Community Forums

RVThere · 11-27-2013, 07:48 AM

After a very long process, my son finally jumped through all the military hoops and signed a contract to become a SWCC. Those are the special ops guys who get the Seals into and out of any of their missions. He ships off to basic training on January 16.

He truly has been working on this for over two years. First he had to get in top shape to pass his PST's (Physical Screening Test) consistently and keep improving his times. As the Special Ops mentor-ship program requires that they train as a group 4-5 times a week, it is impossible to have a paying job. He was all set to sign up in March when they told him his eyesight was not good enough (would have been great to get this information at the start of the program...). He got PRK surgery on April 11 (at his expense) which improved his eyesight to 20/15 but had to wait 6 months before he would be considered again (all the while continuing to train).

On October 11, he started the process of enlistment once again. For the last week, he has been visiting MEPS (enlistment processing center) on 3 different occasions first to get screened by their eye doctors and then to clean up mistakes on his paperwork and get the required waivers.

I'm truly proud of his perseverance in this process and know that is a trait that will allow him to complete a very arduous screening process when he goes through training. Even though he has a 4-year Economics degree, he wanted to serve his country. Growing up, he saw his uncle serve in the Navy for 25 years and always wanted to follow that path.

More info on SWCC here:
Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman : Special Operations : Careers & Jobs : Navy.com

Wayne M · 11-27-2013, 08:04 AM

You have a very good reason to be proud.

Congratulations to you and especially to your son.

Semper Fi!

KIX · 11-27-2013, 08:11 AM

Congratulations to your son (and his parents). Thank YOU for raising him and please thank him for serving the USA.

Bill2 · 11-28-2013, 07:35 AM

Your son is quite the man, congratulations to him and to you for raising him. You should be proud, any man or woman that wants to do what he is doing is a true example of someone to emulate.
Happy Thanksgiving,

JohnBoyToo · 11-28-2013, 07:44 AM

Congrats proud poppa !!!

Had a buddy that did the small boats in rivers decades ago and THEY were impressive - those now days are technological marvels !!!

40 knots to 0 in 50 feet or so ?!?! Oh my goodness !!!
I have to research that system - what is it, an underwater parachute ?!? or just reverse thrusters like on jet boats ?

oh, to be young again !

aboatguy · 11-30-2013, 08:15 PM

Congrats on raising an exceptional young man! Yes your son is exceptional it is tough to get a SEAL, SWCC, EOD contract since they are highly competitive programs.

I retired in March, (as an SBCM) hence the aboatguy moniker. Life in the Teams is worth the sacrifice.

On time on target never quit!

(Johnyboytoo, the NSW 11 Meter ribs and the SOCRs have water jet propulsion, dropping the buckets reverses the thrust)
Mike