The Unit
The SEALs are the U.S. Navy's maritime special-operations force, descended from the Second World War's Naval Combat Demolition Units and Underwater Demolition Teams and stood up as SEAL Teams in 1962. They take their name from the environments they cross — sea, air and land — and specialise in the places where the water meets everything else.
Their work spans direct action, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, run out of Naval Special Warfare on both coasts — Coronado, California and Little Creek, Virginia. The maritime emphasis is the whole point: comfort under the surface is the thing the pipeline is built to manufacture.
The Gate
Unlike most tier-one units, there is a direct civilian path: U.S. citizens can enlist on a Special Operations (SO) contract straight off the street, with the officer route running through the academy, ROTC or OCS. Typical entry age is ~17–28 (waiverable toward 30), and you must be eligible for a secret clearance.
The contract is conditional on clearing the Physical Screening Test (PST) first, and then surviving the pipeline. Minimum PST scores merely get you a seat; the gap between minimum and competitive is the difference between roughly a 6% and an 85% chance of finishing.
Selection — BUD/S & Beyond
Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training runs about 24 weeks at Coronado, followed by SEAL Qualification Training. Attrition is famously brutal — well over half, often closer to three-quarters, do not finish.
Physical Conditioning — incl. Hell Week
Runs, swims, the obstacle course and surf torture, culminating in Hell Week: about 5.5 days of continuous cold, wet evolutions on a total of roughly four hours' sleep. Most of those who quit, quit here — and almost none of it is about raw strength.
Combat Diving
The phase that most defines the SEAL: open- and closed-circuit diving, underwater navigation, and pool competency — drills designed to make a candidate calm and functional with their air supply deliberately interfered with.
Land Warfare & Demolitions
Weapons, demolitions, small-unit tactics and reconnaissance, much of it on San Clemente Island — applying everything under load, sleep-deprived, to a standard.
Qualification
SEAL Qualification Training adds the advanced skills and standards a deploying operator needs. Graduates are awarded the Special Warfare insignia — the Trident — and posted to a Team.
The PST — The Screening Gate
The Physical Screening Test is the published gate to a contract. Below are the minimum standards (rest periods between events); the competitive numbers that actually predict finishing are far higher.
Train To The Standard
The Gate's Selection tier is averaged from screens exactly like the PST. See it broken down by exercise — including the swim and sub-surface work.