Barry Seal Parents: Meet Benjamin Curtis Seal & Mary Lou Seal

Barry Seal is the son of Benjamin Curtis Seal,  a candy wholesaler, and Mary Lou Seal. Seal began to fly as a teenager, earning a student pilot certificate at 16 and a private pilot’s certificate at 17. His flight instructor described him as a naturally gifted pilot.

n 1962, Seal enlisted in the Louisiana Army National Guard, serving six months of active duty and five and a half years of inactive duty. During his active duty, he trained with the 20th Special Forces Group and graduated from the United States Army Airborne School. Later, during his non-active duty, Seal worked as a radio telephone operator in the 245th Engineer Battalion.

Seal’s career in commercial aviation took off when he joined TWA (Trans World Airlines) in 1964. He quickly climbed the ranks, going from a flight engineer to the first officer and eventually becoming a captain, flying a Boeing 707 on Western European routes. His career at TWA came to an abrupt end in July 1972 when he was arrested for involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle plastic explosives to Mexico using a DC-4 aircraft.

Although the case was eventually dismissed in 1974 due to prosecutorial misconduct, TWA terminated Seal’s employment for falsely claiming medical leave to participate in the scheme.