Posted on: Saturday, July 2, 2005

SEAL unit specialized in commando delivery

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Navy SEALs from Pearl Harbor killed in Afghanistan this week were part of an elite unit that specializes in underwater deliveries of commandos to hard-to-reach trouble spots.

But team members have been deployed to conflicts around the world in recent years that often were far from the sea.

An unknown number of the eight SEALs killed when their helicopter was shot down Tuesday are assigned to SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One, which is headquartered in a new $47 million facility on 22 acres at the Pearl City Peninsula.

The unit operates a first-of-its-kind submersible — it's so high-tech that it's been compared to the space shuttle — capable of deploying commandos into tight spots that can't be reached in any other way, officials said when they celebrated the opening of the team's facility last May.

"It's the ultimate stealth," Lt. Phil Regier, the team's executive officer, said at the time.

The SEALs mission, though, often extends far from water. In recent years team members have been deployed in the Gulf War, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since their formation in World War II, the SEALs have become legendary for specialized training and involvement in covert action, unconventional warfare and other secret operations that have included sabotage, demolition and intelligence collection.

To become a SEAL — the name stands for Sea, Air and Land — candidates undergo some of the most rigorous training in the entire military, including seven months of basic conditioning in which, among other things, trainees must learn to swim with both their hands and feet bound. That's followed by months more training in underwater activity and land warfare.