What is the Goon Squad in BUD/S?

Question emailed in from an SGPT Athlete: “Coach, What is the Goon Squad in BUDS training?

The “goon squad” is when you fall behind on a run. The Instructors that are in the back of the pack round up all of the slow @$$es and make them pay for their sins.

This usually consist of hitting the surf to get wet then making a sugar cookie (rolling in sand).

You then start doing jumping jacks, pushups, burpees, and bear crawl until the group circles back up to meet you.

Don Shipley explains what the goon squad is in BUDS?

For those that think that this is a way to shortcut the run – I can assure you that the “goon squad” is way more painful than any run can be.

Take a look at that picture at the top. It looks fun for about 10 minutes. An hour later in and out of the surf and your praying to finish.

The goon squad is probably about a 8 on the suck factor scale. Only log PT, Circus and Hell Week were higher on the scale for me.

Question: What is a good workout program that will get me ready for BUDS and Navy SEAL training?

Check out The Freak Frog workout Ebook. The program comes with a private Facebook group to answer all of your questions and allows you to post your daily workouts for accountability and have a coach check on your progress.

You will still have to train really hard after reading so be ready.

Question: What is the “circus” at BUDS? If the goon squad is the torture crew at the end of a run then the Circus is different. We had a “circus” after our class did not clean up our rooms properly. At the end of Friday we were all called out to the grinder in front of the BUDS barracks.

We thought we were getting secured for the night. Then all hell broke loose and the instructors tossed a mattress out of an open window screaming our rooms were F-ed up. After hitting the surf we commenced on a class beat down workout of 2 hours plus with jumping jacks till my legs were on fire and everything but the kitchen sink after that. Bear crawls over the berm.. you name it.

Needless to say I dont ever want to go through a circus again.

Question: Where can I learn more and sign up for the Navy SEALs? Check out the website here:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brad McLeod is married with two kids and an all around average family guy.

He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida and despite training all the wrong ways – made it to Navy SEAL training in Coronado, California.

He flunked out of Navy SEAL BUD/S training after making it over half way through (6 months of grueling training). After a year in the Fleet Navy on the USS Cleveland (LPD-7) he came back to graduate BUDS and serve on SEAL Team Four.

His story is simple–Don’t Ever Quit on your Dream! Put one foot in front of the other and fall forward.

Proceeds from this website go to help raise funds for the Navy SEAL Foundation.