What makes SEALs special?

This might seem like an odd reflection but I couldn't really stop thinking about it. As a result of the SEAL's team successfully killing of Osama Bin Laden in Abbotabad, Pakistan, a great deal is being written about the training of and the core characteristics of these elite special forces.  A lot of what is being presented is what you would expect: valiant and heroic U.S. troops who have survived years of training that eliminates 95% of the candidates.  One article written by a former SEAL (Grettens, E. (2011) The SEAL Sensibility. New York: Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal) suggested a remarkable conclusion about the central difference among the elite troops, "Almost all of the men who survived possessed one common quality. Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they had the ability to step outside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: How can I help the guy next to me? They had more than the 'fist' of courage and physical strength. They also had a heart large enough to think about others, to dedicate themselves to a higher purpose."  It seems so rermarkable because it is counter intuitive and is the very characteristic that those oif us in recovery need to cultivate.