Platoon Training
Also, supported by a Special Boat Team detachment of two Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBS), the platoons conduct long range maritime operations (over 60 mile open ocean transits in a Combat Rubber Raiding Craft, or CRRC) and the very high threat ‘over the beach’ crossing in a cold weather environment, while utilizing dry suits to preserve warmth. SEAL Team TWO platoons often conduct joint training exercises with their Norwegian and German counterparts in the mountains of Europe. These men are quite adept at winter warfare, but the U.S. Navy SEALs hold their own and excel when put to the test - as usual.
Submarine Lock Out/Lock In (LO/LI) and Dry Deck Shelter Mass Swimmer Lock Out/Lock In (DDS MSLO/LI) are another insertion skill practiced by the SEAL platoon during training work-up. Imagine being on a fast attack submarine at hover 100 feet below the surface of the ocean. You enter the escape trunk for a ‘Lock-Out’ cycle with a 35 HP motor and some other SEAL gear. It's cold, it's dark and the escape trunk hatch closes while you ‘flood the trunk’ with water. With just your nose above the surface, you then pressurize the trunk to depth until the outer door cracks open. You take a deep breath and submerge to push the door all the way open to reveal the dark and vast ocean depths. Returning to the trunk, you signal that you are ready to send the motor and gear to the surface on the tethered line set up by the two SEALs who went out before you. The gear goes up - then so do you - blow and go to the surface to prepare for a long, cold CRRC transit to your unknown fate on the enemy shore. That is a small taste of what working off a submarine is like - and SEALs do a ton of it. Sending a platoon of frogmen out of a large Dry Deck Shelter at the same time is a more time effective and endurance saving method than the escape trunk method - but both are taught because the DDS equipped subs may not be available when required.
A recently welcomed piece of equipment is the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS). The ASDS is the first dry submersible owned by the SEAL community. It has a Submariner pilot and SEAL navigator, and it can carry a SEAL squad of eight men. The submarine will have a relatively long range and high speed (these figures are classified) and can hover above a mother submarine or the bottom and send the combat swimmers out of the pressure chamber. The chamber is pressurized with a well similar to the Seaquest DSV TV series so the SEALs just slide into the water and swim out the bottom. This is hot stuff. You can bet that other services and government agencies (read CIA) are lining up for their first free bus ride.
