Navy Seal Training and Its Effect on Civilian Life

In times of war or uncertainty, there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call - a common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country and the American people. (Navy SEALs, 2017b, para. 1). The United States (US) Navy SEALs are our nation’s most elite special operations warriors. The Navy SEALs were formed to address unconventional warfare; therefore, the program needs to develop a warrior who is far superior to any other soldier. In order to meet the stringent training requirements, a Navy Seal must be the “best of the best” (Fletcher, 2014, p. 108) and be able to survive a training program that transforms the best into the elite. The maintenance of this elite status requires continuous training that not only prepares the warrior to win the “fight,” but also creates the mindset to handle extremely adverse situations. As noted in the SEAL Ethos, “My nation requires me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time.” (Navy SEALs, 2017b, para. 3). The culture of the organization creates a deep-seated sense of loyalty and honor to uphold the legacy of fellow and former Navy SEALs, as well as the American people.

Background Information

In the late 1950s, as the US military attempted to find ways to combat Guerrilla warfare from communist countries, military advisors determined that a more unconventional approach was necessary. Dockery and Brutsman (2004) identified that it was during this time that “high-level military officials, politicians, and political appointees” (p. 202) began discussing and making plans for a new smaller elite group of soldiers to employ these unconventional, clandestine war methods. In 1961, during a speech to a joint session of Congress, President John F. Kennedy (JFK) directed the Secretary of Defense to put those plans into action saying: I am directing the Secretary of Defense to expand rapidly and substantially, in cooperation with our allies, the orientation of existing forces for the conduct of non-nuclear war, paramilitary operations, and sub-limited or unconventional wars. In addition, our special forces and unconventional warfare units will be increased and reoriented.

Throughout the services, new emphasis must be placed on the special skills and languages, which are required to work with local populations (Kennedy, 1961, p. 5). According to Couch (2001, 2004), a graduate of the Naval Academy and a Vietnam era SEAL, the Navy SEALs have become the world’s most prestigious military force. With a history tracing back to World War II, this elite group is about 1% of the entire naval force with 2,450 Navy SEALs on active duty (Navy SEALs, 2017a, para. 2). Since their formation in 1962 (Navy SEALs, 2017a, para. 1), Navy SEAL teams have been active in every major conflict in which the United States has been involved. They have also been assigned to highly sensitive covert situations such as the finding and the killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011 and the freeing of Captain Richard Phillips from a highjacked cargo ship in 2009. These types of missions require that the Navy SEALs work as a unified team, both mentally and emotionally, in order to be successful. To become a team that thinks and moves as one requires each individual to survive an intense training program designed to expose and to eliminate the weak, to develop extraordinary physical fitness capabilities, and to “rewire” individual thought processes.

The Navy SEAL training program for recruits consists of three major components: physical, mental, and skill acquisition, all of which must occur within a team environment. While building physical stamina and attaining the skills necessary for warfare, the training program focuses on developing teamwork and building mental toughness. According to Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL awarded the Navy Cross for his service during the Afghanistan war, and Robinson (Luttrell & Robinson, 2007), the team concept is drilled into a Navy SEAL every minute of every day during training. Crooke (Navy SEAL + SWCC Scout Team U.S. Navy SEALs, 2012), a former Navy SEAL and a Masters of Business Administration professor at Pepperdine University, reported that the concept of team was essential to successfully completing the training program. Crooke went on to say he teaches business personnel the importance of developing good teams in order to have a successful business organization. Additionally, Divine (2013), a retired Navy SEAL commander, stated that mental toughness is essential to completing the Navy SEAL training and that there are four concepts that build mental toughness: goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, and arousal control. In a published documentary (Discovery Channel, 2015), Naval Special Warfare Command Psychologist, Lieutenant Commander Dr. Eric Potterat, focused on four concepts identified through his research that build mental toughness: goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, and arousal control. These four characteristics were present in recruits who successfully completed the program. From this research, Potterat developed and implemented these four concepts into the Navy SEAL training program.

Draeger (2012), Lambertson (2016), and Webb (2013) stated that the mental techniques learned during the Navy SEAL training program are highly effective and may transfer to every part of the individual’s life after military service. In a study conducted by Lima (2014), the research showed that the training of military personnel transferred to civilian employment as employers were looking for candidates with a strong work ethic and the ability to work with others as a team. Fryer (2013) conducted a qualitative study of six former military leaders who became educational leaders in civilian life and found that the training received during their military service had a positive impact on civilian employment skills. Jaeschke’s (2016) research found that military participants who received resilience training were more likely to remain resilient than those who did not receive the training. He found that having a growth mindset and internalizing the concepts of mental imagery, self-talk, meditation, and problem solving helped to build resiliency. The researcher’s theoretical position is that the Navy SEAL training is so intense and effective that the concepts of teamwork and mental toughness continue to impact civilian life after leaving military service.

Statement of the Problem

Former Navy SEALs with successful entrepreneurial endeavors have written books describing how they have taken what they learned during their time as a Navy SEAL and applied it to their post-military life. It is not known if Navy SEAL training has an impact on civilian life or on civilian occupations among the general population of former Navy SEALs. Does the general population of former Navy SEALS continue to incorporate the lessons learned during their training when they enter civilian life? Are the mental concepts that are the foundation of the intensive training program and which cultivate a growth mindset still a part of their everyday lives after leaving military service? Is the foundation of the intensive training program transferrable to civilian life?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this quantitative study was to survey former US Navy SEALs to determine if training on the concepts of teamwork and mental toughness has had an impact on their civilian lives. Additionally, an analysis of the responses will determine if the former Navy SEALs are still cultivating a growth mindset. Dweck (2015, 2016a, 2016b) stated that a person with a growth mindset has the ability to accomplish almost any desired task with hard work and concentrated effort. Because Navy SEAL training is the most physically and mentally demanding of the United States military trainings (Meyers, 2011), it follows that a recruit who becomes a Navy SEAL has a growth mindset. Alden Mills (2017), a former Navy SEAL, purported that the design of the Navy SEAL training program is to promote a growth mindset in each recruit. Mills referenced Dweck’s research on mindsets and stated that a successful Navy SEAL must possess a growth mindset.

The survey collected information on teamwork and the four main aspects of mental toughness (goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, and arousal control) to determine if the core concepts of Navy SEAL training are still being utilized after leaving military service. As purported by Draeger (2012), the mental techniques introduced during Navy SEAL training are so effective that “a high percentage of SEALs continue to use them while serving in operational units and even after they leave the Navy and enter various professions and occupations” (p. 29). If the concepts of mental toughness and teamwork that were developed during Navy SEAL training are evident in the lives of those who have left the Navy SEALs, then it can be determined that the techniques of this training create life-long habits, as well as continue to cultivate a growth mindset.

Theoretical Framework

In the words of former Navy SEAL, Monty Heath, “Being in the SEALs helped me create a growth mindset in which any obstacle is irrelevant, you just get through it” (Duval, 2016, para. 17). In his article on mindset training, former Navy SEAL Mills (2017) referenced Carol Dweck’s research on mindsets and he pointed out that the design of the Navy SEAL training is to reveal the primary mindset of the person. Dweck (2016a, 2016b), a psychologist at Stanford University, found in her research on mindsets that people possess either a growth or fixed mindset. With over three decades of research on what affects achievement and success, Dweck (2016b) found that a person naturally lives in one of the mindsets. Dweck’s research indicates that it is possible to provide training in order to cultivate a growth mindset. Former Navy SEAL sniper, Cade Courtley (2015), commented that Navy SEALs are constantly pushing themselves to do better and grow, which requires a growth mindset. Dweck’s research on cultivating a growth mindset is the theoretical framework upon which this study is based. The research conducted by Dweck (2016a, 2016b) indicated that a person with a growth mindset believes hard work and concentrated effort improve mental and physical capabilities (Figure 1). Challenges are welcomed opportunities for growth and obstacles improve problem-solving skills, as well as build persistence to find a way around the obstacle. Criticism provides feedback for improvement and watching others succeed provides hope for one’s own success.

A person with a growth mindset has the ability to obtain much more than a person with a fixed mindset. As recruits with growth mindsets progress through the Navy SEAL training program, they approach each new exercise as an opportunity to learn and to grow. According to Dweck (2016a, 2016b), a person with a fixed mindset is one who believes that skills and abilities are predetermined; therefore, one can only grow and achieve until reaching that predetermined level. He or she believes that his or her personal characteristics are innate and cannot change. As illustrated in Figure 1, the fixed mindset leads to the inability to accept challenges and overcome obstacles and it is not worth the effort to try. Criticizing people with fixed mindsets will cause them to blame others and leave them with a sense of hopelessness. Recruits may not want to see other people succeed as they find it threatening to their own self-esteem. A recruit with a fixed mindset in the Navy SEAL training program will see the continuous stream of obstacles and challenges as impossible to overcome and, therefore, will withdraw from the training program.

Each part of the Navy SEAL training reveals the mindset in which the recruit is operating (Mills, 2017). Recruits can choose to use the exercises to cultivate a growth mindset or their fixed mindset will force them to quit the training program. According to Dweck (2016b), training the mind to operate in the growth mindset requires controlling one’s thoughts. She discovered in her research that she was able to help her participants think with a growth mindset just by telling them that the task before them was an opportunity to learn something new (Dweck, 2016b). Former Navy SEAL John Collins (2015) stated that Navy SEALs excel in many different areas by controlling what they dwell upon in their minds and how they think. According to Mills, instructors in the Navy SEAL training program approach each new exercise with excitement and they tell recruits what opportunities for learning lie ahead of them. Each concept in which recruits are trained cultivates the growth mindset as the training includes strategies for thinking that will help the recruit accomplish the mission. Dweck (2015) deduced from her research that everyone has a fixed or growth mindset and a person must continuously cultivate a growth mindset. This current research study will determine if Navy SEALs recruits are still cultivating a growth mindset, concepts of teamwork, and mental toughness after leaving military service.

Research Design

This quantitative study used an online survey constructed by the researcher in collaboration with former Navy SEALs. The survey collected information from former Navy SEALs who were part of an exclusive social media network. The survey was to determine if the Navy SEAL training concepts of teamwork and mental toughness are still being utilized after leaving military service. The survey responses also provided information as to whether former Navy SEALs continue to cultivate a growth mindset in their civilian lives.

Definition of Terms

• Arousal Control – Arousal control is a way of thinking in which an individual is in control of one’s emotions instead of one’s emotions controlling the situation. Techniques to exercise arousal control put the mind into a state of relaxation so that clear, logical thinking can occur (Draeger, 2012).
• Fixed Mindset – According to Dweck (2016b), people with a fixed mindset operate from the perspective that the level of intelligence is predetermined. People who operate from a fixed mindset when faced with challenges will find ways to avoid these new challenges.
• Goal Setting – Goal setting is determining the result and then creating a plan to achieve the desired result. The plan includes setting short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals to make the task more likely to be achieved (Draeger, 2012).
• Growth Mindset – According to Dweck (2016b), people with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed; therefore, the amount of effort involved determines the level of success. People who operate with a growth mindset embrace challenges, as if they are opportunities to grow.
• Mental Imagery – According to Draeger (2012), mental imagery is visualizing the process to achieve the result. It is a purposeful approach to thinking positively about how to reach a desired goal.
• Navy SEAL – SEAL is an acronym that stands for Sea, Air, and Land. The Navy SEALs are an elite branch of the United States Navy whose members are trained to be highly-proficient in each of the three natural environments (Draeger, 2012).
• Self-Talk – Self-talk is the internal dialogue used to cultivate the mindset necessary to achieve the desired goal (Draeger, 2012). Self-talk is thinking positive thoughts to focus the mind on reaching the end of the task.

Significance of the Study

This study provides an understanding of the effects of Navy SEAL training on civilian life. By surveying former Navy SEALs, it can be determined if the concepts of teamwork and mental toughness are still utilized in the Navy SEALs’ post-military lives. The results of this study may also support the idea that mindset training is transferable to civilian life as suggested by Draeger (2012), Divine (2013), Potterat (Discovery Chanel, 2015), and Lambertsen (2016). If Navy SEAL training has a long-term impact on civilian life, then training on growth mindset, teamwork, and mental toughness would also be beneficial in other careers as well as in the K-12 educational setting.

Limitations

The Navy SEAL community is a very closed community who are not open to communicating with outside people. This limits that number of willing participants since the researcher is not a former Navy SEAL. Another limitation is that the data are being collected using a self-reporting survey method. According to research conducted by Hoskin (2012), the validity of data on self-reporting surveys is reliant upon the validity of the survey and the integrity of the person completing the survey.

Delimitations

Even though every recruit completes the same initial training program to become a Navy SEAL, the individual training as a Navy SEAL may differ based on the type of advanced training that each recruit received. This study did not investigate the individualized training paths a Navy SEAL may have traveled. Additionally, the initial training program has improved over the years as research has provided information on why some individuals were successful in completing the training program and others were not. This study did not consider the modifications made to the initial training program nor did it consider any aspects of the training other than teamwork and mental toughness.

Summary

The purpose of this quantitative study was to survey former Navy SEALs to determine whether the training received on the concepts of teamwork and mental toughness has impacted their civilian lives. The training for mental toughness is subdivided into four concepts: goal setting, mental imagery, self-talk, and arousal control. Dweck’s (2016b) research on fixed and growth mindset provided the theoretical framework for this study. The intent of Chapter Two is to present the background information necessary to understand the training program with an emphasis on teamwork and mental toughness as depicted in the literature.