SEALs: ‘Where Do We Find Such Men?’

In the wake of the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips Sunday, Coronado and its residents are getting some national attention.

It only took Navy snipers three shots to kill the Somali pirates holding captain Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat, Vice Adm. William Gortney said Monday. Gortney said the snipers were able to kill each pirate with a single bullet because they are "extremely, extremely well-trained" and said the captain of the warship ordered the sniper fire once the hostage-takers were in view.

For many, the drama that unfolded in the Gulf of Aden had many wondering who would risk everything to rescue the captain? Take for example, Bob Greene’s column on CNN.com.

“Maybe you, during the recent days when Capt. Richard Phillips was held captive on that lifeboat off the coast of Africa, were asking yourself who in the world could come to his rescue. Who had the training, and the courage, to carry out such a mission… But once in a while, like now, we stop to focus on what we ask of the people who serve in our stead when the task seems all but impossible. Ronald Reagan would sometimes quote a line that summed up our wonder at those who make the choice to serve our country in this way: "Where do we find such men?"

Greene explains we find those men in Coronado – at the Naval Amphibious Base where the U.S. Navy SEALs train.

San Diego is one of only two places in the world where the U.S. Navy trains its elite commando force. The training is so difficult that only a handful out of hundreds become members each year.

The training covers three phases in six months. The first and most difficult, known as Hell Week, is where a majority of the class may opt to quit or “ring the bell.”

On Monday morning, the captain was resting comfortably on a San Diego-based U.S. warship, USS Boxer.

USS Boxer has more than 1,800 Marines aboard, mostly from Camp Pendleton, the Orange County Register reported. The Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (BOXESG) left Naval Base San Diego in January.