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Spec ops in the Navy vs other branches?

J

j18y17

New Member
I've always wanted to be join the military and try out for special forces. A lot of family members are Navy and are pushing me to try out for EOD or Seal if I want to pursue spec ops. The issue is that I've never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water. But I really feel like I'm disappointing my family if I decide to go marines or army (both seen much more appealing to me).

So I wanted to ask, are there special operations in the Navy that are land based? I'm not aware of any but I'd like to do more research before I tell my family that I want to choose another branch. I just don't want to spend my entire career swimming in the ocean. Would appreciate any help.
 
Griz882

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
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j18y17 said:
I've always wanted to be join the military and try out for special forces. A lot of family members are Navy and are pushing me to try out for EOD or Seal if I want to pursue spec ops. The issue is that I've never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water. But I really feel like I'm disappointing my family if I decide to go marines or army (both seen much more appealing to me).

So I wanted to ask, are there special operations in the Navy that are land based? I'm not aware of any but I'd like to do more research before I tell my family that I want to choose another branch. I just don't want to spend my entire career swimming in the ocean. Would appreciate any help.
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I am not a badge wearing SOF type, but I spent several years strap-hanging with these guys. Bottom line, if you don’t like the water just skip SOF altogether. Even the Air Force spec ops types get very wet from time to time. Every branch SOF will require combat diver and the SEALS will spend a lot of time trying to actually drown you. There are SOF adjacent jobs like PSYOP that are less demanding but they also expect you to play in the pool.
 
J

j18y17

New Member
Griz882 said:
I am not a badge wearing SOF type, but I spent several years strap-hanging with these guys. Bottom line, if you don’t like the water just skip SOF altogether. Even the Air Force spec ops types get very wet from time to time. Every branch SOF will require combat diver and the SEALS will spend a lot of time trying to actually drown you. There are SOF adjacent jobs like PSYOP that are less demanding but they also expect you to play in the pool.
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I've spoken to a few army recruiters and they're telling me nowadays they hardly spend any time in the water. Also spoke to a recently retired army sf guy and he said something similar. I'm not a horrible swimmer but I really just don't enjoy it
 
AllAmerican75

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
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j18y17 said:
I've always wanted to be join the military and try out for special forces. A lot of family members are Navy and are pushing me to try out for EOD or Seal if I want to pursue spec ops. The issue is that I've never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water. But I really feel like I'm disappointing my family if I decide to go marines or army (both seen much more appealing to me).

So I wanted to ask, are there special operations in the Navy that are land based? I'm not aware of any but I'd like to do more research before I tell my family that I want to choose another branch. I just don't want to spend my entire career swimming in the ocean. Would appreciate any help.
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Any SpecWar or EOD job in the Navy is going to involve water and swimming. If you don't like swimming, you're not going to enjoy any of those jobs. Same for the Marines.

Furthermore, if you are already trying to decide which Special Operations branch you want to join because you don't like to swim or you're not comfortable swimming, then you've already failed. Spec Ops is Spec Ops because they select for and train guys who are willing to be inhumanly uncomfortable for a long period of time. The most common reasons I've heard from BUD/S duds for why they quit are that they were "too hot," "too cold," "too wet," "too tired," "too much chafing," etc. You will be pushed past normal human limits to be able to be a SEAL or Green Beret and that's just your initial selection and training phase. It doesn't get any easier after that.

In short, you need to eat, sleep, and breath being a SEAL in order to make it and you need to be able to endure things you don't like doing and don't enjoy. Think about what YOU really want.
 
insanebikerboy

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
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j18y17 said:
I've spoken to a few army recruiters and they're telling me nowadays they hardly spend any time in the water. Also spoke to a recently retired army sf guy and he said something similar. I'm not a horrible swimmer but I really just don't enjoy it
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Army SF spend a good amount of time in the water. There are ODAs that specialize in dive ops but it'd be false to assume if you aren’t in a dive specific ODA that you won’t go swimming.
 
J

JoeBob1788

Well-Known Member
j18y17 said:
I've always wanted to be join the military and try out for special forces. A lot of family members are Navy and are pushing me to try out for EOD or Seal if I want to pursue spec ops. The issue is that I've never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water. But I really feel like I'm disappointing my family if I decide to go marines or army (both seen much more appealing to me).

So I wanted to ask, are there special operations in the Navy that are land based? I'm not aware of any but I'd like to do more research before I tell my family that I want to choose another branch. I just don't want to spend my entire career swimming in the ocean. Would appreciate any help.
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10 years Navy EOD and I’ve worked with Army SF and Marines.

Any Navy SOF will at some point try to drown you in a pool, and you’ll be water focused. It’s the reason Navy SOF exists. Marine SOF likewise have a huge water focus. AF SOF attaches to everyone, so they maintain a robust water capability.

Army SF is divided into jump teams and dive times. If you’re a HALO team, you’ll spend basically no time in the water. Dive teams are more competitive to get, so if you don’t want it, I wouldn’t worry about it. Dive teams jump a ton too.

Great thing about the Army and Marines, if you try for SOF and it doesn’t work out, you’ll still carry a gun and be infantry. If you don’t make Navy SOF you carry a needle gun…

Don’t worry about your family. It’s your life and they’ll be proud of you one way or the other. My dad and 3 brothers were officers when I enlisted, they didn’t care but my mom thought I was ruining my professional life. Turns out she’s still proud of me, and I’ve enjoyed my career the most out of my brothers.
 
cfam

cfam

Well-Known Member
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Echo what everyone said above: it’s not their career/life, it’s yours. Do what you’re ultimately interested in, and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
 
FormerRecruitingGuru

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
j18y17 said:
I've always wanted to be join the military and try out for special forces. A lot of family members are Navy and are pushing me to try out for EOD or Seal if I want to pursue spec ops. The issue is that I've never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water. But I really feel like I'm disappointing my family if I decide to go marines or army (both seen much more appealing to me).

So I wanted to ask, are there special operations in the Navy that are land based? I'm not aware of any but I'd like to do more research before I tell my family that I want to choose another branch. I just don't want to spend my entire career swimming in the ocean. Would appreciate any help.
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Who the F cares? Best way to say it.
 
kaldor2c7

kaldor2c7

IWC CW Mustang
j18y17 said:
The issue is that I've never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water.
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If you never enjoyed swimming and spending time in the water than DO NOT even remotely consider going after a Naval Special Warfare job of any ttype (SEAL, SWCC, EOD) and I'll speak for the ARMY as well. Water borne operations and the training prep leading up to them is hardcore. And it's worth mentioning...#single man's lifestyle just a heads up. Coming from a former SPECWAR type with multiple deployments in all theatres
 
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