Mission-Specific Activities
What sort of physical activities will SEALs be required to perform in the course of
their missions? To answer this question, the types of missions that you perform need to be
examined. A partial list of these missions is shown in Table 2-1, and a brief description of
Small Unit Patrolling
One capability that will be needed in almost all SEAL land warfare operations is the
ability to carry a substantial amount of weight over long distances. You will typically carry
two weapons and a supply of ammunition. There is no good way to know exactly how much
ammunition you will be required to carry for a particular mission and SEAL operators tend
to pack heavy in this category. In addition, your loads will often include explosives and
specialized items. Water needs to be carried in the loadout and, if the mission is a sustained
one, rations must also be included. Loads of 70-80 pounds are standard in the community
and much heavier loads are not uncommon. How far must you carry this load? There is no
one distance that can accurately be used as an upper limit, but certainly 10-20 miles in a 24
hour period, depending on the difficulty of the terrain, may be required for some operations.
Walking long distances with a heavy load is a significant challenge in itself, but you may