Also called: Navy 1130, Special Warfare Officer
Leads SEAL platoons in sea, air, and land special operations like raids, reconnaissance, and hostage rescue.
SEAL officers train alongside their men in diving, parachuting, close-quarters combat, and demolitions, then spend hours planning missions down to the minute. Selection is brutal: BUD/S has some of the highest dropout rates in the military. Afterward, many move into business, private equity, politics, or executive coaching.
RMC (base pay + housing/food allowances + tax advantage) for officers O-1 (2nd Lieutenant/Ensign) to O-5 (Lieutenant Colonel/Commander), 2026 estimate. A 20-year career also earns a lifetime pension starting right after retirement.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's degree, officer commission (Naval Academy, NROTC, or OCS), then ~1 year of BUD/S and SEAL Qualification Training. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Engineering, Any major (via NROTC), Physical Education, History.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. Underwater drones and sensors scout; leading raids and rescues stays human.
Classes: PE / swimming, Physics, Leadership class, A foreign language.
Official data: O*NET occupation 55-1017.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.