Teddy Baldassarre
Watches of the Navy SEALs: A History of Service
Before getting into the watches of the Navy SEALs, it's worth establishing some context about these modern-day Spartans. Officially established in 1962, the Navy SEALs, one of the U.S. military’s most elite special operations units, has its origins in World War II, with the formation of organized maritime commando teams for covert reconnaissance of landing beaches and the mounting of coastal defenses. At first designated as Amphibious Scouts and Raiders, and later as Underwater Demolitions Teams (UDTs), the graduates of the Joint Expeditionary Base in Little Creek, Virginia served admirably in the European and Pacific Theater in the years following the 1942 attack on Pearl Harbor. In the Korean War that began in 1950, an expanded force of UDT operatives played a key role, turning their covert and demolition expertise to tunnels, bridges, and other coastal targets, as well as mine sweeping and infiltration. With another Southeast Asian conflict heating up in Vietnam, President John F. Kennedy urged Congress to allocate more of the military budget to strengthen America’s capabilities in much-needed “unconventional warfare.” The result was the evolution of the UDTs and other special forces into guerrilla and anti-guerilla units that would be able to operate on “Sea, Air, and Land” - the Navy SEALs. SEAL team members, the first generation drawn from the ranks of the UDTs, were trained not only in amphibious activities but skills like hand-to-hand combat and hig...
