US Navy Seals to shift focus from counterterrorism to global threats
- The new plan cuts the number of US Seal platoons by as much as 30 per cent and increases their size to make the teams more lethal
- There will also be a new screening process for the US Navy’s elite warriors to get higher-quality leaders, in the wake of scandals that have rocked the force
Ten years after they found and killed Osama bin Laden, US Navy Seals are undergoing a major transition to improve leadership and expand their commando capabilities to better battle threats from global powers like China and Russia.
The new plan cuts the number of US Navy Seal platoons by as much as 30 per cent and increases their size to make the teams more lethal and able to counter sophisticated maritime and undersea adversaries.
And there will be a new, intensive screening process for the US Navy’s elite warriors, to get higher-quality leaders after scandals that rocked the force and involved charges of murder, sexual assault and drug use.
Rear Admiral H. Wyman Howard III, top commander for the US Navy Seals, told AP in an exclusive interview that the US Navy’s special operations forces had been focused on counterterrorism operations, but now must begin to evolve beyond those missions.
For the past two decades, many have been fighting in the deserts of Iraq and mountains of Afghanistan. Now they are focused on going back to sea.
