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SEAL training takes nearly a year and is in three phases: (1) BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL), (2) Underwater Swimmer, (3) Land Warfare. After completion of Phase 3, the newly minted SEAL is assigned to a team for operational evaluation by the team members. The new team member is probationary until the team says otherwise. A team can washout a probationary member even at this late stage. Bottom line is that it takes 18 months to win the trident as a bona fide SEAL.

BUD/S has a very high attrition rate and the DOR (drop on request) rate is roughly 75 to 85 percent. Attrition continues in second and third phases. All the SEAL candidates are in top physical shape, but physical strength is not enough. The WILL to dig down deep and push on through pain and lack of sleep and deprivation is something few people have inside. That is the quality that makes SEALs special and why there are so very few of them. Can G.I. Jane qualify? If the guys have such high attrition rates, what woman in her right mind would apply? How many could make the cut?

Doubt it. Most men physically couldn’t become a SEAL if they absolutely wanted to.

I know I couldn’t of in my prime. My metabolism was too high, I dehydrate too easily, and cannot function on less than 6 hours sleep, and I’m man enough to admit it. That’s why I didn’t join the Marines with the papers right in front of me, I knew I couldn’t cut it at that age.

I don’t know of any woman who could pass SEAL training and operate at their level. They are simply not built for that, physically or mentally. That’s life, that’s reality.

A friend of mine's son had his heart set on the Seals after college. From what I understand, he was to enlist in the Navy seal program but do to the limited applications accepted, he had to wait. So he waited a year, trained on his own with an ex seal then was finally called in for his physical.

As a result of a brief heart problem he had when he was a young kid, which he put on the medical form, he was immediately rejected........

Good summary Gunny...I was in class 36 in the 60’s; I lettered in water polo and swimming in college. During boot camp I qualified for BUDS and was the top swimmer in my class and lasted through week 8...was injured during training and couldn’t walk. My class started with 103 and graduated 33. Injury takes a big toll.

To this day, in my late 60’s, it still bothers me that I had to drop and I still wonder, What If?

The ONLY way women will qualify is if the standards are lowered.

Regards