CORONADO, Calif. - Training for some Sailors wanting to make it on to the Navy's SEAL and Special Boat Teams put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic has resumed.
The Naval Special Warfare Center restarted two paused phases of selection and assessment training this week in California.
On March 16, the Naval Special Warfare Center paused instruction on three of the 12 cohorts. The third paused phase is scheduled to resume next week.
Photos released by the Navy this week show SEAL candidates participating in the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, better known as BUD/S.
The Navy says planning for resuming the training involved CDC recommendations and guidance from Department of Defense medical staff.
"We took a conservative approach to properly assess our student population and establish protocols in order to minimize risk to them during training,” Captain Bart Randall, commodore of the Naval Special Warfare Center said in a statement.
Instructors will be wearing face masks and gloves, and work to ensure students are performing daily COVID-19 screenings.
Classes are also expected to maximize "bubble-to-bubble" travel to try to limit contact outside the cohort.
The Navy says any Sailor who shows signs of illness will be removed from training and evaluated before being allowed to return.
Social distancing will also be emphasized and the Navy says the megaphone, a staple of BUD/S, will be used even more by instructors to prevent face-to-face contact.
