ASTs are stationed at Coast Guard Air Stations throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Physical Fitness Requirements Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers represent one of the most thrilling and challenging roles in the U.S. Coast Guard. United States Navy rescue swimmer candidates attend a four-week Aircrew School followed by the six-week-long Aviation Rescue Swimmer School (RSS) in Pensacola, Florida. Out of the 75 - 100 Coast Guard personnel that attend training, only around 40 - 50 will graduate and become rescue swimmers. In 2014, a state of the art training center was opened under the command of the Aviation Technical Training Center aboard BASE Elizabeth City, NC and houses AST "A" School as well as Underwater Egress "C" School. Romeos also go through a longer 'A' school than Sierras. I swam over to him, got on the door with him or what looked like a door or some sort of debris from the boat and talked to him, Roberts continued. Successful completion of this course results in being awarded the Aviation Survival Technician rating, the technical rating for a variety of aircraft and survival equipment maintenance.[1]. A third standby rescue swimmer was John Brokaar, also a former special operator from Special Forces. Officially, theyre called Aviation Survival Technicianswhich is a mouthful. While in an Aircrew position an AST may find themselves being deployed into a myriad of challenging rescues ranging from hurricanes and cliff rescues, to emergency medical evacuations from ships at sea. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer: Pay, School, Training, and More. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. Coast Guard rescue swimmers, AKA Aviation Survival Technicians, have a primary role of rescuing distressed persons from a myriad of situations. Coast Guard requirements are necessary to make sure that new recruits are ready for service. Its important to get in great shape and become an advanced swimmer before boot camp. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Rob V. is the founder of OperationMilitaryKids.org. Arguably the most widely recognized team of rescue-swimmer operators, the elite United States Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician (AST)/Helicopter Rescue Swimmer team is called upon to respond in the most extreme rescue situations. They must also complete six months of apprenticeship before completing the syllabus and officially becoming a team member. In todays post, we look at the story of this daring rescue through Robertss eyes. in Pounds (Newtons) I - Inflatable. Which rating a rescue swimmer attains depends on what type of helicopter they are to become qualified in. After graduating from Rescue swimmer school (RSS), students go on to their respective 'A' School, also in Pensacola, Florida. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Most often, they are referred to as Search and rescue swimmers (or SARs), and their primary goal is to rescue downed aviators. Summary. As a member of the Coast Guard, you'll be issued a gun and expected to know how to use it. Additionally, recruits need to pass the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) medical exam before they can begin basic training. According to official sources, it's estimated that there are around 350 Coast Guard rescue swimmers currently serving. Reportedly, only 75100 Coast Guard personnel attend the school each year. I had completely lost sight of him when I got in the water.. Furthermore, maintaining a regular exercise routine and limiting alcohol use goes a long way in making sure youre completely prepared. All Rights Reserved. The rehearsal took place during a rough-sea state and high winds, and was done to confirm that the rescue swimmers would be able to carry out an effective rescue in the dangerous conditions in the area, which include very strong rip currents, high swells, and cold water temperature in the North Atlantic. According to CareerBliss, U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers make about $38,000 per year. ASVAB Scores For Air Force Jobs: All 130+ For 2022, How To Choose The Right Military Branch For You, Coast Guard Jobs List: A List of all 24 Ratings in the Coast Guard, Air Force Nondestructive Inspection: 2A7X2 & 2A732 Career Profile, DPS Military Move: 8 Things You Need To Know, 300+ Military Separation Codes And Their Meanings, The preparation and maintenance of emergency flotation devices (fancy word for rafts), Storage and handling of aviation ordnance and pyrotechnic devices, Be in superior physical shape with no chronic orthopedic problems, Have a high level of mental acuity and military bearing, High degree of confidence in, around, and below water (goes without saying! In 2002, Faulkner won transfer to the Coast Guard's Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, and she was deployed there as one of 20 swimmers involved in rescues along the Gulf of Mexico. Ad Choices, The Waterlogged Hell of Becoming a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer. It also goes without saying that it helps to limit your alcohol intake and stop using tobacco products before you arrive to basic training. After a few years, the differences between what the candidates were learning in the combat-oriented Navy school and what was being required of them during civilian rescues required an organic Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer school to be begun. A Coast Guard rescue swimmer must be able to function for at least 30 minutes in harsh weather, whether the environment is heavy seas, unstable platforms or rough terrain. Rescue swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the land, or in the air. The primary job of a surface rescue swimmer is whatever they enlisted as. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Nick Anderson has been serving on Active Duty in the U.S. Navy for the last 10 years. A local Coast Guard recruiting office has more information on the requirements and expectations of the military branch. Whether in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, or any of the many Coast Guard Air Stations within the continental United States, ASTs train year-round to prepare mentally and physically for the challenges they may face as Helicopter Rescue Swimmers. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer training program is very challenging and is one of the toughest U.S. military training courses. Not cocky. Rescue swimmer is a designation given to rescue specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. The Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) is one of the last junctures needed to qualify for service. President George W. Bush awarded the active, reserve, auxiliary and civilian employees of the Coast Guard a Presidential Unit Citation and ribbon for their response to Hurricane Katrina.[11]. There are nearly 41,000 active-duty members of the Coast Guard and an additional 7,000 Reservists. One weak link and the whole rescue could fall apart. The water-entry shock was reduced only by their succeeding in entering the water at an optimal entry angle despite the high wind and an unstable exit platform. Candidates are expected to undergo intense training so they are prepared to handle dangerous, high-risk rescue missions. Consequently, Coast Guard Rescue Swimming training is considered one of the toughest U.S. Military training courses. Coast Guard/Getty Images. According to CareerBliss, U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers make about $38,000 per year. The rescue swimmer training program has a high student attrition rate averaging in the 80% range, similar to many special operations forces selection courses. ), An aptitude for mechanics, with a focus on school courses like algebra, geometry, and machinery being helpful, 25 Yard Underwater swim: Completed 4 times. Those are in addition to performingpush-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, just like other military fitness tests. During war, they rescue downed pilots, special-operations troops left behind, and other stranded military men and women. You have to be able to think and perform challenging tasks while submerged, holding your breath and getting tossed around my 10- to 20-foot waves. In the anime television series Yomigaeru Sora Rescue Wings , the main character is a rescue helicopter pilot, but rescue swimmers also appear as regular members in each episode. Coast Guard helicopters arrived at the scene and lowered baskets for the survivors. Related Article: How To Join The Coast Guard. U.S. Navy Support. Navy Surface Rescue Swimmers attend the four-week Surface Rescue Swimmer School (SRSS) in Jacksonville, Florida. Minimum of 50 sit-ups in two minutes Minimum of 42 push-ups in two minutes 1.5 mile run in less than 12 minutes 400 meter swim in less than 11 minutes During your time as a SRS, you will be required to pass physical and swimming tests at designated intervals. And you'll be rewarded handsomely for your braverythe average pay for a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer is $75,000 a year . U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers make about $38,000 per year, which averages out to around $18 per hour. Training is extremely stressful and is designed to identify those candidates who possess the physical and mental skills to handle the rigors of being a helicopter rescue swimmer. Officers earn more than enlisted members if you want to work toward that type of promotion. The good news is that the Coast Guard gives you time to train physically for service. According to the course syllabus, rescue swimmers need to demonstrate advanced strength, flexibility, and endurance. After completion of A-School, all ASTs are sent to Training Center Petaluma, California to attend the Coast Guard's Emergency Medical Technician school. 'A' school is followed by a seven-week EMT course. In fact, it has the highest failure to complete rate of any military branch (yes, even over the Marine Corps). Initially, all new ASMs were required to complete US Navy Helicopter Rescue Swimmer school at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, prior to reporting to USCG ASM "A" School and EMT "C" School. There, students learn the challenges of vertical-surface rescue, cliff operations, sea-cave traversing, and extreme-high-seas rescue. The RS must also possess Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) skills in order to provide basic pre-hospital life support for the rescued individual(s). Each branch of the military, including the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army, have some form of rescue swimmer. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. Seven were never found. But in this case the enemy is the weather. They are highly trained and relentlessly conditioned field operatives. The Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Manual, COMDTINST M3710.4C, is canceled. The training is purposely demanding and intense. The U.S. Coast Guard is not the only branch of the U.S. Military that has its own rescue swimmers. All rights reserved. About half of prospective candidates make it to AST "A" School. In the aftermath, Congress held hearings to understand how the tragedy could occur, and mandated the establishment of the Coast Guard rescue swimmer program, to be modeled after one the U.S. Navy was running. Moreover, the U.S. Coast Guard has a good benefits package which includes health insurance and financial aid for continuing your education. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers have been called upon in emergency situations such as natural disasters involving heavy flooding or hurricanes in the past. Continued physical fitness training is required. 1. As a collateral responsibility, an AST may be expected to fill aircrew positions such as HC-130 Dropmaster or Loadmaster, Sensor Systems Operator, and Helicopter Basic Aircrewman. That ultimately, is the job of the ASTor, you know, the rescue swimmerto save lives in the harshest conditions imaginable. It prescribes policy, standards, instructions and capabilities pertinent to all phases of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer operations and is intended for use by operational commanders, unit commanding officers, and aircrews tasked with rescue swimmer The training school has one of the highest attrition rates of any military school with about 80% of candidates washing out. The RS must have the mental capacity, flexibility, mobility, strength, power, agility, endurance, and equipment to function for at least 30 minutes in heavy seas, on unstable platforms, on rugged terrain during severe adverse weather conditions. He said theres no way he could have gotten down in the water and to the survivor without all of the crew members doing their parts to safely navigate through the challenging weather and darkness of the night. While Katrina brought domestic and international news coverage to Coast Guard rescue swimmers and their crews, their story was first shown on television in a series of 1999 specials on Discovery Channel, Coast Guard: Rescue Swimmers and Coast Guard: Helicopters to the Rescue. Life and death role-playing is a constant. If you would like to join the Coast Guard, youll need to meet (and preferably exceed) the physical fitness requirements. The 70-year-old and Roberts were hoisted into the helicopter together and the gentleman was able to warm up on the 10-15 minute transit to Ketchikan. The deploy from either the RIB or the J-Bar in order to conduct a rescue. At-sea interdictions of pure cocaine are the most effective way for the Coast Guard to limit cartels and other criminal networks from trafficking their entire spectrum of illicit products. PFD INFORMATION ON WEARING AND CARING. . Try This Military Swim Workout to Prepare for Special Ops, Diver or Rescue Swimmer Training. [citation needed]. Complete the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Here Are the Fitness Standards to Become a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer, Ask Stew: How to Apply a Never-Quit Mindset When Joining the Military. The first female U.S. Navy rescue swimmer was HMC Catherine Elliott (Rizzo). The U.S. Coast Guard is extremely physically demanding. Its the purpose enshrined in their motto: So others may live. For the sake of future victims as well as the swimmers own good, only the most prepared are allowed to do the job. It averages to about $18 per hour. The Old Air Force Tape Test Is Officially Dead. Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Capabilities: The RS must have the mental capacity, flexibility, mobility, strength, power, agility, endurance, and equipment to function for at least 30 minutes in heavy seas, on unstable platforms, on rugged terrain during severe adverse weather conditions. The initial six-month AST 'A' school covers Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Procedures and Aviation Life Support Equipment (ALSE) fundamentals. Pararescuemen are also active in peacetime, retrieving NASA space equipment, and also performing rescues in all types of natural disasters, though they get much less recognition for this role due to the small numbers of people rescued. The rating began in 1968 when the U.S. Coast Guard combined Parachute Rigger (PR) and Aviation Ordnanceman (AO) to create the Aviation Survivalman (ASM) Rating. Some years, the dropout rate for this program has been as high as 80 percent. ASVAB Scores For Air Force Jobs: All 130+ For 2022, How To Choose The Right Military Branch For You, 18 Pros And Cons Of Joining The Coast Guard, medical conditions that are disqualifying, Air Force Nondestructive Inspection: 2A7X2 & 2A732 Career Profile, DPS Military Move: 8 Things You Need To Know, 300+ Military Separation Codes And Their Meanings, Navy Cryptologic Technician Collection (CTR), Army Prime Power Production Specialist (12P MOS). Like Coast Guard members they perform sea-based and land-based rescues, though this portion of their duties is not assigned as frequently. For example, Air Force pararescuemen can be attached to elite units to provide their expertise for various operations. Adding even more pressure during training, instructors treat candidates with a drill sergeant style. Trained to operate in a variety of maritime environments, ASTs are highly conditioned rescue and survival experts, as well as highly capable aviation life support equipment technicians. They are expected to be able to function swimming in heavy seas for up to 30 minutes at a time, and provide first aid, including CPR, while in the ocean. An aquatic segment of training was merged into ASM "A" school in the late 1980s, and full initial rescue swimmer training was completed at the USCG's Elizabeth City training center. The Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School is based out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR TECHs) serve as rescue swimmers. The required monthly physical training test includes push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, a 12-minute crawl swim (500-yard minimum), a 25-yard underwater swim and a 200-yard buddy tow. He graduated from Saint Leo University with his B.A. The program was born out of a 1984 tragedy when the cargo ship Marine Electric, en route from Virginia to Massachusetts sank, in a February storm with 34 crew members on board. It is intended to provide operational guidance for Coast Guard personnel U.S. Air Force Rescue Swimmers are known as pararescuemen. The U.S. Coast Guard utilizes these basic requirements for its initial screening. Additionally, candidates must pass an aircrew-candidate physical and qualify for a "secret" security clearance. Maximizing detection of smuggling vessels in the WHTZ will bolster Coast Guard interdiction efforts. The success of the rescue was credited to the rescue rehearsal carried out on the day before the event, which was also televised worldwide as it happened. DIRECTIVES AFFECTED. For comparison, the attrition rate for United States Navy SEAL selection and training is about 75%[1]. According to the course syllabus, rescue swimmers must have flexibility, strength, endurance and be able to function for 30 minutes in heavy seas. The coastal defense and maritime law enforcement branch has strict physical fitness standards. It includes intense physical fitness, particularly long hours of fitness in a pool. Its a good idea to already workout ready and become an advanced swimmer if you are not so already. Swiss pilot Yves Rossy, the person who had accepted the Webtel.mobi Intercontinental Challenge, had to ditch into the North Atlantic Ocean midway through the 30-mile flight from Morocco to Spain after his wing was destabilized by a large cumulonimbus cloud. Every USCG rating has a minimum ASVAB score needed to qualify for the position. All Rights Reserved, Commercial Aircraft Life Support Equipment Technician. Here are the most commonly asked questions about Coast Guard requirements for service: Related Article Coast Guard Grooming Standards. In 1983, the disaster of the SSMarine Electric spawned a Congressional Inquiry that found the USCG was the only military service unable to deploy a member from an aircraft for search, rescue and recovery, and initiated a legal requirement for the armed force to do so. The training you are seeking is hardcore physical and mental training that will challenge you to your core. They are trained as combatants and paramedics, operating on air, sea, and land, and are considered, along with Air Force combat controllers, among the most elite of the U.S. military's Special Operations forces. Meet the minimum Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) score: VE+AR+MK+MC=210 or VE+AR+MK+AS=210. Rescue Swimmers with the U.S. Coast Guard must have EMT skills, and there are even higher demands for the Coast Guard Air Station in Sitka, Alaska. This is what makes a Rescue Swimmer a part of the Special Operations force of the United States Navy. If you have been motivated by the heroics played live on your television set or movie screens to think about becoming aCoast Guard Rescue Swimmer, be prepared. The rescue took place in extremely dangerous conditions in the North Atlantic, with the downed pilot being located in less than 15 minutes after his ditched entry into the ocean, in an area where the average time for locating a person in the water is four hours. A rescue swimmer saves Tom Cruise's character Maverick in Top Gun. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. All Rights Reserved. [citation needed] Hed originally been in a class with 11 would-be rescue swimmers who all washed out. There's a lot of range in that salary, though, depending on your rank. Your email address will not be published. During his deployments onboard the USS Fort McHenry, he traveled to 23 countries on four continents, sailing roughly 42,000 nautical miles across 30 seas and five oceans. Although, to be considered "fully qualified", they will have to complete the Level II & III syllabus which can take another demanding 24 months. On the day of the rehearsal, the rough-sea state and high winds forced Sterzel and Eloff to exit into the North Atlantic Ocean from the skid of a Bell helicopter at a height of over 40 feet, which causes significant water-entry shock on entry. They go on for Emergency Medical Technician training in Petaluma, California. What was more challenging than the sea state was the night conditions and water current, said Roberts, a Utah native who has served in the Coast Guard for eight years.
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