Don Shipley (Navy SEAL)

This article is about the Navy SEAL trainer. For the stage director, see Don Shipley (stage director).
Don Shipley
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service 1978 – 2003
Unit

SEAL Team 1

SEAL Team 2
Awards Navy and Marine Corps Medal
Website Extreme Seal Experience

Donald "Don" Shipley is a retired United States Navy SEAL. Following his retirement, he gained recognition for publicly outing false claims of military service.

Military service

Don Shipley joined the United States Navy in 1978 and became a Navy SEAL in 1984[1] after graduating BUD/S class 131.[2] Shipley served in SEAL Team One, SEAL Team Two, the Naval Special Warfare Center, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S), and Naval Special Warfare Group Two (NSWG-2), NAB Little Creek, Virginia as a SEAL Advanced Training Instructor.[3]

While serving with SEAL Team Two, Shipley conducted operations in Bosnia and Liberia. He became the first non-corpsman SEAL to graduate from paramedic school. He served in eight SEAL Platoons, was Platoon Chief in five, and awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism during a search and rescue mission.[4]

Setting records for immense water and land demolition shots and running high risk training courses, he served as an explosive expert instructing police departments across the country in booby traps and improvised explosive devices. When not in a SEAL platoon or deployed overseas, his time was spent running blocks of training for SEALs in air operations, land warfare, and demolitions.[3]

After 24 years of Navy service, he retired as a SEAL Senior Chief in 2003.

Shipley was also a Boatswain's Mate.

Post-military life

After retirement, Shipley worked as a Security Contractor for Blackwater Security Consulting, spending a year in Pakistan and Afghanistan.[3] Shipley currently runs a training course with several former U.S. Navy SEALs called Extreme SEAL Experience which trains potential SEALs as well as individuals interested in experiencing the rigors of SEAL training.[5][6]

Don Shipley originally started Extreme SEAL Experience in 1992 for the United States Navy. It was designed to train Sea Cadets for recruitment purposes. It later transformed into a full program designed to prepare those interested in Naval Special Warfare for the intense nature of BUD/S training.[7][8][9]

Exposing fraudulent SEAL claims

In recent years Shipley has garnered attention for his work publicly exposing individuals who falsely claim to have served as SEALs.[10] He and his wife Diane produced a series of YouTube videos, "Phony Navy SEAL of the Week", which combine footage of Shipley telephoning impostors and calling them out for their acts of "stolen valor", with interactions between him and Diane and movie clips that relate to the topic at hand.

The success of the YouTube series eventually spawned a more extensive series of professionally produced video segments which are available at the website Extreme SEAL Videos. In addition to a featured show in which Don and Diane personally travel around the country to confront fraudulent individuals posing as Navy SEALs, there are numerous other video segments, including Q&A sessions with the Shipleys, a cooking show hosted by Diane, and footage from the Extreme SEAL Experience training course.

Shipley is also a Special Guest Contributor at SOFREP.com. The site provides news and analysis from former military and Special Operations veterans. He states, "...the FBI estimates that there are 300 SEAL Impostors for every living Navy SEAL. Verifying at least a dozen and often over 20 fraudulent SEAL claims each day, I put the number much, much higher than 300." He estimates there are roughly 17,600 who have completed Naval Special Warfare training since 1943, about 10,000 of these are alive, and 2,400 of them on active duty.[11][12]

Other work

Shipley is also a film producer, known for Secrets of SEAL Team Six (2011), and Inside Edition (1988).[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Extreme SEAL Experience "Don Shipley Bio" Episode 1". May 11, 2011.
  2. ↑ "NAVY SEAL TRAINING PROGRAM NAVY SEAL BUD/S TRAINING Extreme SEAL Experience".
  3. 1 2 3 Hansen, Louise (July 8, 2007). "Seal Recruitment a Tough Mission; Navy Commandos Stretched Thin by Wars and Departures". The Washington Post – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
  4. ↑ Hansen, Louis (September 15, 2006). "Camp camouflage". THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. Norfolk, VA.
  5. ↑ Shin, Annys (May 21, 2011). "Aiming for a SEAL of approval". The Washington Post – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
  6. ↑ Murray, Rheana (June 21, 2012). "Navy SEAL 'Hell Week,' now available in civilian strength". NYDailyNews.com. New York Daily News. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  7. ↑ Sterner, Doug; Sterner, Pam (20 November 2013). Restoring Valor: One Couple's Mission to Expose Fraudulent War Heroes and Protect America's Military Awards System. Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-1-62873-914-5.
  8. ↑ James, Chris (May 9, 2011). "After Bin Laden Raid, Fake Navy SEALs Are 'Coming Out of the Woodwork,' Says Watchdog". ABCNews.go.com. ABC News. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Don Shipley, retired Navy SEAL, busts another phony Nikko "Kaha" De'Lozada". GuardianOfValor.com. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  10. ↑ Michael Gaynor (August 30, 2015). "If You're Lying About Being a Navy SEAL, This Man Will Catch You". The Washingtonian. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ "All posts by Don Shipley". SOFREP.com. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ Shipley, Don. "The Scourge of Navy SEAL Imposters: Part One". SOFREP.com. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Don Shipley, Biography". IMDB.com.
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