Two men from ATC (Advanced Training Command), SO1 Seth Cody Lewis and SO1 Brett Allen Marihugh, were found at the bottom of the pool in Little Creek Virginia around 3 p.m. Friday and pronounced dead shortly after.

Sources within the SEAL community tell SOFREP that the two SEALs were involved in an exhaustive underwater workout practicing breath holding techniques when the two apparently experienced what is commonly known in the diving community as a shallow water blackout. It’s unknown whether the two were spotting for each other.

In the Special Ops community, there is an ethos of training harder than you fight, and while not routine, it’s not uncommon to lose good men in training incidents. During my time in BUD/S, we had at least one student pool fatality due to drowning. The culture of training in the SOF community is Spartan-like for a reason: It produces warriors.

The NSW (Naval Special Warfare) community has experienced tremendous losses since 9-11, including two devastating helicopter crashes in Afghanistan that have rocked the small community of just over a thousand active-duty SEALs.

The loss of these two SEALs will surely be felt in the tight-knit community of Frogmen. SOFREP will keep you posted on ways to help the families of these two heroes.

Editor’s note: The title was changed, SEAL Team 2 was replaced with Advanced Training Command, and kettle bell was removed in an effort to more accurately portray events.

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