by Bob Sparrow
I recently had the pleasure of attending a presentation at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, given by Ray “Cash” Care, a former Navy Seal.
I don’t have the writing ability to adequately express my admiration and gratitude to Navy Seals. Of course, I don’t have the writing ability to do a lot of things, but when it comes to Navy Seals – they have my full attention and utmost respect.
Let’s start with the name. It comes from SE A L – SEa, Air, Land as they are trained to fight in all three of these major environments. But if you thought the name came because they are like the unique marine mammals, well, that could be true too.
Seals, the marine mammals, can drive to extreme depths (nearly 8,000 feet), they can track prey with ultra-sensitive whiskers which allow them to hunt at night, and some can hold their breath for two hours!
The name is fitting for arguably the toughest combat team in the world.
So let’s talk about the Navy Seals.
First of all, becoming a Navy SEAL is very tough. Here’s the basic training:
It is called BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/SE A L) and it has three phases:
- Basic Conditioning – 8 weeks of focus on physical conditioning, water competency and teamwork. This includes what is called ‘Hell Week’ where candidates get a total of about four hours of sleep – THAT’S FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!
- Dive Phase – 8 weeks of combat diving, underwater navigation and open and closed-circuit dives
- Land Warfare – 9 weeks of small unit tactics, land navigation, marksmanship, rappelling and explosives
The dropout rate for BUDS is around 80-85%!
When our speaker, Ray was asked what the toughest part of the training was for him, he said that, oddly enough, he was not a very good swimmer, but he had to hold his breath and swim underwater for 75 yards!
He spent eight years as a Navy Seal and then twelve years in the CIA. He said he got to visit every ‘hell hole’ in the world during those years.
Like most of the Navy Seals I’ve met, he is not a big, bruiser of a man; he’s 5’7” and weighs about 165 pounds. What you don’t see when you look at him is his willpower, his burning desire to succeed at whatever he does, his never give up attitude and his ability to consistently perform at a high level.
Ray now does motivational speaking. His presentation at the Nixon Library was just prior to the 25th anniversary of 9/11. And he talked about that for a bit, but interestingly enough, the focus of the presentation was on 9/12.
Yes, 9/12. He said that that was a time when he saw the nation most united as the embodiment of the resilient American spirit where people put aside differences, flew their flags, and stood united. He contrasted that with today’s societal divisions that we see growing worse every day.
I’ll leave you with a couple of Navy SEAL sayings:
“The only easy day was yesterday,” representing a mindset of continuous growth and rising standards
“Get comfortable being uncomfortable,” meaning growth happens outside your comfort zone