Better training
Even though Greg was upgraded in a relatively systematic way when he entered the career field, he knows this is a better alternative to on-the-job upgrade training. That’s because when he started in 1994, he was one of eight students to graduate out of a class of 46 — just 17 percent. Which he said was impressive compared to classes of the same era where graduation levels fell to as low as 5 percent.
“The way we’re training now, the guys have a better idea of what they’re getting into than before,” he said. “We’ve developed a smarter way to train with the same ‘gut check.’ ”
For students like 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Don, that made all the difference. He’s seen both training pipelines. When he joined the Air Force in 1995, he was focused on special operations. But the water was his enemy. He failed scuba school on a weight belt swim and was assigned as a crew missile maintainer.
“I liked being a maintainer, but I knew I wanted to be a special operator,” Don said.
So he dedicated himself to another chance and started again in June 2001 with the two-week long orientation course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. For Don, although facing water confidence again was intimidating, the improved prescuba phase had him leaving the pool confident that whatever the tide brought on, he could handle it.
He attributes his success to the new program and appreciates the experience level of the cadre.
"Having these expert veterans here to teach us and share all this knowledge with us is awesome,” he said.
After the water phase, the team is taught and tested on working together to get the job done in the small unit tactics phase. Not only do they hone their basic skills, learned in the first six months, they get more in-depth equipment knowledge. They’re also challenged with realistic situations like having to program a radio in the dark.
It’s a “crawl, walk, run approach” to training. It starts with using blank ammunition. Students learn the ropes of operations along the way. At the end, once students have mastered weapons handling, there’s an end-of-phase, live-fire realistic combat exercise. It’s information they’re sure to apply in the field.
Dropping in
Employment is phase three and teaches the primary ways special operations forces get to work. That includes parachuting — both static line and free fall, scuba diving, land navigation, vehicle and boat.
After they become static-line parachutists, sporting more than 100 pounds of gear on their backs when they hit the ground running, students jump into a more demanding and dangerous skill. The highlight of the phase for most students is military free-fall parachuting. At a four-week course taught at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., students learn how to infiltrate and avoid detection.
The first week of training — called ground week — sends them to Fort Bragg where they become familiar with freefall stabilization in a wind tunnel. They’re also taught basic aircraft procedures and altitude physiology.
Then they head for Yuma’s desert environmental test facility where they learn the intricacies of high-altitude, low-opening missions. “High altitude” refers to being up to 18,000 feet above the ground as they exit the aircraft. “Low-opening” means students freefall until they deploy their chutes at about 3,500 feet. During high-altitude, high-opening missions both exit and deployment altitudes are high, and a special parachute lets them maneuver more than 50 miles as they quietly float into an area.
It’s an adrenaline-rich phase that reminds students of environments and challenges they may face at their units. Day or night, regardless of weather conditions, they practice and master using infiltration options while continuing to hone their air traffic control skills.
Article Courtesy of Airman's Magazine
