Sea Cadet/CAP/Young Marine/Army Cadet Stories
My name is Erik. I'm currently an E-6 in the navy, Naval Intelligence to be precise. I've got 5 1/2 years TIS, and pretty much owe that all to the Naval Sea Cadet Corps program. I was involved with the program for about 5 years before I came into the navy and had a chance to participate in a number of the summer trainings. Of note were the 2 x 2-week periods I spent with West Coast SEAL Teams (Yeah, I got two of those little tridents on my Sea Cadet ribbons). I did my first one in 1991 with SEAL Team 5 and my second in 1992 with SEAL Team 3. Fast-forwarding a little bit; I went to BUD/S in Aug of 1996 with Class 210. Regrettably, I did not graduate (I DOR'd on Monday of Hell Week), but thats in the past...Getting back to my point; I can tell you that those two summers (particularly the first) were a freakin' ball-buster and were damn near on-par with BUD/S. The biggest difference though was that we were still minors, so there were some things they just couldn't do to us. But there was almost less they did to me as an actual student in 1996, compared to 1991. I would highly recommend the Sea Cadet program to anyone that thinks they are going to go into the Navy and now that I've gotten settled into my new duty station, will probably get involved with it again.
I would like to thank Erik for all the information and advice he has been willing to share. More on these subjects will posted soon. Hopefully I will be able to get some photos as well.
These are offcial e-mails I recieved concerning the NSCC SEAL Training:
1. We do have SEAL Training (two weeks only) during the summer. It is held in Norfolk, VA at the active duty base which supports the SEAL units there. A Sea Cadet must be 16 years old, have already been to RTC (Boot Camp) training, have passed a fairly hard physical fitness test, etc.
2. SEAL Training usually takes place during the summer months after some intense prep work in the local unit. If you are not currently part of a unit you will need to join a unit, complete your BMR (Basic Military Requirements), complete Boot Camp (two weeks), and be selected by your local unit.
NSCC SEAL Training in Little Creek.
(Courtesy the Sacramento NSCC Web page)