Rather than waist pixels keyboarding elaborate background situations, . . . what wristwatches are preferred by Navy SEALs, Rangers, or Astronauts? I'm pretty sure Smart watches wouldn't be worn because non-scrambled cell phones wouldn't be usable. Excepting Astronauts, I doubt any would be a government issue. So what watches do most prefer?

My prejudices include mechanical watches and those having replaceable batteries.

Astronauts

In the past Omega Speedmaster and Bulova Lunar.

I believe that they used the Omega Quartz Skywalker

The G-Shocks are popular with most of the service branches that have the word "grunt" in the job title. Get one of the "Tough Solar" models and you'll never replace a battery again. Get the "radio controlled" models and you don't have to worry about resetting the time, it does it by itself even daylight savings. Aviation/Aerospace is a bit more varied and you see everything from Swiss mechanicals (Rolex, Breitling, Glycine) to run of the mill digitals.

Sunto pro form and Magellan Pilot watches are very popular among special ops groups.

This is a Citizen Eco-drive Tough Solar in stainless.

I've been wearing a $20 Casio for years. Used to be $10. They never lose time, and you finally throw them away and buy a new one when you've worn it so long that the crystal is so scratched up that the numbers are hard to see.

A Rolex Submariner along with a Walther will do the trick.

from timezone.com

https://forums.timezone.com/in...&rid=329#msg_7780566

SEALS used to be issued a Rolex Submariner up until the early 80s I think. Combination of a tough capable watch, and also a bargaining piece if the need arose. I think they use Casio G-Shocks now. Have a friend who recently retired from the teams, will ask him next time I see him.

Omega never fails to mention the Speedmasters history with the Apollo program. Sold a lot of watches because of it. First luxury watch I bought was a Speedmaster sapphire sandwich solely because of the history (and Rolex prices were stupid when I bought it). Wear it only on special occasions now. Daily is a Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean. I hope I never come close to its dive limit of 600m.

During the IndoChina conflict, Special Forces members
operating with the 5th Group or MACVSOG regularly
carried Rolex Submariners or GMT models. IndoChina included Cambodia and Laos. As a member of that
Band of Brothers and military diver, I preferred Rolex quality. A 1969 red 1680 has climbed to the 5-figure mark, with a better return than the fortune 500. Serious missions required sanitized foreign watches,
nothing US made.
The idea of a G-Shock is anathema to most SF members, who still tend to prefer Rolex SS versions worn with a NATO or ZULU band.There is an active trade/purchase market in the groups for used models at reduced prices. Quality counts.
In the earlier 60s-70s, Rolex sport models were considered "tool watches" at very reasonable PX/Hong Kong prices. Hence, their popularity.
LTC-USA-Ret

Khe Sanh-1971