» MILITARY
Symbol of readiness
Navy SEAL special operations force turns 60 By DON CRAWFORD
N
avy SEALs, the special operations force known for direct raids, reconnaissance missions and strikes against terrorists, are marking their 60th anniversary this month. The elite unit was established on Jan. 1, 1962, and SEAL Team ONE was formed with men from the West Coast Underwater Demolition Teams based in Coronado. The history of SEALs can be traced to World War II, particularly the naval combat demolition units and the underwater demolition teams. The first Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) originated on Oahu’s windward coast at Waimanalo. Known as “frogmen,” team members were assigned to conduct hydrographic reconnaissance and destroy obstacles on enemy beaches ahead of amphibious landings. Those missions continued during the Korean War, but teams were also deployed inland for demolition raids to disrupt
44 Coronado365.com
transportation lines and clear mines in harbors. When the SEALs formed in 1962, they were named after the surroundings they operated in: sea, air, and land. For the past 60 years, the elite SEAL team members have operated mostly in obscurity. Only recently have they come under the national spotlight, especially after killing Osama bin Laden during the raid at Abbottabad, Pakistan in May 2011. The idea for SEALs took shape in September 1960 with the insurgency of the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Arleigh A. Burke directed Vice Adm. Wallace M. Beakley, the deputy chief of Naval Operations (Fleet Operations and Readiness), to study the Navy’s options with respect to unconventional warfare. An Unconventional Activities Working Group was formally established on Sept. 13, 1960, and directed to investigate
