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The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident

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Description

In The Finishing School, former Navy SEAL Dick Couch, author of the acclaimed Warrior Elite, follows SEALs on the ground and in the water as they undergo SEAL Tactical Training. In America’s new war, the first guns in the fight are special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs, specially trained warriors who operate with precision, swiftness, and lethal force. In the constantly shifting war on terror, SEAL units—small in number, flexible, stealthy, and efficient—are more vital than ever to America’s security as they take the battle to an elusive enemy around the globe. But how are Navy SEALs made? In Warrior Elite, Couch narrated one SEAL class's journey through BUD/S training, the brutal initial course that separates out candidates with the character and stamina necessary to begin training as Navy SEALs. In The Finishing School, Couch follows SEALs into the next levels of training—SEAL Tactical Training—where they master combat skills such as precision shooting, demolitions, secure communications, parachuting, diving, and first aid. From there, the men enter operational platoons, where they subordinate their individual abilities to the mission of the group and train for special operations in specific geographic environments. Never before has a civilian writer been granted such close access to the training of America’s most elite military forces. The Finishing School is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what goes into the making of America’s best warriors. Read more Read less

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown (May 31, 2005)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0609810464


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 60


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.19 x 0.73 x 8 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #129,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #129 in Intelligence & Espionage History #136 in Iraq War History (Books) #217 in Naval Military History


#129 in Intelligence & Espionage History:


#136 in Iraq War History (Books):


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Great follow through on the long, hard road to becoming a Navy SEAL.
This is a very good and informative book. At first I was a little disappointed because it did not seem to have the same page turning, do not want to put the book down interest as the first book I read by Dick Couch, which was The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228 . But I guess that is just because the writing in Warrior Elite covered the much more exciting, chilled to the bone, totally exhausted, BUD/S training. Seriously, that is a hard topic to compete with. I believe my first impression was wrong, because this book is described as the ongoing training of Navy SEALs. And that is exactly what Dick Couch delivers. The writing is very in-depth and really gives you a pretty good understanding of what these men go through. The training they receive is incredible, no wonder they are that good! This book does not cover actual battles, but it does cover everything that goes into making these warriors ready to participate in actual battles. When I read Warrior Elite I was cold and tired almost the whole time. Not because I was actually cold and tired, but because the writing was good enough to actually make me feel some of what these men endure. I was a Navy Diver many, many years ago. I can still clearly remember every time I had to break the ice to get into the water. I know what it is like to be really cold. But not at the level these men endure. I was cold for hours, but then took a hot shower. These guys have to endure days of round the clock cold and tired. I cannot imagine what that must be like. I did not feel as cold reading this book, but I could feel the tiredness. The training evolutions they have to complete last weeks at a time and are usually running at least 12-16 hours a day or longer. That pace is kept up 6 or 7 days a week. I have nothing but respect for what these men can achieve. I guess its time to read the third book in this series, Down Range: Navy SEALs in the War on Terrorism . I am sure it will be interesting too. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2010 by Shelly Jaronsky

  • Comprehensive and detailed on Navy Seal training
I've read several books on Navy Seal material, including Dick Couch's "The Warrior Elite", and this by far is the most comprehensive and detailed on what goes into the training of Navy Seals. Couch starts with a quick recap of the first step into the long journey of becoming a Navy Seal, Indoc and BUDs. He quickly moves onto the meat of the book, Seal Qualification Training (SQT). Seal candidates do not actually receive their Seal Trident's following successful completion of BUDs training, rather as Couch puts it, it merely buys them a seat at the table for SQT training. Some of the SQT training involves Army Jump school, weapons and combat training at Camp Pendleton and Camp Billy Machen, combat diving at the NSW base in Coronado, medical training, and even a special block of training just for the officers of graduating BUDs classes. If you thought BUDs training is intense, SQT takes it to a whole new level as candidates constantly have to meet training and safety standards and are still cold, wet and tired doing so. The level of training these warriors receive is extremely impressive and even more impressive is the quality of training put on for these men and the money spent. Be warned that this book is very detailed on the types of training they receive. It is less about mental aspects and spirit of the men that you might have read about in "The Warrior Elite". While the book does highlight repeatedly the traits that are required for good SEALs, it spends more time covering the actual training that the candidates undergo. This includes weapons training, demolitions, combat diving, close quarters combat, navigation and mountaineering, combat medical training and more. Once the candidates successfully pass SQT training, they are rewarded their SEAL Tridents and are immediately sent to Kodiak Island, AK, for cold weather training. Couch doesn't just end with the completion of SQT, however. He then focuses on what happens to the newly appointed SEALs when they ship off to their respective teams. I found this part of the book, although almost too detailed and full of jargon at times, to be fascinating. He covers the changes to Seal Team and platoon training which occurred earlier in the decade. These changes made for more efficient and streamlined SEAL platoon training. As outlined in the book, SEAL teams train for 18 months and are deployed for 6 months. Couch covers in specifics the stages of training (PRODEV, platoon training and SIT) during the 18 months prior to their deployment. This part of the book is what really sank home for me just how elite the Navy SEALs are compared to any other military special forces unit in the world. These men spend 3 to 4 times more time training than they actually do in deployment. As Couch highlights repeatedly throughout the book, BUDs, SQT, PRODEV, and TRADET instructors are constantly reviewing and improving their methods of training and making it better each time. These men receive world class training and are never satisfied with their efforts, but are always seeking to improve. Overall I thought this was by far the best book I've read on Navy SEALs to date. The detailed information on platoon structure and deployment training towards the end of the book can be tough to grind through at times, but I came away with a great understanding of Navy SEAL structure and training. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2011 by bub

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