The difficult path to be Navy Seal

At the halfway stage of final training for Royal Thai Navy Seals (sea, air, land commandos), well over 50 per cent of the candidates have dropped out, victims of the toughest military training course in Thailand.

At week 15 of the 31week course, 40 of the 78 recruits have been forced to quit by injury or exhaustion. The toughest week is the 10th, also known as hell week, in which trainees endured gruelling physical tasks over a period 120 hours without sleep.

Over the past 36 years of Seals training there have been several deaths, and severe injuries such as damage to eardrums and lungs are common.

Dead in seconds

While hell week is the toughest, the most dangerous is week 15, when underwater training demands recruits descend to 30 metres in a free swimming exercise without the aid of breathing apparatus. Returning to the surface, they must hold their breath for one minute - exhaling means certain death as their lungs will explode due to the sudden change in pressure.

For the past 10 years the recruits have used a special tank - the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia - for the underwater training.

The Seal commando training is supervised by Naval Special Warfare Command which bases its curriculum, course requirements and training methods on the worldfamous US Navy Seals, says Navy Lieutenant Daokien Sudsans of the Command's Training Centre.

Recruits on the Royal Thai Navy Seals' course go through the hardest specialwarfare training available in the Thai military, he adds. The number of graduates is never greater than 30 per cent of the original intake.

Most drop out during the sleepless 120 hours of hauling heavy backpacks and other objects for hell week. "Anyone who can't continue can quit by simply ringing a bell. That's it, their ordeal is over," says Daokien.

Hardest training ever

Air Force Sergeant Kreetha Phaokantha is taking the course so he can become an instructor of the Air Force's own special warfare unit. He says the Navy Seals training is the toughest he has ever experienced.

Pol SubLieutenant Parinya Aerbarb, a newlygraduated marine police officer, says he hopes to pass the course then become an instructor with the police force.

Navy Lieutenant Chayanant Sitthichokejaroendee, a Command evaluation officer, says only two to four nonNavy personnel trainees are allowed to attend the course each year. Noncommissioned Navy officers who graduate get a Bt11,000 boost in salary while officers get Bt14,600.

Chayanant says that Seal commandos often become instructors and rarely see action, but all remain combatready.

Navy Lieutenant Arthit Nonthakhun, a Command divers' platoon leader, says all graduates are automatically qualified as divers and sent for specialised training, such as underwater repair work, underwater bomb disposal and underwater mine defusing.