MARSOC’s Critical Skills Operators aren’t the only ones in SOCOM with a new badge. Naval Special Warfare’s Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman community recently updated their warfare pin.
The new badge (above), more closely resembles the Rate’s insignia of a cutlass and flintlock pistol atop an anchor, which replaces the waves in the original version (below), first issued in 2001. It does however, retain the Mark V Special Operations Craft (MK-V SOC). Interestingly, the new pin also implements three levels; SWCC basic, SWCC senior and SWCC master. Even though it was just approved, there is a mandatory transition to the new pin by 1 Oct, 2016.
Understandably, you are probably wondering about these new levels. The WARCOM PAO released this story back in 2012 which will fill you in.
Being a master of the Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman (SWCC) rating is no easy task, and now the requirements are changing for basic, senior and master qualifications.
Naval Special Warfare’s modern surface mobility history can be traced to what was known as the “brown water” Navy, which were riverine forces serving on PT boats during the Vietnam conflict.
“In that time, many of their missions required them to have SEALs on the back of the boats and provided fire power and mobility and insertion and extraction capability to the SEALs that were then serving alongside them in Vietnam,” Veazie said. “The marriage was made there and has continued to this day in a more formal way, until we finally brought special boat teams officially underneath naval special warfare and that’s the relationship we have today.”
But the relationship the Navy’s “boat guys” shared with their community and the Navy was a different story.
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