Why Navy SEALs wore blue jeans in Vietnam

Eric Milzarski
Feb 5, 2020 6:50 PM PST
1 minute read
Vietnam War photo

SUMMARY

Nothing screams Americana more than rock and roll, blue jeans, and the toughness of our fighting men and women. If you mix them all together, you get the Navy SEALs who fought in the jungles of Vietnam. They were unquestionably rugged, they were pro…

Nothing screams Americana more than rock and roll, blue jeans, and the toughness of our fighting men and women. If you mix them all together, you get the Navy SEALs who fought in the jungles of Vietnam. They were unquestionably rugged, they were probably rocking out to some CCR, and they wore blue jeans throughout.

In a speech delivered to Congress in May, 1961, President John F. Kennedy recognized the need for special operations as a measure against guerrilla warfare. Meanwhile, the Navy was already putting together elite units for exactly that task. The Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams grew into the SEALs we know today and they were baptized in the waters of Vietnam.


Navy SEALs are truly masters of both hiding and seeking.

(U.S. Navy)

These men were experts in hand-to-hand combat, high-altitude parachuting, demolitions, and foreign languages — all skills that would prove useful in Vietnam. At the beginning of 1962, SEALs were mobilized into South Vietnam to take on an advisory role. Less than a year later, they were participating in the covert, CIA-sponsored Phoenix Program.

Details of the Phoenix Program are blurry (as covert CIA stuff tends to be), but what is known is that it involved the SEALs doing what they do best: Capturing and assassinating high-value targets. This meant that they would infiltrate deep behind enemy lines and directly engage the enemy when they thought they were safe.

The SEALs were constantly on the move through rough and unforgiving terrain to complete their mission. As anyone who's ever donned a military uniform can tell you, the "lowest bidder" joke wears off after you've ripped a hole in the crotch of your seventeenth pair of trousers.

So, which one of these guys are you gonna scold for wearing blue jeans? None of them? Good choice.

(U.S. Navy)

So, SEALs wore whatever was durable enough to complete the mission — and Vietnam demanded blue jeans. It allowed the SEALs to sneak into enemy compounds without worrying about catching their pants on a branch, loudly ripping some fabric, and blowing the element of surprise. It also didn't hurt that jeans are damn comfy.

SEALs, along with the rest of the Special Operations community, have an advantage over most conventional troops: No one outside of Special Operations is ballsy enough to walk up to a bearded SEAL and berate them for not being in uniform. Anyone who dared was quickly laughed at and then soiled their regulation uniform trousers as they watched the SEAL flex.

If you want to operate like a SEAL, then you need to dress like one. 5.11 Tactical's got you covered.


NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Sign up for We Are The Mighty's newsletter and receive the mighty updates!

By signing up you agree to our We Are The Mighty's Terms of Use and We Are The Mighty's Privacy Policy.

SHARE