SEAL Sea Scout Advanced Leadership Training

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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

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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
• 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 applicants 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
  applicants 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 Boatswains
  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 graduates 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 Americas
  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 ships program
• A Sea Scout ready to serve in a senior ship
  leadership position such as Boatswain or
  Boatswains 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
• Chesapeake Bay
• Gulf Coast
• San Francisco Bay
• Ohio River, West Virginia
• Great Lakes
• Dates vary, but are over summer vacation, most
  often in July
• See National Sea Scout website for current
  offerings and application forms
• http//www.seascout.org/about/program/training_res
  ources/seal.html

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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 SEAWOLF410_at_aol.com or
• Telephone [phone]

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SEAL?
YES - GO FOR IT!