The US Navy SEALs has had a veritable past and a rich history of its own. The earliest veterans to man strategic missions were the Operational Swimmers of the Office of Strategic Services or OSS who manned many such missions before the Navy SEALs did.

Initial training

The initial training started in November 1943 in the Camp Pendleton. This training camp then moved to Catalina Island during January in 1944. Later on within 3 months the training camp finally moved to the Bahamas. These early versions of the US Navy SEALs initiated various Navy SEALs equipments such as flexible swimming fins, diving equipment which was closed circuit in nature, submersible swimming equipment, as well as diverse combat swimming tools.

The first OSS mission

It was in May of the year 1944 that General Donovan who was the current head of the OSS, segregated the entire team into various groups. Group 1 was headed by Lt. Choate to Admiral Nimitz in order to initiate this early Navy SEALs team into the Pacific Theater. In July 1944 this team became a part of the UDT-10. In the first submarine Navy SEALs operation performed by the OSS a team of 5 men carried out this task.

The Granite Plan

It as Admiral Nimitz who formed this special strategy called the ‘Granite Plan’. For effective combat in the Pacific region the Navy SEALs operations required a lot of strategy, skill and plenty of amphibious force. Usually the typical targets were coral atolls in which the natural reefs provided good cover for the Navy SEALs. In the initial part of November 1943, the SeaBees tried out some experimental blasting operations under the water.

The need for unconventional warfare

It was the wish of President Kennedy to initiate and develop an unconventional tactic for warfare. As part of this plan the US Navy initiated the first Navy SEAL teams in 1962 – Navy SEAL one and two. These teams were established from the personnel taken from the underwater demolition teams and the first mission of these Navy SEALs was to perform guerilla warfare in riverine and maritime environments.

The Vietnam War

One of the first Navy SEALs mission was the Vietnam War. It began shortly after the Navy SEALs were established and it was mandatory for the team to participate in it. In various maritime operations of a clandestine nature, the Navy SEAL advisors taught the Vietnamese in performing these operations. The UDT type of training course was also started for the Navy SEALs during this time. It was used for the Commandos of Biet Hai as well as the Junk Force Commando Platoons located in Danang. It was during February of 1966 that a small Navy SEAL team one came to Vietnam to perform missions involving direct action.

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This Article is written by James Kara Murat from USNavySEALstore.com, the contributor of US Navy SEALs Information Portal. A longer version of this article is located at US Navy SEAL Teams Brief History, and related resources can be found at US Navy SEALs Store.