A Brief History Of:the Navy Seals

摘要

As darkness fell on april 12, captain richard Phillips was bound at gunpoint on a lifeboat bobbing in the Indian Ocean, held hostage by a band of Somali pirates who had attacked his container ship five days earlier. Saving Phillips' life meant taking out his three captors in as many shots-which the Navy SEAL snipers who rescued him managed to do from the swaying fantail of a destroyer 75 ft. (about 25 m) away. It was just "a day at the office" for the elite fighting force, as author and Vietnam-era SEAL Dick Couch said. The Navy has deployed maritime commandos since World War II, when amphibious squads fought in the beach landings at Normandy and Pacific-theater operations. The first SEALs-the acronym derives from their proficiency in sea, air and land combat-were commissioned in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy to meet a growing need for guerrilla-warfare specialists. SEALs earned a reputation for valor and stealth in Vietnam, where they conducted clandestine raids in perilous territory. Since then, teams of SEALs have taken on shadowy missions in strife-torn regions around the world, stalking high-profile targets such as Panama's Manuel Noriega and Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar and playing integral roles in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.