The Coolest Guys in the World. The men most likely to succeed as Navy SEALs

According to this week's edition of Newsweek,

"... according to a 2010 Gallup study commissioned by the Navy, are at least 5 foot 8 and 162 pounds, eschew the Big Four sports for pastimes like water polo, snowboarding, and lacrosse, and hail from “New England, the northern Plains, or the West Coast.” Their average age is 22 to 25."

Link here: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/05/05/the-coolest-guys-in-the-world.html

I'm surprised at the geographical demographic. Just off the top of my head, I would have bet on a good number coming from the South and Southwest.

However, I wonder if there is a correlation here of better educational systems, stronger supports for families and generally a more liberal, progressive environment.

Does this come as a surprise to anyone else?

Wow.

Do you think of "perfect killing machines" when you envision some kid from, say, Vermont, or Minnesota or California? I don't.

Too much nuance and doubt...and questioning...

But the Plains? That's a surprise.

The Northern Plains map includes North Dakota, South Dakota, and most of Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. The state capitals shown on this sectional United States map include Bismarck, Pierre, and Saint Paul, as well as Des Moines and Lincoln.

Other populous cities on this map include Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, and Omaha.

this will turn you into a perfect killing machine. By February you'd strangle your granny with piano wire just to get away from the snow.

which apparently only ended when the tornadoes started coming this week. Ya gotta be made of stern and stoic stuff up here in Minny.

Just highly trained military professionals.

I wasn't cool before not being cool was cool.

And not easily shaken.

It's an interesting psychological picture. Do we paint them as "killing machines" in the same sense as we do the monsters who carried out atrocities and genocide in Nazi Germany? If so, what does that make Obama?

Not trying to be confrontive here. I'm just asking...

:shrug:

water polo guys, and that was work

They sound like the kinds of sport that Republicans ridicule.

nt

not that there's anything wrong with that.

But we don't know about the legions of back up personnel who are instrumental in assisting these guys. We do know about their Commander in Chief...

Pakistan' that Blackwater is very involved in 'backup' for JSOCs. It's worth reading again now, since when he wrote it few people knew anything about this 'kill or capture' team.

Not sure why.

They are placed under severe testing conditions. One is surviving drowning, with their hands and feet tied when they're thrown into water. It all sounds pretty terrifying...

Because the majority of Americans hail from either the east or west coasts.

states with much lower populations (such as South Dakota), so I'm not sure how that conflates here...

the article says they take a lot of Motrin...

First date, things were going pretty well; we were watching my friend's band at a bar.

About halfway thorough the show he got up and said "I have to go!"
I was like "uh... ok, why?"
He said "come home with me!"
I said, "Yeah, no."
He said "Then let's go back to your place."
I said, "Yeah, no."
He said, "Then I have to leave now!"
I said, "ok, bye."

He followed up with a call a day or 2 later and invited me over. I wasn't able to that evening and suggested maybe we could do something that weekend. He said, "You know, I won't be on the block for long and a lot of women are dying to be in your shoes."

I didn't see him again.

that is so NOT cool...

http://www.holytaco.com/the-douchiest-phone-message-in-history/

That video went viral not too long after this date. Some people are weird.

all that he claimed to be...i.e., phony SEAL?

Perhaps his arrogance and self-assuredness goes with a job like that? Perhaps not?

In any case, he was a douche.

At least in my book. Plus which, the coolest people I know tend to be women.

And giving birth is cooler than anything IMO...

:)

some environments just aren't conducive to producing highly skilled labor.

I'd like to hear more about what you have to say...I'm intrigued...

Much of that is born out of a lifetime of cultural osmosis and that is dependent on being reared in an intellectually healthy environment - something that is almost non-existent in much of this country. And even if it might exist in an individual home or random suburb in those regions it probably isn't for in the socioeconomic class most likely to enter military service in those regions. It becomes a self-selecting sample because those who lack the ability to be intensely educated will simply flunk out if they get far enough to flunk out and everyone has seen the map showing education level by state.

Altho I have a hard time seeing say, Al Franken, being a Navy SEAL. I CAN see someone who is intensively educated, such as Bob Kerrey who WAS a SEAL.

So what you are saying is that intelligence is a very high indicator of success as a Navy SEAL?

What type of education is an individual matter, but somebody who has a predisposition against education and couldn't be motivated by high school is probably ill suited for two years of advanced military training which I am guessing is not administered via Xbox.

that is very special...a kind of ability to not absorb extreme difficulty as others do, a kind of perseverence or low threshold of pain...that must have a LOT to do with this...

"So Osama was taken out by a bunch of abercrombie (expletives)?"

test...pretty terrifying to me...

The pledges (lack of a better name) went to the Seal Camp and Literally given hell, yelled at, given impossible tasks to perform, and yelled at again when they failed, etc. The whole thrust of Hell Week was to drive out anyone who was a "Quitter", what the Seals want is someone who can take adversity and still stay on task. Most jocks can NOT handle adversity, they have been catered to all their lives since High School do to the fact they are so good at sports. Thus when facing rejection for failing they tend to drop out. What the Seals want is someone who is face of adversity will keep on plugging away, whether he succeeds of fail.

Now, after the first two weeks, Hell week ends, those people who are quitters are gone, those who can NOT perform are gone, and you actually have to start training the recruits. From what I have read, this is when the older seals and the recruits start to work together and become a team. It is the concept of being a member of a team that is the key to being a member in any good military unit, and the Seals do they best to be a good military unit.

More on Seals and "Hell Week", please note, this site says Week 4 of Phase One is Hell Week, 70% of all recruits do NOT finish phase one:
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navytrng/a/sealhellweek.htm

Another site say in Hell Week, the sailors (These are NAVY personal) get three hours sleep during the entire week, another way to cut out people who are NOT team players (i.e. I have complete faith Seals recruits end up sleeping on duty, there is NO OTHER WAY TO GO & days with 3 hours sleep) and then covered by other seal personal. It is a test on those napping and those protecting the nappers, you cover for others for the times they cover for you. The Concept of being one team again):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipBaKAPvCK0
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-08/navy-seal-training-the-start-of-hell-week-by-marcus-luttrell/#
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navytrng/a/sealhellweek.htm

that Time magazine finds they can call Spec Ops "The coolest guys in the world".