The SEALs, arguably one of the most elite fighting groups in the world, did not develop from a grand strategy of the military. But instead from one individual who refused to allow his condition to keep him from moving ahead. His name was Draper Kauffman, and today he is known as the godfather of the US Navy SEALs.

Upon his graduation from the Naval academy in 1933, Mr. Kauffman's plan was to follow in the footsteps of another great man, his father, who also served in the US Navy. But it wasn't to be. It was not because of drug abuse that Mr. Kauffman's dreams were shattered, nor was it because of a life of crime. He simply had poor eyesight and this was enough to prevent him from receiving his commission. What do you do when you invest years of dreaming about a bright future and making plans to get there, only to find it sabotaged by something that seems so small? This is where Mr. Kauffman can inspire us all.

With his door to the US Navy closed, he joined the American Volunteer Ambulance Corps in France. This warrior trained to lead other warriors into combat found himself behind the wheel of an ambulance. He was imprisoned for a short time in France when the Germans occupied the country in 1940. After his release, he joined the Royal Navy Reserve in England and served in their bomb disposal unit.

While he was home on leave, the US Navy wanted to learn from his experiences. At their request Mr. Kauffman organized an underwater demolition school. After the United States entered the war, Kauffman's experience and trainees became crucial to US amphibious operations around the world. They changed the course of the war through disarming underwater bombs and conducting top-secret reconnaissance. Had Mr. Kauffman allowed poor eyesight to be the final draft of his identity, the Allies' strategy during WWII would have been different.

Source:

Heath Adamson, The Sacred Chase (Baker Books, 2020), pp. 118-119