How about them Virginia Seals!!

The mayor of Virginia Beach wants to honor the Navy Seals who killed Bin Laden.  The secret military unit deploys out of a tiny military installation at Dam Neck, Virginia, right outside Virginia Beach.   The problem with the mayor’s plans is, the unit is too secretive for the mayor to know who they are or how to find them.  That’s just the way that unit works.

The Washington Post had a very interesting article about Navy SEALs: 

But while such discretion is a prerequisite for covert operations, it raises practical hurdles for a mayor who is used to the cheering crowds that welcome home aircraft carriers to the naval base in Norfolk.

“This community is extremely proud. I’d like to come up with a way to have a city celebration of some kind. If we can!” said Sessoms, whose initial thought was to include the SEALs in the city’s “Patriotic Festival” in June. “But it’s challenging.”

Other Virginia politicians were able to overlook such details, satisfied with the knowledge that that men who killed bin Laden had a connection to the Old Dominion state. Former Republican Senator and current candidate George Allen tweeted: “As Virginians were hit at the Pentagon on 9-11 & USS Cole, it is appropriate that a VA-based SEAL team brought justice directly to #Osama.”

The Naval Special Warfare Development Group — long known as Seal Team Six — was formed in 1980 in the wake of the failed attempt to rescue U.S. hostages from Iran.

The elite counter-terrorism unit deploys from a tiny military facility in Dam Neck, Va., just outside of Virginia Beach. There are six other groups within special warfare and a total of 2,300 active duty SEAL officers.

What makes SEALs special are the grueling training process they endure. After basic training, about 200 candidates make it to Basic Underwater Demolition school. By the end of the entire process, only about 30 to 35 remain. Many drop out after “Hell Week,” when they must train around the clock for six days straight.

The extreme training has another purpose: to create an intense bond between the men that is critical to success in combat situations. Former Navy SEAL commander Mark Divine said the experience is so unique that it can make it harder to relate to someone who doesn’t spend their days jumping out of planes, or swimming two miles in frigid waters in total darkness. SEALs also work in small close-knit groups and because they can’t openly discuss much of their work, they tend to stick together even when they are off duty. Virginia Beach locals refer to them as “team guys.”

The SEALs have long been known as the special forces unit who has endured the most rigorous training.  One former SEAL, Alden Mills described  the reaction to bin Laden’s death among his former SEAL buddies as “Hooyah!”

“That’s SEAL speak for ‘fired up,’ ” he said.”

Meanwhile, Virginians can get all puffed up over our commando SEALs who offed the most wanted terrorist.  It fits right in with Cargo’s joke about Virginians.  The terrorists should have never flown that plane into the Pentagon, on Virginia soil.