Navy SEALs adjust to new fame

The Navy SEALs' website needs reinforcements. The way they have maintained their website no longer works.

The Navy SEALs made news headlines for days following their successful raid of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan and the killing of the terrorist. Now the growth in visitors to the website for the United States' elite stealth force and its Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewmen (SWCC) training is forcing a solicitation for Web-hosting services.

“Recent events have demonstrated that SEALSWCC.com, as the authoritative voice for SEAL and SWCC training, makes the website vulnerable to significant spikes in traffic,” according to a small-business set-aside solicitation for Web-hosting services released on May 20.

On May 2, SEALs swooped into bin Laden's house and killed him during the raid. News reports followed for days, giving the usually out-of-the-spotlight service members the spotlight. (Read GCN What was on Osama bin Laden's hard drive? and FCW's Tech insights into the bin Laden mission)

As a result, the SEALs’ website needs reinforcements. The way they have maintained their website no longer works. The site is vulnerable to problems as traffic increases — a weakness the team does not want.

“It is imperative that SEALSWCC.com not experience periods of downtime,” the solicitation states.

The SEALs want all bids by May 26.