10 Insane Plans You Won't Believe The Military Tried

2. The US Navy's Anti-Terrorism Dolphins

Disappointingly foregoing the opportunity to train some literal Navy Seals, the military has nevertheless had an initiative tasked with getting animals ready to join the fight against America's enemy since the sixties. The United States Navy Marine Mammal Program has even deployed animal teams in combat zones like the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Most infamous amongst them are the bottle-nose dolphins which are trained to sniff out underwater mines, before returning to their human handlers to report on their whereabouts.

Some are also used to identify human intruders, before again swimming back to the nearest Navy base and getting a sea lion to handcuff them wait what. The Navy currently has eighty bottle-nose dolphins and thirty California sea lions training at any given time near the mouth of San Diego Bay, before they're deployed to the theatre of combat.

Most of the details about their effectiveness behind enemy lines is subject to extreme secrecy for security reasons, but yes €“ there are literal Navy Seals after all.