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Four Coasties begin SEAL training

Four Coast Guard officers selected to participate in the Navy’s elite SEAL training in Coronado, Calif., officially began on Monday after weeks of preparations.

All four completed the two-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL preparatory course and the three-week orientation course. The one enlisted Coast Guardsmen selected for the program attended pre-BUD/S at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., but failed to meet the physical training exit standards and is back with his Coast Guard unit, Deployable Operations Group spokesman Lt. James McLay said.

The four officers are: Lt. j.g. Brian Bruns, Civil Engineering Unit Miami; Lt. j.g. Brian Naughton, Coast Guard District 7, Lt. j.g. Sean Norton, cutter Steadfast; and Ensign Matthew O’Loughlin, cutter Boutwell,

“They just began the first phase. It’s still very, very early and they are all still in the very high attrition phases,” said Lt. j.g. Fred Martin, spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Center.

Traditionally only 30 percent of the men who enter BUD/S actually graduate, Martin said. Though the success rate appears to be increasing with the introduction of several programs — including a mentorship program at the Naval Special Warfare recruiting directorate, additional mental toughness training during all phases of the curriculum, and the introduction of the Naval Special Warfare Preparatory School in February 2008 — it will be several years before enough data is collected to determine if the higher success rate is part of a trend, Martin said.

The Coast Guard officers are expected to complete Hell Week, the fourth and toughest week of training, April 17.

If any or all of the officers make it through the nearly two years of physically and mentally daunting training, they will be assigned to a SEAL team for five to seven years, although they officially will be part of the Coast Guard.

Those who successfully complete the service commitment are not required to return to the Coast Guard, but Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said last summer he wants them to come back.