next, "q&a" with former navy seal the couch. then british prime minister david cameron at the house of commons. after that, a commencement speech by former governor jon huntsman. >> this week, a look at the history and training of the navy seals. our guest is the couch, a former navy seal and author of many books. >> they are based in coronado,

theyrnia ca anand in va. have evolved as commandoes. > > when were you a eal. an artist from 1968 until 1972. i was in vietnam. i was privileged to lead 12 fine young navy seals verio -- navy

seals greater than and -- may be sealed the area -- navy seals. >> i just completed of both. -- a book. my first book came out in 1990. >> why did you do it? >> you get to be middle aged and you realize things you did you are not able to do, so i thought about writing a spy book, and then i picked up a book about forces, and i called the editor.

they said, we are hungry about books on navy seals. >> how long were you in the navy? >> being in the navy reserves cannot be current with what is going on in that community. >> your final grant? >> capt.. >> is that what a seal team looks like. >> that is what they look like. they are robust, healthy young men who started on a long and safe career as a navy seal. >> this was taken in 2009 in

coronado. how often do they visit? >> i think they do come in there. classes that never see any politicians. >> it is stick a couch -- dick couch. > > i think it may have some scottish ancestors. good parts what was your

reaction when they had killed osama bin laden? >> somebody said, they got bin laden. i said, where did it happen and how did it happen, and as the news came in, it was into pakistan, and then we started hearing a lot about navy seals. i think it did not come from the department of defense. they had killed bin laden and brought out his body. > > what does it mean, special operations? >> we are blessed.

they have a lot of different capabilities, intelligence collection -- they do an awful lot of things. one is the combat assaults where a small unit comes in with the elements of surprise and takes down a target. >? how many seals are involved? >> it would be my estimate there were some seals but probably a lot of non-seals, people there

to exploit the intelligence. as we understand, a lot of them are navy seals. things.talk about these a lot of these units have brought general capabilities. they spend their time doing one thing. this was the team that went in. >> you get on wikipedia, and al this stuff was on there. it started in 1981 with the hostages. did you know him?

he ws the same thing you are? >> yes. >> what are you told you can't tell? >> they like to maintain a certain amount of anonymity. they risk their lives, and they like to come home to their communities and be able to integrate into society. that is why there are security concerns. also, their communication skills, tactics -- all these things they like to keep closely

held. they protect the way they go about business and identities. >> they have a report of the field museum. is that run by the navy? >> that is an independent museum, and they have a lot of memorabilia. it is independently financed. > > we are going to run the report to give a sense of how they looked at it. >> keep the details flock and sealed. sealed.

they are known as the best of the best. the group had been training for a month. it takes longer than a month to become a seal. they are considered to be some of the fiercest in the world. they got their start decades ago. >> a special group trained to go into the most dangerous situations. >> the executive director opened the front gate.

someone placed a bouquet on the memorial. >> people have been driving up, wanting to thank seals. >> this honors the long, proud history. about 3500 frog men trained to clear beaches. seal team 6 killed osama bin laden. >> all seals are proud of that fact. it puts on noticed a lot of bad guys that we are coming after you.

>> somali pirates held a captive hostage. three bullets of navy seal guns killed all pirates. we are already trying to get some artefacts. it may take time, but we are optimistic we will have some things. >> the congressman introduced a bill. there is a lot of pride. >> were you surprised when you heard 55 had died in iraq. >> no, i watched the number

mount. 43 is the figure lost in vietnam. i am not surprised. >>i understand that group is higher trained than the average seal. >> the group is specially trained. it could be this team was selected because of availability. i think it was because they had expertise in this region. there are a little over 2000 navy seals.

what is the average age? >> the average age is probably 28 or 29. >> if a seal were to go on this mission, what kind of training? >> he would have gone to boot camp. that and associate schools will take 6 months. he will go to seal qualification training. that is what qualifies him as a navy seal. you have a year's training. then he will go to a seal train

and train as much as 18 months,s o it is a 2.5 year process. >>there is a symbol. you get?pin it came out in 1972 or 73. >> i will characterize you as not large. how tall? >> five-foot nine. >> what is the average height? >> they seem to be making them bigger. they seem bigger than in my day, but everybody's bigger nowadays.

i've always felt seal training is almost a little man's game. you not to be able to go around the obstacles, and sometimes being a smaller man is to your a advantage. >> you have pictures on your web site. is this glamorizing what a seal team member is beaumo? >> seal training in alaska. they are in the mountains. it is rigorous training to help them come from the sea. >> here is a student doing

basic underwater. what is the toughest part? >> that is hell week. you have five or six days of continuous training with four or 5 hours sleep. it is physically difficult, but you have to focus on the goal. >> are they all minh? >> they are all men. there are no women. he is climbing a scaling ladder on a ship. to board it and conduct an

operation on the ship. >> is training any different? >> hell week was started in 1943. we still have hell week today. physical training is the same. the land warfare has been updated. once they get through the physical rendering, there is a dedicated refinement on teaching the skills they need. >>how accurate is it that 85% do not graduate?

>> green berets have similar attrition rates. i >>f you are knocked out, what is the reason? >> 10% or 15% of these men will not quit, and unless they get wounded, they will get through training. it is whether they want it ba d enough to do it. those who have that get through it. those who don't will find another way to serve their country. wha >>t is the ratio?

>> it is 10% or 15%. >> two officers have different training? >> no, they go through training side by side in regar -- side by side. evente face fof this seems to be vice admiral william mccraven. tell us about him. h >>e is a very intelligent officer. he brought in a lot of innovative things that linked to operations, so this fusion -- he contributed to that a great

deal. he has had responsible conditions. he has recently been nominated to be commander of special command. >> in that article, it says the author of a textbook long emphasized six key requirements for any successful nation. what are you talk about surprises? >> they want you to get there when they least expect the new curator -- they least expect. they want you to get there when they do not expect you to come.

>> another one is speed. >> but is getting settled out and getting the job done. >> were you surprised one is stealth? >> stealth is a broad term. whether this is electronically stealthy, i am not sure. it seems like there is new technology involved. go >>to repetition. >> you have to practice. intelligence is perishable. you get on the helicoptor and go, but if you have the chance to rehearse, you make good

use of rehearsal time, but practicing until you become proficient. amateurs do it over and over until they get it right. professionals do it until they cannot get it wrong. >> we have a picture of seal officers practicing for going in and out of buildings. how often do you think they practice? >> they are constantly practicing. they will find one and practice opening doors, moving from room to room, building to

building. they practice day in and out. then when it comes to an indivicual objection, they can construct a facility. then they try to make it relevant. how >>much weight in equipment. >> they are heavy on weapons and ammunition and communications equipment. >> what kind of a weapon? >> the standard rifle is what they use.

they are light assault weapons. heavier squad assault weapons. they have a broad selection, but they are standard. how >>much artillery do they have? >> it is associated with certain targets purchase goes through .our -- practice t i cannot imagine less than 400 or 500. >> when you go on a mission, who in your family is going to know? >> you want to say more. i think you want to share with your family as appropriate.

i think even when i was in cia, things were classified, but you shared iwth your spouse. >> how long did you work for the cia beaumo? >> until 77. >> why are we so secretive? >> i think general security procedures. there is a lot that is not classified, but i think general

security is good. >> what is your reaction to what is reported after this event? >> what bothers me is how we have a special operations, bin laden was killed. those were the basic facts. armed.u hear he was he used his wife as a shield. i cannot imagine those comments coming out of a military briefing. i think this administration would have been better served to

put out the basics and then to come out with details. then you wouldn't have back- tracking. ?? there was a piece in london. it was the last paragraph i want to read back to you. he says unless he is capable of raising his game, heneeds to be thrown of fa bus.

the only amateurs are in the white house. is that fair? have you learned that feeling? >> yes, i have. something happend that ws mishandled and should have been done better. >> somebody was feeding that storyline. did any of it sounds like it came from the pentagon? >> it did not sound like it came from the pentagon. they go through this on any operation, and i can't imagine this spilling out like this.

i don't know what happened, but i think they will go back and say how do we do it better next time. the has to be going on in white house. >> what can you tell us about hte normal setup for something like this? how long are they in place? who is takling to them to get ready? how much tension? >> quite often they do it in a

compressed time frame. this seemed to be a longterm project. they rehearsed in depth. they had a lot of time to prepare, and i'm sure there may have even been some windows. they may not have known quite where they were going. people have to make sure they were going at optimal abilities. there is a lot that has to go on. there was a huge team that put those guys on target and some talented aviators, so a lot

went into this. there was a huge team that put this together. >> how much could have been seen on television? how much could have been sent on a secure system? pr >>obably all of it. communications capabilities are robust. we have a lot of realtime video, so i'm sure there's a great deal of it that has been re viewed. >>they did say there was a 25

minute gap. th >>ere was a lot going on, and sometimes the links don't work. even your radio you have to jiggle to make it work. they were down for a time. >> were you ever involved in a moment where you thought you might not live? >> some friendly fire had my boat zeroed, and we managed to yell ceasefire just in time. >> how much can you talk about

today? >> pretty much all of it. there was not transparency. this was a long time ago. some of the mechanics -- we study it, get information and then we brief. here's our actions on the target. these are support elements. these are the timeframes. it is pretty much out of the handbook. >> in the article, it said that he's a guy that i think you can

look at as a modern seal, guys that are -- humility thing? are you taught humility. >> be a professional. i think that's the theme brought throughout the operational history, and the highest accolade you can pay a navy seal is "you are very professional." >>what about quiet. >> the tendency to go to a bar

has no place. >> are there many college educated seals enlisted. >> are things 75%. >> and they choose not to be an officer? >> many would choose to be a leader of the non-commissioned officer level. got some video. here they are in the water. we have all kinds of video in

different places. does this remind you of what it's like when you were there? >> i think mine was far cruder. they train at an island for land warfare. >> what kind of weapon? >> that is an m48. those are dated weapons. d >>o they tend to get the best weapons? >> they tend to have some of the best ones. >> what is the toughest part of training?

>> hell weak. weak in and weak out. >> what is the roughest part? >> being up for 48 hours ago sleep and another 48 hours. it is mentally challenging. do you breakpoint up. works when you have five days with four hours of slaeep. the tough ones say, i will do another day. the real tough ones say, i'll do this as long as you want. >> what do you think a person has to have? where do they learn to do this

stuff? >> i have been a student, and the common thread are the young men who succeed had parents with high expectations. they programmed them to finish what they start. they have high expectations. if any one trait runs through these people, it is good parenting. >> we see almost no minorities. >> that is an issue. it is how many played in a

swimming pool and how many at a fire hydrant. a secondary thing is with a lot denseck men they hvave muscle mass, and they have to be able to deal with that, and it does create challenges. >> is it an issue that is talked about? >> yes we wedo not have as many minorities as we would like.

>> how soon before they took off would they be told what the mission is. >> everybody says, this had better be important. that is one thing -- getting public enemy one. at some point they are put in isolation. they do not have any communication with the outside. they will stay in isolation until they finish or the mission is cancelled. you tell your family there are times i will not be in

communication. if you're not hearing from me, everything is ok. " how much do they have to deal with posttraumatic syndrome? >> it is an issue. it is almost less of an issue, because they are involved in combat assault as opposed to the broad range of counter insurgency work. i think it distressful to be a young man on patrol in helmand province day after day with the ambiguity of ieds, somebody shooting, and having to be measured. i think that creates stress . >> do seals ever get a relaxor?

are there any relaxors given? i can >>'t imagine that. in vietnam, we had pills where you could take one, but all they do is screw you up. gine that.ima they try to keep their sleep cycles. >>what is the question asked most often. >> most revolves around training. why do young men become interested/ i tell them i am proud, but we have a whole range of special

operations. a young man can see which one meets capabilities best. >> wikipedia tells you there are 10 seal teams. odd for west coast, even for east coast. i >>t was one and 2. >> now there is team in one -- seal delivery team 1 and 182. what do they do? >> they specialize in nuclear submarines. they will go off the coast, and they will come not from the parent submarine into a smaller

submersible and conduct a mission from there. but it could be special reconnaissance. they specialize, and it takes a lot of training to be good at those. they are highly choreographed underwater operations. >> normally how many men are there in a sealed seem? >> it can vary. you have your seals, which can be 96 teacher and 100. >> what are the basics you have to be able to do? >> seals are generalists for the most part. they have to be able to funcion on land. parachute skills, so there is a lot of training.

a team not deployed will do ship attack, lots of land warfare training. they will repel on who will graves or ships richard -- onto oil rigs and ships. >> what about the kind of thing to be approved. do you have to stay under water? parks we have to swim down 50 feet and tie 3 not superior -- tie three knkots. they have 50 feet you have to swim underwater.

there are water requirements, and then they have drown proofing. they tie you up and you have to stay afload. >> anybody hadrowned in trainin? >> there have been, but mostly due to hypothermia. this is highly supervised operator -- highly supervised. >> what about running? >> they have timed runs. you have to run in a certain amount of time. running is part of it. they'll teach you how to swim. i'd be a good runner.

>> what about jumping out of an airplane? >> it is not for the faint of heart. it is a very structured and safe evolution. >> what does it do after this recent bin laden killing? >> the media will die down. there will be a few young man who will give it a try. there was a time when they were having trouble with recruits. g>> have you been able to watch

training? >> i have theory goes -- i have. you have to go back and do all of this again. i wrote a vote, and it was satisfying to be with them every step of the way. if i am with special forces, i

just finished a book but will go through the u.s. special forces command. it was operational details with special warfare command, and i typically have no problem. >> does that bother you you cannot write something and publish it hamas -- publish it? >> i would never violate that trust.

>> you have novels you would not want to approve >> the thing in my novel this is totally fictitious. >> did you know him hamas and -- know him? >> i did not know him. he was in a special operations stuart. -- special operations tora. they did not have any support.

they died fighting. >> what did you think about the book hamas and -- about the book? >>i hate reading stories where you know the outcome, you know these men are going to die. i thought there was some very interesting, from an ethics perspective, discussions that took place about when and when not to take life. then the issue of hospitality within the muslim culture, i found compelling. most of us in the west don't understand what that means in the muslim culture, if you give someone hospitality. it has to be honored. >> is there a lot we don't know about what goes on behind the scenes? >> it is more on the operational level. the training is basic hard military training. the basic skill sets or universal to the army and marine conventional units as well.

it is when you get into the actual operations and the specialized tactics and procedures that it becomes classified. it is sensitive. they don't want to talk about exactly how they enter a room and how they go about executing a mission. >> so if they said to you, we would like to have you visit with some of the seals that went in on this mission and it will all will be top secret and you cannot publish it, what are the questions you would want to ask? >> i am more interested in the personal stories. what was going through your mind? when you got on target, what were some of the tactical -- how were your fire teams set up? i have an interest in these things. what was going on on the ground?

what was the resistance you met? what are your recollections? typically in an operation like this, something happens that we will never know about that is kind of poignant or tragic, or maybe even humorous. when you got back to that bird and you lifted off out of there, what were you thinking about? it had to be a tremendous emotional release. i would love to talk to that assault commander, because he had a lot on his plate. >> what rank would he have been? >> i am not sure. a lieutenant commander or perhaps a commander. he would have been around for a while, a senior. you have to accomplish your mission. the second thing is, you have to get your man on target, and you have to get off target. you have to take care of your men.

the third thing is, you have to watch out for noncombatants. you would like to get in and out of there and take care of your men and not shoot anybody that does not have to be shot. >> let's say there were 20 or 30 men on the ground. can they all hear the commander in their ear? >> i would think in a mission like this, yes, they can. they operate in sections. they operate somewhat independently and report back to the ground force commander. he is in a position where he tries to maintain control of what is going on. he is also in touch with higher command, and trying to keep some idea of the bigger picture so that he can respond. if something goes wrong over here or there is a problem here, if he can shift assets or do something. once they get into a target like this, they will start looking out.

he has a lot going on because he is more responsible. he is not running from room to room. >> if someone were to buy one of your 14 books, which one would you recommend for basic knowledge of seals? >> i think definitely "the warrior elite." "the sheriff of ramadi" is a very good feel for what seals do and what they have done in the global war on terror. >> dick couch, thank you very much for joining me. >> thank you, sir. has been a pleasure. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> for a dvd copy of this program, call 1-877-662-7726. to give comments on this program, visit us at q-and- a.org. the programs are also available as podcasts. >> next, british prime minister david cameron at a house of commons. after that, a commencement speech by john hudson and then the farewell speechifyi by john ensign. a group of teen party activists since -- tea party activists

hold a press conference on monday. they are expected to criticize speaker boehner, congressman paul ryan, and other members of congress for their actions on the debt ceiling a curator -- said sealing material live coverage begins on c-span 2. miliband challenges of david cameron on the increase in tuition fees. members also us about the referendum to change the way members of parliament are elected. now this is about 30 minutes. t help to push these important parts of the british economy. >> order, >> this morning, i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and

others. >> the abolition of council tax, the scrapping of student debt, the 2000 towns endowment for first-time homebuyers and, of course, the referendum on separatism were all promises made by the scottish national party prior to the last summer's elections, all of which were never kept. will the prime minister in for me, the house and the country whether certain political commentators are correct when they say that he would prefer to see the separate just returned in denver for one reason only -- to avoid a labor victory? >> am happy to confirm that what i would like to see in scotland is the greatest possible showing in and of building -- in annabel goldie. one thing i will say, whatever the outcome of that election, i will always stand four square behind the united kingdom. >>