Episodes

  • Episode 53: PODCAST: #53 | Changes to SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection
    Sep 9 2024

    Learn more about how we choose the best of the best.
    This summer was marked by changes in the preliminary selection program. Tune in to find out more.

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    32 mins
  • Episode 52: Podcast #52 | How the Naval Academy Makes SEAL Officers
    Jul 18 2024

    SEALs at “The Yard” tell us the ins and outs of how midshipmen earn their chance to attend SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection. First stop: the challenging Naval Academy Screener. Get ready to pull an all-nighter…

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    15 mins
  • Episode 51: PODCAST #51 | Close Combat and MMA: A SEALs Story | SEALSWCC.COM
    Jan 16 2024

    How to train and apply to become a Navy SEAL or SWCC: https://www.sealswcc.com

    We spoke with a Navy SEAL about his experience as a close combat instructor and career in professional mixed martial arts. Spoiler: both occupations have something to learn from each other.

    NSW

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    44 mins
  • Episode 50: PODCAST: #50 | My Navy SWCC Experience | SEALSWCC.COM
    Oct 24 2023

    How to train and apply to become a Navy SEAL or SWCC: https://www.sealswcc.com

    A SWCC master chief explains how he rose from the ranks of a regular seaman to earn the pin that defined his exciting life in Naval Special Warfare.

    #NSW; #SWCC; #Navy; #fastboats

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    30 mins
  • Episode 49: PODCAST: #49 | My Navy SEAL Experience | SEALSWCC.COM
    Sep 26 2023

    How to train and apply to become a Navy SEAL or SWCC: https://www.sealswcc.com

    We have a candid discussion with a junior SEAL officer about the Teams, the realities of training, and why he chose to put aside an easier life and become an elite warrior.



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    23 mins
  • Episode 48: PODCAST: #48 | NSW Leadership Insights | SEALSWCC.COM
    Aug 21 2023

    Welcome to 'The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday', the official Navy SEAL podcast. I'm your host, Scott Williams and with me today is Andrew Dow, who is a retired SEAL and runs the SEAL Officer Selection and Assessment Program at Naval Special Warfare. And also Mr. Rod Olsen, who is well, let me tell you a little bit about Mr. Rod Olson because he has quite a background. He is the CEO of Coaches of Excellence Institute and Coach O Consulting Group. Known as a "coaches coach", Mr. Rod Olson is an author of three books and a specialist on 21st century coaching and leadership following a 17-year football coaching career that included coaching positions at Oklahoma State University, and three-time national champion Appalachian State University. Rod has spent the last decade training and coaching leaders from Fortune 100 companies to the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League, and the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. Currently, Rod mentors and coaches major commanders in the NSW community, which is part of what we'll talk about today, and also trains both SEAL and SWCC instructors quarterly at Naval Special Warfare. You can learn more about Rod at www.coachoconsultinggroup.org. Welcome. Mr. Olsen.

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    24 mins
  • Episode 47: PODCAST | #47 SOAS: Questions Answered | SEALSWCC.COM
    Jul 25 2023

    How to train and apply to become a Navy SEAL or SWCC: https://www.sealswcc.com

    We dig into the mailbag and explain how SOAS works – everything from preparing for the cold ocean to (not) being the Gray Man.

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    27 mins
  • Episode 46: PODCAST: Episode 46 | Post SOAS | SEALSWCC.COM
    Apr 4 2023
    Time to await fate. The trial of SOAS is over and now the SEAL candidates are chosen. Learn what goes into the process of selecting the winners.Scott (Host) Welcome to another edition of ‘The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday’. I'm your host, Scott Williams, and today we're going to be talking SOAS. We have our SOAS representative, retired SEAL Lieutenant, Andrew Dow. And Andrew we've covered this now, three times. And we've talked about how to get ready for SOAS, what to expect, how to train for SOAS, all that good stuff, and then actually seeing a SOAS live in the flesh and watching as the evolutions go down. Today, we're going to talk about the aftermath. What happens when candidates have actually attended SOAS, gone through the two weeks, and gone home, and now they're waiting? So, tell me first, what happens after those evolutions are done, from the staff perspective. Andrew (Guest) Okay. All right. So, we did talk about, you know, the whole pre-op, pre-application, we talked about assessment week, interview week, but what happens afterward is there's a SEAL panel, a SEAL Selection panel, and every applicant that attends SOAS finishes SOAS with a SOAS scorecard. Basically, it explains, and it tracks everything they've done during the SOAS both interview weekend and assessment week. So, it's their scorecard that shows how well they did on certain evolutions, instructor inputs, and peer inputs, all gets compiled, and the scorecard gets forwarded to the SEAL Selection panel. The panel happens at the end of the third block in September. There's a week-long process where several O-5s and O-6s and now this year alone, the two-star Admiral of WARCOM will be the panel president. They come together and they sit down and go through each application, their pre-application, they go through each scorecard, and they determine which applicant will receive orders to BUD/S and will receive a bill to become an 1130. Excuse me, 1180. Scott (Host) You mentioned that the flag is sitting in this time. I think it's the first time that's happened. Andrew (Guest) That's correct. Yeah. In the past, it used to be the commodore of Naval Special Warfare Center. But this year, we're moving with having the two-star sit as the panel president. Scott (Host) Yeah, I imagined as one of those potential selectees that I'd be at home sitting thinking, who is evaluating me right now? Andrew (Guest) Well as in SOAS the evaluators and the assessors are NSW instructors and regular operators that will write down everything about you everything you do, but on the actual panel, you're having senior leadership, O-5 Commanders of SEAL teams, Commanders of Basic Training Command, the Commander of Advanced Training Command, you'll have the Commodore who's an O-6, which is a Captain in the Navy, sitting at the panel who used to be the panel president but now the Naval Special Warfare Command Admiral, two star, will be leading that panel. Scott (Host) So, what are the big things they're looking for in that panel? Andrew (Guest) Right. So, it hasn't changed much in the past, except that now that Naval Special Warfare is focused more on maritime and going towards that route of operations overseas. They're looking for, either way, they're looking for the whole-person approach. They want to see candidates that have great character, great teamwork, professionalism, and leadership, and are able to work in different situations that they can adapt to. So, what's tested at SOAS and that's what's presented at the board. They're looking at their cognitive abilities, their behavioral aptitudes, they're looking at their physical performance, which is very important, their comfortability in the water, as well as they'll be tested on their leadership abilities. They'll be put in tough situations. So, the results of those situations will be presented to the board as well. So, the big three are character, cognitive ability, and physicality. Scott (Host) And, you know, we've heard of the gray man concept where, you know, you kind of sneak through BUD/S with not being the guy who's at the bottom and not the guy who's drawing attention as a star performer, but kind of blending in with the pack. How does the panel look at the gray man? Andrew (Guest) Every community has a gray man, right? But in the officer community, you can't be a gray man. They're selecting the ones that stand out, they're not selecting the ones that do poorly and it's becoming more and more the norm to not select gray men. So, if you're the type of person who's very quiet and timid, and hey, I just, I'm just doing this to get by, you shouldn't even come and apply because you're not going to get selected the bottom line, they want to see the outgoing people, the people who aren't afraid to take risks, you know, coordinated risks and calculated risks. Excuse me. The gray man, as you're talking about Scott, as officers, that really doesn't sit well with the panel they're ...
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    22 mins