SWCC are the Naval Special Warfare’s elite boat operators

Have you ever wondered who drives those kick-ass naval gunboats that are often seen laying down a hailstorm of firepower as Navy SEALs insert onto a hostile river bank or shoreline? They are not actually SEALs at the helm, but rather, elite Naval Special Warfare Combat Crewmen (SWCC) operators. SWCC are Naval Special Warfare’s highly-trained and capable boat operators. 

As described by the Navy, SWCC operators “execute high-risk warfare and reconnaissance missions” in both riverine and coastal environments. In addition to inserting and extracting SEALs – and other special operations personnel – SWCC operators perform direct action raids against enemy maritime and coastal targets, and collect intelligence on target coastlines, rivers, military installations, and shipping traffic.

Currently, the primary naval vessels operated by SWCC – anywhere they are required in the world – are the Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), Combatant Craft Assault (CCA), Combatant Craft Medium (CCM), Combatant Craft Heavy (CCH), and the Special Operations Craft – Riverine (SOC-R). SWCC will operate these various naval craft either with or without SEALs on board, depending on the mission requirements. The vessels and SWCC operators can be inserted into an area through a variety of ways from being launched from larger naval vessels to free-falling in parachute insertions along with their boat and any SEALs accompanying them.

So you wanna be a SWCC?

SWCC selection and training starts at the Navy’s Recruit Training Command (otherwise known as Boot Camp), and continues through roughly eight months of additional training. Much like the SEALs’ Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, it focuses on water competency, physical fitness, and mental and physical endurance. All candidates must complete the U.S. Navy’s physical screening test (PST) prior to making it to SWCC training. To be accepted into the SWCC pipeline, candidates must score competitively in the 500-yard swim, 1.5-mile run, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. They then must successfully complete the NSW prep course while at boot camp.

Just like prospective SEALs, SWCC candidates once they are accepted into the training pipeline attend the Naval Special Warfare Orientation at the Naval Special Warfare Center (NSWC) in Coronado, CA. Upon successful completion of that introductory course, SWCC candidates diverge from BUD/S trainees to complete roughly six months of SWCC selection and training. This is encompassed in Basic SWCC Training (seven weeks), Basic Crewmember Training (seven weeks), and Crewman Qualification Training (13 weeks). The dropout rate throughout is similar to BUD/S, hovering at around 80%.

Related: How Navy SEAL candidates recover after Hell Week

SWCC training is highly rigorous and reputed to be one of the harder military selection and training courses in the world. In addition to the strenuous physical requirements, the training focuses on boat operations and navigation, communications, heavy weapons, insertion and extraction techniques using the aforementioned boats, and a variety of other applicable skills.

And lest you think there is no Hell Week-like crucible in SWCC training, think again. SWCC candidates must endure the three-day ordeal known as “The Tour.” Taking place roughly five weeks into the Basic SWCC Training phase, The Tour tests candidates physically and mentally, driving them to their perceived (and real) limits. Much like Hell Week, there are swims, runs, little-to-no sleep, boat evolutions, navigation exercises, and obstacle courses – all with minimal rest over the three days. The Tour is meant to weed out those without the mental and physical fortitude to complete the training.

If you make it through all of that, as well as the more focused and technical training that takes place in the Crewman Qualification Training phase, you will eventually earn your SWCC warfare designation (and pin) and enter the ranks of the Navy’s elite special boat operators. Then you will be expected to live up to the SWCC motto: “On time, on target, never quit.”

Feature Image: Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen on boat. (Naval Special Warfare Command)

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