The U.S. Navy plans to expand it's Special Operations forces (currently about 5,000 sailors) by some 272 personnel, many of them SEALs. It takes about two years to train a new SEAL. The current force consists of 2,400 SEALs, 600 special boat crews and 2,000 support personnel. The success of the SEALs in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the last two years has led to this expansion. The SEALs are the major, pure commando, force in the US military and specialize in amphibious operations.