The role of mindfulness and resilience in Navy SEAL training.

Mindfulness and resilience are thought to be essential qualities of the military's special operations community. Both are tested daily in Special Operations Forces (SOF) assessment and selection efforts to prepare candidates to persist through grueling training and complex combat situations; but these qualities are rarely measured. While military leadership places value on the concepts of mindfulness and resilience, there is minimal empirical research examining the role that they play in the completion of training. This longitudinal study followed three classes of SEAL candidates at Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training over their six-month selection program. We estimated logit models predicting successful completion of BUD/S and specific types of failure in that training environment with indexes of mindfulness and resilience at the start of the program as predictors of completion. The results indicate that (1) mindfulness is unrelated to completion, while (2) resilience is positively related to completion, and (3) The results indicate that mindfulness is generally unrelated to completion, while resilience generally predicts completion.

Psychological and physiological changes during basic, underwater, demolition/SEAL training.

This longitudinal study examines the growth of psychological characteristics and adaptation of physiological markers of stress during a six-month assessment and selection course for U.S. Navy SEALs. Resilience, hardiness, and grit instruments were used to evaluate the psychological characteristics. Blood samples were taken to determine physiological markers related to stress adaptation; specifically, evaluating DHEA, DHEA-to-cortisol ratio, BDNF, NPY, and cortisol. Data was collected at four timepoints throughout the assessment and selection course from 353 students over three classes. Results indicated that resilience and hardiness grow after an initial decline, DHEA and DHEA-to-cortisol increased suggesting physiological adaptation. However, psychological and physiological markers do not exhibit the same growth patterns for participants in the course. This study enhances the understanding of psychological growth and physiological adaptation in a high-stress environment over an extended duration.