Coast Guard to Offer SEAL Candidates
August 15th, 2008 . by Michael OstrolenkFrom Military.com
Calling it “an extraordinary opportunity,” the Coast Guard said it will be sending select candidates to become Navy elite special forces SEALs.
The Navy said it hopes to grow the size of its SEAL forces from 2,500 to 2,800 but won’t compromise the rigorous mental and physical training standards to do so. The Coast Guard is a ready and willing pool upon which to draw.
Some who served with the Coast Guard’s own elite unit, the select 325 group of helicopter rescue swimmers, wonder where the candidates will come from, hoping it won’t force the service to compete with itself for high-end units.
“It will be the thing to watch,” said Mario Marini, 50, of Olympia. Now retired after 21 years in the Coast Guard, Marini was one of the nation’s first rescue swimmers, completing the famed school in 1985, its first year of existence.
“Navy SEALs are 180 degrees out from the Coast Guard, a different breed,” Marini said.
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