Still, it is not easy to qualify for the Navy SEALs. You do not just walk up to a SEALs recruiter and say that you want to join their ranks. Before you are even able to do that, you need to meet their requirements and prepare yourself for the rigorous training that you will receive when you qualify for the SEALs.

What are these requirements that you need to meet before you can join the Navy SEALs? Here are the six requirements that you must have in order to join the Navy and to become a candidate for the Navy SEAL training.

1. ASVAB. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exams are a must for anyone who will join the navy or start a career in the military. Under the ASVAB, your skills and knowledge on the following subject areas will be tested: Arithmetic Reasoning, Auto and Shop Information, Coding Speed, Electronic Information, General Science, Mathematical Knowledge, Mechanical Comprehension, Numerical Operations, Paragraph Comprehension, and Word Knowledge. In order to qualify for enlistment with the Navy SEALs, your ASVAB scores must either be GS+MC+EI=165 or VE+MK+MC+CS=220.

2. PST. The PST or physical screening test is what makes enlistment with the Navy SEALs hard. You need to prepare for this at least 26 weeks before you enlist. The PST involves timed running and swimming, as well as performing a number of sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups within a given time limit.

3. Vision. It is a must for you to have good eyesight if you want to join the Navy SEALs. Uncorrected, your vision should be not any worse than 20/200. However, the Navy can give you a waiver for the vision requirement if you undergo photorefractive keratectomy surgery or LASIK surgery to correct your vision. When corrected, your vision should be 20/20.

4. Age. You need to be between 18 to 28 years old to join the Navy SEALs. However, it is possible for you to get a waiver if you are already 29 or 30 years old. If you are 17 or younger, you would need to provide written parental consent before you can enlist.

5. Gender. The Navy SEALs does not accept women in its ranks at the moment. This is a policy passed by both Congress and the Department of Defense, where women cannot be involved in direct ground combat assignments in the military. Nonetheless, there are other options available for women who want to join the Navy.

6. Citizenship. Enlistment to the Navy SEALs – or to any branch of the military – is open only to citizens of the United States or legal, green card-holding residents of the United States. If you intend to join the Navy with the goal of getting commissioned as an officer, you need to be a native-born or naturalized citizen of the United States.

As you can see from these requirements, enlisting with the Navy SEALs is a serious matter. It is something that you need to be totally committed to if you really want to join the Navy and become part of the SEALs.

If you are a civilian, meaning that you did not join the Navy yet, how do you go about with qualifying for the Navy SEALs? Here is a short guide to the requirements that you must meet before you can enlist for SEALs training.

Basic Navy SEAL Requirements

To enlist with the Navy SEALs, or join the Navy for that matter, you must be between 18 to 30 years of age. You can also enlist if you are only 17 years old, but you will need the written consent of your parents or your legal guardian.

You would also need to be a bona fide citizen of the United States or a legal resident. The federal government and the military of the United States do not take in non-citizens or non-legal residents to work for them. At the moment, the Navy SEALs do not accept women in their ranks, although there are other options for women who wish to join the Navy.

It is also a must for you to be a high school graduate; if not, you must have passed the High Performance Predictor Profile (HP3) criteria. You should also be proficient in reading, writing, speaking and understanding English.

Most importantly, you should not have any criminal record or record of civil restraint. You should also not have a history of substance abuse or minor offenses and misdemeanors. There should also be no on-going lawsuits against you when you enlist.

Physical Requirements

When you enlist with the Navy SEALs, you need to be in tip-top shape. Wanting to get in shape is a bad reason for you to join the Navy in the first place. Before you could successfully enlist with the SEALs, you need to pass the physical screening test, which would be made up of:

• Swimming 500 yards using breaststroke or sidestroke in less than 13 minutes
• Doing 42 push-ups in less than two minutes
• Doing 50 sit-ups in less than two minutes
• Doing six pull-ups
• Running 1.5 miles under 12.30 minutes

As for vision requirements, your uncorrected vision should be no worse than 20/200. You can go through photorefractive keratectomy surgery to correct your vision, and it must be correctable to 20/20.

ASVAB Requirements

You would also need to go through a written exam to join the Navy, and this exam is called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Under the ASVAB, you will be tested in the following areas: Word Knowledge, Coding Speed, Paragraph Comprehension, Numerical Operations, Mathematics Knowledge, Electronic Information, Arithmetic Reasoning, Mechanical Comprehension, General Science, and Auto and Shop Information.

Your ASVAB score has to be of a certain level in order to become eligible for the Navy SEALs. It should be GS+MC+EI=165 or VE+MK+MC+CS=220. You need to study well for this exam. To determine which areas of knowledge you need to focus on, you can take a pre-ASVAB exam.

It is not a joke to join the Navy, much less the Navy SEALs. There are a lot of requirements that you need to deal with, and you must do well in these requirements to become part of these elite forces of the Navy.

SEAL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS: FOR CIVILIANS
First things first – only Men are eligible for the SEAL program. The basic requirements for civilians to enter a SEAL program include:

• You should be a U.S. citizen
• You should not have any felony convictions (This is important for security clearance).
• Your vision should not be any worse than 20/40 in one eye and 20/70 in the other eye and should be correctable to 20/20
• You should not be color blind.
• Your age should be 28 or less.
• Your ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) score should be 104 or higher including “AR” and “VE” and should be 50 or higher in “MC” category.
• You should pass the Diving Physical Test.
• You should pass the Physical Screening Test Requirement (PSTR), which includes:
a) 500 yard swim (side stroke, CSS stroke, or breast stroke) within 9 minutes
b) Rest for 10 minutes
c) 42 push-ups within 2 minutes
d) Rest for 2 minutes
e) 50 sit-ups within 2 minutes
f) Rest for 2 minutes
g) 6 pull-ups – there is no time limit
h) Rest for 10 minutes
i) 1.5 mile run within 9 minutes

Qualifying the minimum Navy SEAL requirements mean that you will have a 6% chance of getting through BUD/S without quitting.

You should clear the BUD/S physical fitness screening test at Boot Camp to qualify for the Navy SEAL program. If you appear through the DEP (Delayed Entry Program) even then you will have to pass the BUD/S physical fitness screening test at Boot Camp. If you are already enlisted in the US Navy then the good news is that you can get a taste of SEAL training after completing boot camp. SEAL training is provided by SEAL instructors at Great Lakes and this will definitely get you into good shape for the BUD/S training.

The one thing that you need to remember is that the toughest phase of SEAL training is the BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition / SEALs) phase. This phase has the maximum number of drop outs because the training is physically and mentally taxing. If you can prepare for this phase in advance by attending post boot camp training for SEALs at Great Lakes or Special Forces training, then getting through BUD/S, especially Hell Week, is going to be much easier. The BUD/S training is a training focusing on survival in harsh conditions, team building, and physical and mental strength. It is seen in most cases that those who have cleared BUD/S have become SEALs because no other training is as difficult as the BUD/S training.

Like SEALs say, “The only Easy day was Yesterday!”

• The candidate must be a US citizen.

• The candidate should be a male within 18 and 28 years of age. However, 17 year old persons could be considered with the permission of their parents.

• Should meet certain eyesight requirements.

• Should be serving in the United States Navy or US Coast Guard.

• Should be a high school graduate, with ability to read, write, understand, and speak English.

• Should score a minimum of 165 in General Science + Mechanical Comprehension + Electronics Information or should score a minimum of 220 in Verbal Expression + Mechanical Knowledge + Mechanical Comprehension + Coding Speed as the ASVAB score.

• Should pass the special Physical Screening Test or PST of Navy SEAL.

• Should have good moral character and should not have any prior drug abuse record. If criminal offenses and traffic tickets are there, depending on the severity, waivers might be given or refused.

Do’s for becoming Navy SEAL

As such, a person wishing to become a US Navy SEAL should prepare from an early age. He should strive to improve his physical fitness to peak level. He should preferably train under the guidance of an ex-Navy SEAL person with the aim of passing the ASVAB score and PST test. He should enquire and obtain all the relevant information about the tests and physical fitness levels from the trainer and work continuously to meet and exceed the required standards. He should also improve his English knowledge. He should visit an eye doctor and ensure that his vision is good enough to meet the Navy requirements. He should train vigorously in swimming, push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and running. He should remember that he would need to pass the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALS or BUD/S physical fitness screening test and train accordingly. Even before that, he should be recruited by the US Navy. To achieve this, he should understand the basic recruitment rules and regulations of the US Navy and strive to achieve the required standard.

Dont’s for becoming Navy SEAL

The person training for Navy SEAL selection should be careful not to use any kind of intoxicating drugs. He should avoid all kinds of criminal activities or association with persons having criminal records. He should be careful while driving. He should follow all the road rules and keep away from getting any traffic violation tickets as far as possible.