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How many SEAL teams are there


WP33

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I know I probably won't get an "official" answer on this, but does anyone know the real number of SEAL teams out there?  I know of SEAL 1, 2 and 8, and I know DEVGRU is what used to be 6, but is that all?

I believe there are 7 teams, each one with it's own area of responsibility, much like the Army SF groups. There are teams 1-5, 8, DEVGRU (formerly team 6). It's kind of odd that there isn't a team 7, or maybe they underwent a name change like 6?
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Thanks Goth and Argyll. Appreciate the info. I'm doing a mod that is trying to incorporate all these elements (I know, there's been other SEAL mods...). I just want to bring a level of accuracy that I think is missing sometimes.

And Arms, SEALs have a helluva training regimen where a vast majority of those who enter into it do not complete it. It's a voluntary application and it's a voluntary resignation when a man can't complete the training. Keep in mind however, that not many people know what goes on with SFOD-D and that since they draw from Special Forces, Rangers and Airborne, you can be assured that it's gotta be about as tough as it gets. By the way, there is only ONE SF designation in the US military and that is the Green Berets (which by its designation automatically includes Delta). SEALs fall under the designation "Naval Special Warfare", and is probably, technically, properly deemed "Special Operations".

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On a slightly different note, is it just me, or does the US Spec Ops units seem to be getting a little bloated? I mean there's a lot of overlap and redundancy in what some of these units do. The SFGs have their own combat divers, which seems to impinge on what the SEALs do, and of course the SEALs are doing some stuff that the SFGs do like HALO, etc. I wonder if we should adopt the British model of how the SAS, SBS and Royal Marines are set up.

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On a slightly different note, is it just me, or does the US Spec Ops units seem to be getting a little bloated? I mean there's a lot of overlap and redundancy in what some of these units do. The SFGs have their own combat divers, which seems to impinge on what the SEALs do, and of course the SEALs are doing some stuff that the SFGs do like HALO, etc. I wonder if we should adopt the British model of how the SAS, SBS and Royal Marines are set up.

Its tough to comment without actually being in a spec ops group.

I'd say that flexebility is key to any spec ops group, and while each unit will focus on a different task they would have the capability to fill in for a similar unit if the need arises.

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On a slightly different note, is it just me, or does the US Spec Ops units seem to be getting a little bloated? I mean there's a lot of overlap and redundancy in what some of these units do. The SFGs have their own combat divers, which seems to impinge on what the SEALs do, and of course the SEALs are doing some stuff that the SFGs do like HALO, etc. I wonder if we should adopt the British model of how the SAS, SBS and Royal Marines are set up.

Its tough to comment without actually being in a spec ops group.

I'd say that flexebility is key to any spec ops group, and while each unit will focus on a different task they would have the capability to fill in for a similar unit if the need arises.

Won't make a difference,as the SAS Squadrons all have Air,Boat,Mobility and Mountain Troops......and still retain CRW warfare!! ;)

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I mean by watching the docoumentary they [Navy S.E.A.L.s] seem to go through the toughest training.

The Marine Recon and Delta Force have training that is just as hard as S.E.A.L.s training I'm sure.

Navy S.E.A.L.s training deals a lot more with water than the other U.S. Special Forces.

For some reason S.E.A.L.s seem to get far more publicity than the Marine Recon.

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Good info here. Note that SEAL Team Six has been officially disbanded and replaced with DevGru ("Development Group"). Also found this:

With the reallignment of WarCom under NSW21 implemented by RADM Olson, the SEAL teams lost their geographic AOR(i.e. ST2=Europe, ST3=middle east, and so forth). Now the teams work on a rotation. Each team has six platoons. The SEAL team's platoons along with an SDV task unit, special boat support, and assorted logistics units will now deploy together. One of these combined NSW task forces from each coast will be deployed every six months, following an eighteen month work. Instead of each team focusing on a specific area, now each team will have a couple of platoons that handle each AOR. It is in it's birthing phase right now so they are ironing out some of the kinks. The third deployment rotation is about to occur soon.

I have another, great link at home which I will post later today. For the record a SEAL platoon is fifteen men, a commander (1IC) and a second in command (2IC) for a total of seventeen men. There is no set size on a boat team – it is simply the number of men needed to get the job done. The smallest SEAL unit would be a two men shooting pair, as SEALS (and other special forces soldiers) never operate alone.

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As promised:

This is a well-researched breakdown of various U.S. Special Forces teams. According to it:

Each Team consists of 30 Officers and 181 enlisted men, with a headquarters and 14 platoons of two officers and 12 enlisted each. Each platoon is further divided into 2 squads of one officer and seven enlisted men.)

The author lists a SEAL platoon as 14 men, while my reading has said 17 men. I can not explain the discrepency.

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As promised:

This is a well-researched breakdown of various U.S. Special Forces teams. According to it:

Each Team consists of 30 Officers and 181 enlisted men, with a headquarters and 14 platoons of two officers and 12 enlisted each. Each platoon is further divided into 2 squads of one officer and seven enlisted men.)

The author lists a SEAL platoon as 14 men, while my reading has said 17 men. I can not explain the discrepency.

This explains some confusion. I could've been thinking of some old sources on how many men make up a boat team. I read Dick Marcinko's book and probably picked up the number 7 from that- don't remember now. But, I think the idea that the mission parameters are the deciding factor on the number of guys going in holds some water. We might never know for sure unless we get someone "in the know". And I guess we should always keep in mind that SEALs just don't do things like everyone else does. :D We can't base our ideas on anything the Army does in any given situation, nor the Marines- who also always have to be different, as they use the "rule of 3" if I'm thinking correctly.

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I wouldn't put too much stock in that 'well researched' break-down. It's used for a Role Playing game....

Yeah, but whoever did it seems to have taken the time to do some research and talk to various special forces members. I wouldn't think it's less accurate than anything else we will find on the web, and it's just fine for GR purposes.

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