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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. What Is SEAL?.
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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
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
What Skills Are Taught? • Planning • Coordinating • Commanding • Delegating • Preparing • Implementing • Training
Skills Taught (Continued) • Supervising • Motivating • Problem-solving • Communicating • Counseling • Evaluating • Re-implementing
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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_resources/seal.html
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
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
Further Questions? Contact the National SEAL Training Coordinator, Mr. Jim Elroy at SEAWOLF410@aol.com or Telephone 805-797-7900
SEAL? YES - GO FOR IT!