range safety officers, and range officers-in-charge get frequent refresher courses in order to keep as current as they can. NSW has also partnered with the Army and Marine Corps and received nine quotas last year to send SEALs to an advanced Range Safety Course.

“That course will help improve our corporate knowledge and enhance readiness in the teams through more advanced training,” May explained.

So what will we take away from the Somali pirate incident? Many will remember that the SEALs are the best warriors – and best trained warriors – in the world. Some will sleep better knowing that they’re out there protecting us.

More will gain a little insight into what we do.Others will take away that with a team of engineers,

environmentalists, community relations specialists, safety officers and inspectors, program managers, $70 million dollars, a few thousand acres of land and nine years, NSW could have a second-to-none range complex.

- Mandy McCammon

As with any program of record, challenges exist. It is incumbent upon our community to recognize those challenges and work toward solutions.

Here is where we need your help:

Support the NAVSPECWARCOM Range Program Workshop (by active participation) to be held at the Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, Ind.; 6-10 July 2009.

As required, enroll personnel into the Inter-Service Range Safety Certification Course; N31 has disseminated the schedule/locations.

Support the primary venue for program coordination twice yearly involving NAVSPECWARCOM Staff (Engineer, Environmental, Budget, and N3/5), NAVFAC, and NSW Group Range Staff.

Definition of minimum essential requirements for the design and fielding of ranges can be improved. Development of a separate doctrinal document to define these requirements needs to be discussed at the venues identified previously in this article.

Does the number, type, and locations of NAVSPECWARCOM existing and future range projects accommodate current/projected doctrine, force modernization, force structure, and weapons’ gunnery strategy? How can we better refine that process?

Range Operations – SOCOM Manpower Study will involve a range personnel aspect requiring analysis at Group level Range Departments. Details will be disseminated by N31.

If you any ANY questions about ranges, Capt. May has made his phone and e-mail available. He can be reached at 437-3230, or at ranges@navsoc.socom.mil.

PH2

Eric

Log

sdon

Every athlete has a story.Some stories are about catching the game winning pass, or shooting that critical free throw in the championship game. Other stories are more unique and personal. For those athletes, it’s not about winning or losing,

it’s about crossing the finish line.

22 ETHOS

Take for instance the SUPERFROG and SUPERSEAL triathlon races.

The SUPERFROG Triathlon is a ½ distance Ironman competition open to both military and civilian athletes. Since its 1978 inception, it has been considered one of the toughest races in the nation, and in recent years, it has gained international attention. The race consists of a 1.2-mile ocean swim with a 200-yard beach run; a 13.1-mile soft sand run; and a 56-mile bike ride over pavement. This grueling triathlon was developed by former Navy SEALs, one of whom is Phillip “Moki” Martin, now the SUPERFROG race director.

“Even though the SEALs and Frogs back then were very well trained, they weren’t trained to do triathlons,” said Martin. “They were trained to do their jobs.”

SUPERFROG was designed to help prepare SEALs for the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii and, according to Martin, encourage the sport of triathlons in a community whose physical training standards were multi-faceted and its competitive spirit high.

To ease the transition from no triathlon training to the full Ironman, Martin cut the distances from each event in half, then observed how his teammates could perform better in the preparatory triathlon. This experiment worked, and has since gained the respect and participation of Olympic runners and triathlon champs around the world. Competitors like Olympic gold and silver medalist Larsen Jenson and Ironman winner Chris McDonald now travel to San Diego in March just for this triathlon. Though the race has also caught the attention of local and national sponsors, organizers now limit the SUPERFROG race to 300 participants per year, so that more prize money and gifts can be awarded to top race performers.

A recent addition to the SUPERFROG competition is an Olympic triathlon called SUPERSEAL, designed for those who aren’t as ambitious as those participating in Superfrog. The Superseal course consists of a 10-kilometer run; a 1.5-kilometer swim and a 40-kilometer bike ride, and is open to more competitors than SUPERFROG. Unlike SUPERFROG, SUPERSEAL has no limit on the number of people who can enter the competition. In only its second year of

existence, more than 600 people participated in SUPERSEAL in March, bringing the total number of competitors in both evens to more than 900.

Athletes can compete in either race individually or as a relay team, and all proceeds from SUPERSEAL go directly to benefit the race sponsor, the Naval Special Warfare Foundation.

“We wanted to see how (else) SUPERFROG was going to benefit somebody,” Martin explained. “As a result of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, a lot of my SEAL friends were going overseas and, of course, some of them didn’t make it back. About four or five years ago, I thought SUPERFROG could contribute proceeds to the Naval Special Warfare Foundation, one of whose goal is to help the wives and children of SEALs killed in the line of duty. You could say SUPERFROG and SUPERSEAL help the Foundation help our families get over the finish line when their NSW family member can’t.”

Dave Schmeck and his family have their own finish line story. They recently participated in

ETHOS 23

Photo illustration by MC2 Dominique Lasco

the SUPERSEAL race, their first triathlon as a family. As soon as his brother-in-law tagged him from his bike, signaling him to begin the 10-kilometer run portion of the triathlon, Schmeck’s mind and body took over. His heart beat with excitement, anxiousness and anticipation as he felt the urge to fight pump through his veins. These feelings come natural to him, he explained, when he knows that he’s helping a brother in arms. These are the same feelings he experienced during his 20 years of service as a Navy SEAL. Those feelings are some of the reasons why he, his 16-year-old daughter Selina and his brother-in-law Daryl Lasky competed in the SUPERSEAL triathlon. These feelings are a strong part of the Schmeck family’s story, and other people’s too.

Although helping others gives competitors like the Schmecks a great sense of accomplishment, many racers enter SUPERFROG or SUPERSEAL just for fun. In fact, there are some people who participate in the triathlons not realizing who they are helping or what the organization is.

“Well, helping families of fallen warriors can only be a good thing. Initially, I didn’t even know I was doing that,” said Selina, who competed in the swimming portion on her family’s relay team effort.

Selina says that her competitive spirit had her coming back to do her second Superseal race.

According to Dave Scmeck, he also didn’t really understand the impact he had on the people he was supporting when he first began competing.

“Within the first three to five months after (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training, I was at a team and they were asking me to help support a guy,” Dave explained. “I had no idea what it (SUPERFROG) was, but as a new guy in the SEAL teams I felt pretty obligated to help out. So I was a part of a support team, and that was my introduction to it.”

One must understand that only certain kinds of people participate in the races. In order to complete the race, you have to meet the following criteria: you must be driven and you have to be as stubborn as a mule.

“We’ve literally had to drag people off the course when the course was supposed to be closed,” said Eric Rehberg, assistant race coordinator and a former competitor. “For some, it’s not about the time. It’s about accomplishing something.”

The Schmeck family completely agrees. Each one of them said that it was the competition and the fun they were having that kept them motivated to finish their event in the triathlon.

“You know, you want to win, now,” explained Lasky lightheartedly. “Dave’s a SEAL and you know, I have to do well. Otherwise I’m going to be looked down on.”

Athletes race to the water to begin the swim portion of the 31st Annual SUPERFROG Triathlon at Silver Strand State Beach; A competitor races

along the Silver Strand highway during the bike portion of the race.

24 ETHOS

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

Training for SUPERFROG and SUPERSEAL can be tough, especially while you’re on a relay team. Lasky, a San Diego truck driver and a volunteer driver for wounded warriors, is new to triathlons and often finds that he has a limited amount of time to train. But he still manages to find time to hit up a spinning class and lift some weights at least three times a week. Selina is a member of her high school swim team and does most of her practicing with her coach and other team members. Dave, however, gets in most of his practice time with his co-worker Jack Nash, who is a retired Navy SEAL and who also participated in SUPERSEAL as part of a relay team.

When it comes to how the Schmeck team practices, everyone has their own methods, but for the most part, everyone just stays focused. There are no mp3 players and no other electronic items with them while they are practicing (with the exception of an occasional heart rate monitor or a stop watch). It’s just themselves and their thoughts.

“I’m just out there learning,” Lasky said. “Trying to get myself timed. So, I’m just thinking about what I’m doing more than anything else.”

Dave agreed that staying focused is important, but it’s not the most important element during athletic training.

“It’s kind of nice to have a bench mark,” Dave said. “You can work out everyday and keep yourself in shape, but that gets old. At least in my mind, it’s mundane.”

Even so, all of their training led them up to March 29, when it counted the most. Selina and Lasky shouted at the top of their lungs, encouraging Dave to run faster and fight until the end, while they jumped up and down and cheered him on. Dave ran harder toward the finish line, while beads of sweat poured down his face and arms. At which point, Dave said his mind and body took over. He found himself being once again filled with excitement, anticipation and anxiousness. He was anxious about not letting his family and his fellow NSW commandos down. And he was anxious that this finish line story wouldn’t be as grand as the last one.

- MC2 Shauntae Hinkle-Lymas

Overall winner Chris McDonald approaches the end line; then puts up his hands in victory as he crosses the finish line.

ETHOS 25

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

MC

2 D

omin

ique

Las

co

The days of tactical leaders being glued to their front sight are over. Today’s leaders must be taught how to create strategy, employ combined forces and solve complex problems.

must be done in any profession and NSW is no exception — our talented and perceptive lieutenants expect it.

The community responded by developing the SEAL Officer Education Continuum in 2008, followed closely by a SEAL and SWCC Enlisted Education Continuum.

So how did NSW create the officer education continuum? The basis for it started with the work of two SEAL officers who wrote The Missing Link: PME in the SEAL Officer Corps (Cmdr. Matt Stevens) and Structuring NSW Junior Officer PME (Lt. Cmdr. Tom Donovan). Historically, all services have developed PME to support leadership decision-making processes on three different levels – tactical (03s and below), operational (04s-05s) and strategic (06s and above). Both men agree that today’s operational environment mandates that educated company (01s-03s) and field grade officers (04s and above) think strategically, implement operationally and execute flawlessly at the tactical level, all before that first cup of coffee! In other words, these capabilities must be second nature early on. The days of tactical leaders being glued to the front sight are over. The continuum has to be relevant and has to teach our battlefield leaders those skills inherent in SOCOM’s core leadership competencies — how to develop partnerships, create strategy, employ combined forces and solve complex problems.

Beyond meeting the professional development needs of our force, NSW’s effort to create a four-tiered program will also serve to meet the intent of the Goldwater-Nichols

ow has NSW traditionally passed on knowledge, skills and institutional values to its officers after they graduate from BUD/S?

If you answered On-the-Job Training (OJT), you agree with 88 percent

of SEAL officers responding to a 2007 survey on SEAL education and professional development.

Does this mean NSW was missing the boat on Professional Military Education (PME)? In comparison to our service counterparts, SEAL officers received little formal PME between Junior Officer Training Corps (JOTC) and attending a war college, while the other military officers spent more than two years in professional development courses to address training requirements at the basic, intermediate, advance and senior levels.

The salty frogman might respond, “We don’t have time” or “Hard knocks and OJT work just fine.” This view isn’t shared by many of today’s SEAL officers engaged in the Global War on Terrorism. Six of the last seven

squadron commanders noted a lack of PME during their debriefings, alluding to the idea that we must “both shoot and behave” our way to victory. They asked NSW to create a tiered education program to better prepare and build its future leaders. This

01.....06

Research InterestsPolitical violence; Islamic f u n d a m e n t a l i s m ; Political economy; Middle East

BiographyGlenn E. Robinson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Robinson has written widely on the Middle East. He has published three books to date. His articles have appeared in numerous journals, including the International Journal of Middle East Studies, The Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, Journal of Palestine Studies, Current History, The Washington Quarterly, and Survival. In addition to his scholarly endeavors, Dr. Robinson has worked extensively with the U.S. Agency for International Development, helping both to design and to implement development projects in the Middle East.

In the unconventional or indirect approach of working “by, with, and through” indigenous forces has remained consistent throughout OEF-P.17 Led by Brigadier General Donald Wurster and colonel David Fridovich, OEF-P planners created their guiding strategy using principles that can be found in Gordon McCormick’s strategic COIN model, called the Diamond Model. This model can help planners develop an effective holistic approach to cut off organizations like

Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyya from their bases of popular support and to isolate, capture, or kill their members and leaders.

Act of 1986 and its objective to improve joint officer management within the Department of Defense. As we know, the Army, Marines and Air Force already have a four-tiered education system. Unfortunately, according to Donovan, NSW had no such program to ensure a SEAL officer is systematically and professionally prepared.

“Creating a systematic and structured officer PME system is one of the most important initiatives NSW leadership can undertake,” Stevens said.

The first step in filling the gaps in our PME officer continuum was to develop an intermediate level course, now known at the SEAL Lieutenant Career Course (SLCC). While we reviewed the intermediate courses of our sister services which average 13 weeks long, we realized that our operational tempo, intense work-up cycle and shortage of SEAL lieutenants precluded us from dedicating lengthy courses to formal PME. Feedback from participants who attended the first four-week SLCC course also validated our thought process. Additional feedback suggested four weeks was not enough, but five would be optimal.

One change we made in the SLCC curriculum that helped us reduce the course length was to bring in renowned subject matter experts from throughout the United States to lead seminars vice having O-3/4 podium instructors. For example, Dr. Gordon McCormick presents a seminar on his “Mystic Diamond” model, a useful tool for SLCC graduates to rapidly analyze and counter insurgent activities. Dr. Glenn Robinson from the Naval Postgraduate School leads a seminar on Jihad Information Operations. He has written or co-authored five books on the Middle East, and contributed to more than 25 major journals such as Foreign Affairs, Middle East Policy, and International Journal of Middle East Studies. He has also lectured extensively from Berkeley and Harvard to

universities in Jerusalem and Denmark. One active duty SEAL, Cmdr. Jeff Eggers, was chosen to lead a seminar based on his selection by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be a member of his strategic planning group on the GWOT.

The second step in filling the formal education gap was for NSW to create the advanced block at the O-4 level. For this block, NSW chose the six-week Joint Special Operations Warfare certification program developed by the Joint Special Operations University. This course consists of three, two-week blocks of instruction:

Is NSW now on target? While we believe the short and focused courses at the O-3 and O-4 level, combined with “old-school OJT” such as frequent deployments on the cutting edge of the GWOT and aggressive leadership cultivated in the teams, will more than adequately prepare NSW officers for more senior leadership positions throughout Department of Defense, we will not be content to rest on our laurels. The NSW Center PME Department will actively solicit feedback from leadership as well as the front-line lieutenants to rapidly modify course content, focus and length to meet the needs of the force.

- Brad Voigt and Lt. Cmdr. Joseph ButnerVoigt is the officer for professional development and

Butner is the director, professional military education, for The Center for SEAL and SWCC.

NSW decided to bring some of the nation’s top subject matter experts to lead course seminars. Below is a little more info on some of them.

COURAGE is one of the four cardinal virtues (wisdom, courage, temperance and justice) that philosophers for millennia have seen as fundamental to good character and the “good life.” Aristotle defined the

virtue of courage as the mean, or appropriate action between its deficiency, cowardice and its excess, foolhardiness. For Aristotle, virtuous courage requires that we exercise good judgment to overcome fear in order to do what needs to be done, in the right manner, in the right way, in the right context. To understand this concept of virtuous courage, I’ll give you an example: If on a dare, you were to jump out of an airplane without a reserve, or free fall to 1200 feet before activating your main canopy, these actions would not represent the virtue of courage. They would be foolish and foolhardy. If, however such actions were required in a situation with no better or more reasonable alternative to complete an important mission, it would be cowardice for a trained jumper to refuse to take such actions. Virtuous courage is context dependent and requires experience and good judgment in its application.

In the SOF community, there is a very high expectation of physical courage. Those who make it through our demanding basic training pipeline are subjected to continual training to develop the habit of physical courage, and to ingrain in them the good judgment required to a ensure a consistently virtuous response to danger, and to guard against cowardice or foolhardiness. By and large, our officers and non-commissioned officers have the experience and judgment to distinguish between courage and foolhardiness and between cowardice and prudent good judgment In my 30 years in the teams, I seldom saw what could be referred to as cowardice, occasionally saw foolhardiness (almost always in young SEALs still trying to prove themselves), and became accustomed to a very high standard of physical courage, tempered by experience and good judgment.

But that is physical courage; moral courage is somewhat different. If the virtue of physical courage is facing and overcoming fear of injury or death in a manner that is reasonable and not foolhardy, then the virtue of ‘moral’ courage is facing and overcoming fear of disapproval from peers, society or authorities to express an opinion or take a stand for a “higher value.” As in the case of physical courage, discretion and good judgment are required to distinguish virtuous moral courage from excessive righteousness or moral cowardice. It takes good judgment to determine how, when and for what values we should be willing to risk our social and professional status.

Why does moral courage seem to be less common than physical courage? Because it demands that we be willing to put at risk the social and professional status we have worked hard throughout our lives to achieve. Physical courage is heroic, and rewarded with laurels and social approval. Moral courage is seldom rewarded by our peers and institutions. The moral courage required to express a dissenting opinion may be respected, but it is seldom welcome, and the whistle blower usually becomes a pariah. Keeping one’s mouth shut, grumbling and complaining with the crowd, and merely going along to get along is safe and the norm. Most people are truly uncertain and conflicted about whether and for what they might be willing to put their social and professional status at risk. Being willing to stand up and tell ‘truth to power,’ as effectively and even respectfully as good judgment requires, is the shorthand for virtuous moral courage in an institutional setting.

Both physical and moral courage involve overcoming fear to take appropriate action. While we clearly need physical courage in the SOF community, we also need to cultivate moral courage. Not only must we ourselves habituate the impulse to make the difficult moral choice, we must also learn to recognize that impulse in others and make special room for those individuals among us with values for which they are willing to take a stand against the prevailing orthodoxy. Having a “moral backbone” requires that we have beliefs and values that go beyond keeping our careers on track or maintaining solidarity with our friends and peers. Moral courage as a virtue requires that we be willing to assume risk to stand up for these beliefs and values, with good judgment, when and where it matters.

Bob Schoultz retired from the Navy in 2005 after 30 years in Naval Special Warfare.

28 ETHOS

By Bob Schoultz

END SHEET

A Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman assigned to Special Boat Team 20 pulls his rip cord to deploy his parachute during a freefall jump from an Air Force C-130 above Key West, Fla., March 3.

ETHOS 29