We're at McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.

Now, when you think of the Navy SEALs, you think of elite special operators who've been

tasked with command-to-type missions in conflict zones from Central Africa to Afghanistan.

Which raises a question you may never have thought about, but seems quite obvious and interesting

once you do.

Wait, why are members of the Navy, a water-borne military force, operating hundreds of miles

from the nearest ocean?

This question spurred my guest to form a Navy SEAL himself to explore the answer in his

book by Water Beneath the Walls, the rise of the Navy SEALs.

His name is Benjamin Milligan, and today we discuss the history that explains why the

Navy became the branch of the military that supplied this famous Go Anywhere Force, and

how men who started out as sailors became involved in land-based operation.

It's been details the predecessors of the SEALs which took the form of various command-to-type

units that both the Army and Marines experimented with, but ultimately scuttled, and how the Navy,

which had played a supporting role in all these units, ended up being the one to continue

to develop them.

We discuss how the Naval Combat Demolition units, or NCDUs, and Underwater Demolition teams,

or UDTs, that were birthed during World War II, would ultimately lead to the creation

of the Navy's frogmen as we know them today.

Along the way, Ben shares details of the unique characters who shaped the units trajectory,

including the surprisingly bookish commander who created the most legendary part of the

SEALs training.

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