Entering training to become a Navy SEAL is voluntary, and officers and enlisted men train side-by-side. To volunteer, SEAL candidates must be male, between 18 and 29 years old, and US citizens in the U.S. Navy. Occasionally, personnel from foreign armed forces allied with the United States will also be invited to take part in BUDS training. For a period of two years, of an initial seven planned,[3] members of Coast Guard were allowed to attend SEAL training until the exchange program was suspended in 2011.[4] Waivers are available for 17-year-olds with parental permission and on a case-by-case basis for 29- and 30-year-olds.[5] Academically, all applicants must have the equivalent of a high school education, have a composite score of at least 220 on the ASVAB and be proficient in all aspects of the English language. Medically, all potential applicants must have at least 20/75 vision, correctable to 20/20, be able to pass the SEAL Physical Screening Test and have no recent history of drug abuse. Lastly applicants must have "good moral character" as determined by his history of criminal convictions and civil citations.[6][7]
The U.S. Navy, as of August 2015, is developing a plan for women to possibly eventually join the SEALs, if they can meet the same acceptance guidelines as for men, following the decision by President Obama and the U.S. Defense Department to open all uniformed service positions to women within a reasonable time span, unless the services are able to receive a waiver from the Secretary of Defense, currently Ashton Carter, to continue excluding them from certain positions due to truly legitimate concerns. It would not be without precedent to do so, following the completion by two women- out of 19- of the Army Ranger School, which is a prerequisite for the training to serve as a Ranger.