Stew Smith Fitness News

The Special Warfare Combatant Crewmember (SWCC) of today is the product of years of history. Since 1963, when one of the father's of Special Warfare - Phil Bucklew commanded and developed the Special Boat Units of today to specifically support the SEALs and UDTs during the Vietnam War. Since then, the "Brown Water Navy" has distinguished themselves and are now one of the three components of the Naval Special Warfare Command (SEAL Teams, SEAL Delivery vehicle (SDV) Teams, and Special Boat Units). These high-tech, high-speed boats make up the maritime component of the U.S. Special Operations Command.SWCC PST Standards:  Your...

A new system used by Naval Special Warfare has been helping to screen recruits before they get to SEAL or SWCC training. It is called the Spec War Draft. Please do not get this confused with Vietnam era draft. It is more like the NFL draft process and the PST is now considered the Spec War version of the combine. But yes you have to compete to get to go to BUD/S or SWCC - no more minimum standards will get you to SEAL / SWCC training. See email from a young man confused by the terms being used:"About the...

Often I receive emails from military and law enforcement personnel concerning how fair a fitness test is and does it accurately measure someone’s fitness level. For instance, here is an email from on police officer who is seeking candidates for his department’s SWAT Team:I am about to open up tryouts for a few SWAT Team positions and am trying to develop a fitness test that will help the Team select the best candidates to attend our training program. Any suggestions?There two things most military and law enforcement groups try to measure: Basic Fitness / Health and Physical Potential to Succeed...

Here is a question I get often concerning the way a person prepares for Special Ops type training programs for both military and law enforcement SWAT teams. My answer is usually, “It depends - Not only on the training you seek, but your athletic history / background.” Here is his question and my lengthy answer that takes many of the body types and foundation of fitness issues that arise when people start a training plan for Spec Ops.Stew I'm going to guess you've already answered this question somewhere, so forgive my redundancy. I'm 27 and looking to get into the...

by Stew SmithA future Special Ops Soldier asks:"I am not sure which branch of service I would like to join, but I do know I want to do something in the Special Ops. Which one is the toughest and best trained?"This is the question I normally do not answer as the only people, in my opinion, who can answer which training programs are the best or toughest are those who have done them all. We all have opinions on which are the hardest and they are usually the ones we selected so any answer you get is going to be...