Identity

After competing for slots in a winnowing process known as “Green Team,” elite operators from the regular SEAL teams are chosen for squadrons in a sports-style draft.

Each of the four assault squadrons has its own identity, insignia, and (for many SEALs) the tattoos that follow. Blue Squadron members identify as pirates; Gold Squadron uses knights or crusaders. Red Squadron employs a Native American warrior as its emblem, often referring to members as the tribe or redmen. Silver Squadron, which formed around 2008 from members pulled from the other teams, uses imagery from the other three assault squadrons.

Gray Squadron, known as the vikings, is trained to drive the custom vehicles used by Team 6: the boats known as high-speed assault craft and the Pandur armored vehicles. Its members are also trained to drop the boats with parachutes from the backs of cargo planes, as in the rescue of Richard Phillips, the American captain of a cargo ship, from Somali pirates.

Black Squadron, once SEAL Team 6’s sniper unit, has taken the lead on intelligence gathering since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. They conduct advance force operations and work on reconnaissance, surveillance and espionage, often far from declared war zones. Unlike the assault squadrons, Black Squadron includes women.