The Garden is a military school where six to nineteen-year-old boys and girls gather to learn military skills while enduring communal living. Each country in the world decided that graduates of the Garden would form a private group, independent of any government or army. Assignment to any army was compulsory for Garden graduates depending on whether negotiations were made between the Garden's staff and a certain country's army. Graduates could become commanders of a foreign army, but couldn't pick their place of duty. Passing the intense final exams at the Garden were necessary to attain this lofty prize, however.

SeeD is a special forces group dispatched by the Garden. Each member has exceptionally high abilities, but widely differs in battle capabilities. Garden cadets may opt to take the SeeD Entrance Exam instead of taking Final Exams, but passing the test is extremely difficult. The duty of a SeeD member ranges from guarding to riot suppression, regardless of every possible battle condition.

Squall Leonhart apparently has a past with SeeD. It's not known whether he was part of SeeD from the beginning of the game, or developed some sort of relationship along the way. What is known is that he was once part of Garden.