A naval special warfare officer and lieutenant with the Navy SEALs, Adam Schwarze is part of an elite fighting force that often operates in hostile environments. One celebrated aspect of Adam Schwarze’s Navy SEALs force is the Naked Warrior.
In the early days of the SEALs, Navy combat swimmers undertook missions clad in combat boots, uniforms, and metal helmets. This traditional uniform changed out of necessity in early 1944, when two swimmers undertook reconnaissance missions in advance of a planned invasion of Kwajalein, a Japanese-held atoll.
Unable to get close to shore to complete their mission, the team finally stripped to their underwear in order to swim over a coral reef near the water’s surface. This successful undertaking led to a new training approach that emphasized advanced swimming skills without the use of lifelines, and with team members only clad in swim trunks, face masks, and fins. Lacking traditional equipment and backup support, the Frogmen were tasked with slipping quietly through enemy waters and accurately evaluating beach defenses. They also set the explosive charges needed to take out underwater obstacles that would stand in the way of amphibious landings by Allied forces.
This improvisatory approach at the heart of the Navy SEALs ethos is commemorated by bronze Naked Warrior statues at historical sites in Hawaii, Florida, Virginia, and California.
In the early days of the SEALs, Navy combat swimmers undertook missions clad in combat boots, uniforms, and metal helmets. This traditional uniform changed out of necessity in early 1944, when two swimmers undertook reconnaissance missions in advance of a planned invasion of Kwajalein, a Japanese-held atoll.
Unable to get close to shore to complete their mission, the team finally stripped to their underwear in order to swim over a coral reef near the water’s surface. This successful undertaking led to a new training approach that emphasized advanced swimming skills without the use of lifelines, and with team members only clad in swim trunks, face masks, and fins. Lacking traditional equipment and backup support, the Frogmen were tasked with slipping quietly through enemy waters and accurately evaluating beach defenses. They also set the explosive charges needed to take out underwater obstacles that would stand in the way of amphibious landings by Allied forces.
This improvisatory approach at the heart of the Navy SEALs ethos is commemorated by bronze Naked Warrior statues at historical sites in Hawaii, Florida, Virginia, and California.
