Transcript SEAL – Sea Scout Advanced Leadership Training

SEAL – Sea Scout Advanced
Leadership Training
By Skipper George Hay Kain, III
Sea Scout Ship Yorkshire, Ship 25, York, Pennsylvania
National Sea Scouting Committee – Boy Scouts of America
What Is SEAL?

Developed in 1996 by the National Sea
Scout Committee as the Sea Explorer
Advanced Leadership Course (SEAL)
 Acronym SEAL retained after 1998 name
return of Sea Exploring to Sea Scouting
 A course designed to develop leadership
skills in young adults
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What Skills Are Taught?

Planning
 Coordinating
 Commanding
 Delegating
 Preparing
 Implementing
 Training
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Skills Taught (Continued)

Supervising
 Motivating
 Problem-solving
 Communicating
 Counseling
 Evaluating
 Re-implementing
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How Are These Skills Taught?

A week-long “at sea” experience is used as
a learning laboratory
– Roughly six students to a boat with a Captain
and two instructors

This setting provides a unique opportunity
to teach and apply skills immediately
 Bad decisions or team failure have real
consequences
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What Is a Typical Day?

Each session is a short, guided, participatory
discussion relating to a specific leadership skill
 Discussion is followed by an exercise related to
the topic
 This is followed by actual implementation of the
subject matter under the direction of the
Boatswain-of-the-day
 All participants then evaluate the resulting
performance
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What SEAL is NOT

SEAL is NOT a seamanship course
– Applicants are expected to have their
seamanship skills in hand BEFORE arrival
– There is no time to teach basic boating skills

It is NOT a holiday or a recreational cruise
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What SEAL really IS
A “jump start” for junior leaders of new
Ships
 A “tune up” for leaders from more
experienced Ships
 A hard-core, tough, physically and mentally
demanding experience

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What Should Students Know
Beforehand?

Study Chapter 4 of the Sea Scout Manual
– Outline the chapter in detail
– The outline must be forwarded to the SEAL Skipper
beforehand, and is graded
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Know the basic nomenclature of a sailing vessel
Be able to perform basic coastal navigation
Be able to tie all the knots for Apprentice and
Ordinary ranks
Know standard helm commands
Know the points of relative bearings
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Is the Applicant Ready?

Two tests are sent to the applicant’s skipper
to administer to the applicant prior to the
course:
– Chapter 4 of the Sea Scout Manual
– Basic Coastal Navigation

The results of these pre-tests remain within
the applicant’s ship. Use them to see what
the applicant needs to study in more detail
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What Is Basic Coastal
Navigation?

Setting a course
 Computing speed, time, and distances
 Computing compass error
 Obtaining a fix by two lines of position
 Plotting a Ded reckoning position
 Finding latitude and longitude from a chart
 Knowing the rules of the road
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Are There Other
Requirements?

Applicant must be Ordinary by 1 June of the year
of the course.
– Applicant does not have to Ordinary to apply
– Applicant must be Ordinary to begin course

The best applicants are about 16 years of age, but
there is no specific age requirement
 Applicant should have leadership potential within
his or her ship
– Ideally a prospective Boatswain or Boatswain’s Mate
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What Does the SEAL
Graduate Get Out of This?

Mastery of the skills taught at SEAL will apply to
the graduate’s ship, school, community, and job
situations – virtually everything in life
 The coveted SEAL pin
 Opportunities to attend special post-SEAL events
(varies from year to year)
– Rides on Aircraft Carriers and Submarines
– Trip to New Zealand to help with the America’s Cup
Race
– Trip to England to interact with British Sea Scouts
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What Does Your Ship Get Out
of This?

A Sea Scout equipped with the management
tools to fire up the ship’s program
 A Sea Scout ready to serve in a senior ship
leadership position such as Boatswain or
Boatswain’s Mate
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Cost, Locations, Dates

Course cost varies from $125 to $175 plus
transportation to and from the course location
 Past course locations have included:
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Chesapeake Bay
Gulf Coast
San Francisco Bay
Ohio River, West Virginia
Great Lakes
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Dates vary, but are over summer vacation, most
often in July
 See National Sea Scout website for current
offerings and application forms
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http://www.seascout.org/about/program/training_resources/seal.html 15
Application Information

Applications are available for download
from the National Sea Scout website
 Application deadline is 1 March each year
 The applicant lists his or her desired course
locations in priority order
 If two applicants apply from the same ship,
they should apply for different locations
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Send Your Best Sea Scouts to
SEAL

You as the skipper will be glad you did
 The SEAL graduate will be glad you did,
too
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Further Questions?
Contact the National SEAL Training
Coordinator, Mr. Jim Elroy at
[email protected] or
Telephone 805-797-7900
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SEAL?
YES - GO FOR
IT!
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