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Posted: 10/10/2017 2:25:54 AM EDT
If given 18 months to prepare, could you pass BUD/S?
You have no family, career, or life obligations to interrupt or distract from this scenario. Your current health, fitness, swimming abilities, and all other factors are the same in the hypothetical scenario as they are in real life at this moment. This is about you, your ability to prepare for, and then your ability to get through BUD/S with nothing else in life getting in the way or distracting you. Edited to add - this is about whether or not you believe you could pass BUD/S given 18mos to both physically and mentally prepare. To make it more interesting and to include more of you; also assume you are in your twenties...let’s call it 24. I am interested to see if you believe you have the character and traits it takes to have prepared for it in 18 months and then handled the physical and mental aspects of BUD/S. Let’s also guess what % of GD will click, “yes” thinking they legitimately could have passed and see how that compares with the actual pass rate. |
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I imagine it's just as much mental as physical. No desire to be a SEAL, so nope.
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I had a buddy who prepared for nearly a year. Constant swimming, running, and hiking.
He made it about 3/4 through and said he had enough. I’ll never, ever fault him because it’s a fucking grinder. I don’t think there really is a way to “prepare” for that type of mental/physical pain. |
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I think I could deal with the mental portion of it, I honestly think the physical portion would kill me, even though I consider myself in pretty decent shape now.
So nope. |
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I am 60 years old, and have never been a good swimmer, hate leg lifts.
I am gonna say, wait for it, nope. |
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I voted yes because right now if I had 18 months to hit it hard I could physically get there, and have already gone through enough torment, hazing, pain and discomfort to know that I can push myself till I die if I have to.
Another year or two? I'd probably break physically. |
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We have family and friends that went through Coronado.
I thought that I was a bad ass athlete in my youth. No fucking way would I make it. |
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Nope
If I could go back to 20 and had a year to prepare? I'd give it a good shot. |
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Hell no. Not now at 38, not at 28, not at 18. I work out regularly and stay very fit, but I am nowhere near the same league as any SOF guys.
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Fuck no. SERE was bad enough and that's just a fraction of what those crazy dudes do.
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If my fat ass walked into a recruiters office asking to work with the SEALS; they would redirect my ass to Sea World.
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Nope. Medical would never clear me, and even if that was not an issue I doubt I would make it through something that rigorous, and mentally destructive.
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I'm young, so hopefully I could prepare physically. Mentally I'd
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It all depends on what my agent thinks we can get for the book.
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I believe I could give it a fair shake. I dedicate a very large chunk of my life to fitness and truly enjoy physically and emotionally pushing myself.
So, I'm not cocky enough to say I'd pass. But I can tell you I wouldn't quit until I actually lost consciousness or died, given I was 100 percent all in on the matter |
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Well, another plus I have in my corner, I've been moving heavy ass rocks (20-100+ lbs) 3-4 hours a day dragging around a 10" steel pipe underwater*, so I'm pretty yoked as is, and the water was mostly about 34-36 degrees.
*one hour of work underwater is about the same as 3 hours of the same work on surface. So at least nothing would be a shock. |
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Right now with my semi-fucked up knees.....fuck no.
Back when I was 18, very small possibility, but I still doubt it |
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With 18 months of preparation and no other responsibilities?
Used to run sub 5 min miles, could ruck fast, did 100 push-ups in a set and could pass the PAST once upon a time. BUD/S is an ass kicker I'm sure but with training I might stand a chance. |
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Sadly no.
I did watch a guy do it once. He got out of the Marines, took a job working midnights at the jail. Worked out most of the night, and hit the gym during the day. It was inspiring. |
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At this point in my life, no. I'm 37 year old, arthritic, and diabetic.
In my younger days I was still a diabetic but was in great shape, so without the diabetes maybe. Its hard to say, since I imagine that its one of those things you have to actually experience to know how hard it is. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
If my fat ass walked into a recruiters office asking to work with the SEALS; they would redirect my ass to Sea World. 24% of Arf respondents think they could pass BUD/S That's some funny shit! |
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Now that I know what to prepare for, I'd have a better shot than when I was 18. Never know what's going to happen when you get there though.
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No fucking way, not now, back in 79 I completed Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course(SFAS) and that about killed me, there is no fucking way I would say I could pass BUD/S those guys are nuts! Those guys that pass SEALS training have my full respect and admiration..
At my age, I would not make it past the first 10 minutes! |
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No, I couldn’t do it even 35 years ago when I was 18.
Went to the Airborne Course at FT Benning, then, which was actually very easy. Not bragging, really. They even were running girls through the school by that time. There were a handful of SEALs there to get their wings and I remember they had trouble keeping a straight face. Real soldiering in an Airborne unit afterwards was much harder, of course, but that school was only a ticket punch. |
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In high school my goal was to enlist and try to join one of these outfits, so it was something that was always on my mind but never happened for many reasons (not even the enlist part due to injuries sustained in a car accident).
Anyway, I won't flat out say nope, but I'll say its highly unlikely I'd have ever graduated BUD/S. Even if I were in my 20's in prime physical shape I just don't think I have the mental toughness, and in addition I am probably far too lazy. |
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Not a snowball's chance in Hell.
Boot camp at Parris Island in 1967 was tough enough. |
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I am lazy. I have no desire to be in super-ultra shape. I'd consider it a win if I just went back to being a skinny bag of bones that could sprint and jump like a boss but had no strength or endurance. But I'm too lazy to even do that any more. Every once in a while I'll get motivated enough to do like 15-20 min of extremely basic workout, i.e. pushups/situps and some basic dumbbell stuff I can do in my living room with the TV on. I get a slight amount of cardio from all the fucking stairs at work and the little bit of skimboarding I have time for.
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Fresh out of PI me at 18? Maaaaaybe.
24yo me? Issue in serious doubt.Outlook very bleak. 53yo me? |
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If I wasn't missing half of a lung absolutely. I'm not in bad shape, would probably end up around same weight I am now just more muscle and cut fat.
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I had a coworker tell me about one of his old friends washing out of BUDS.
He said what wore him down was the sand in the buttcrack thing. I am guessing t hey only had UDT shorts back then and not "ranger panties", "jammers", or spandex shorts. This dude said it was like having a wire wheel chucked in a right angle grinder and having it turned on and run up and down your crack. And then you go sit in salt water. No thanks! |
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