Thank you in advance for your advice. My son has joined the Air Force, though he has not gone to Basic yet. He was approved for a very challenging career known as a TACP (Please see Link - www.globalsecurity.org/.../tacp.htm )
One of the criteria for getting into this particular specialty was to pass the NON-SWIMMING portions of the PAST (Physical Ability Stamina Test - www.afsoc.af.mil/.../pastcriteria.asp ). He was approached today and told that an even more critical need for the USAF was for Combat Controllers, but he would need to also pass the 2 swimming portions of the PAST (see link above, please). Now, he's in great shape, and he can swim like a regular person can swim, but he's NEVER been a swimmer, per se. The question I have is, what should he do in order to prepare to pass the 2 swimming tests:
1) 2 x 20 Meter Underwater Swim: Provide the member 3-minutes of rest between underwaters. If members surface or break the water surface during any portion of the swim, the test will be stopped and considered a failure.
2) 500 Meter Surface Swim (max. time limit 14 minutes for CCT/SOWT; max. time limit 11 minutes 30 seconds for PJ): This swim is conducted using the freestyle, breaststroke or sidestroke. The swim is continuous (non-stop). If a member stops any time during the swim, the test will be stopped and considered a failure for the entire PAST.
Sorry for the long message. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Sir,
First off, congrats on raising your son the way you did. His desire to serve his country is appreciated.
I am an active-duty AF guy and have worked for a number of years with TACPs, CCTs, and PJs. They even let me work out with them a few times in the pool, which is saying something.
I want to make sure your son is aware that the PAST swimming requirements are the bare minimums. By the end of his training (either in CCT or PJ), he will be required to swim a 50yard underwater. (He'll only have to do this once during training.) Also, he'll work up to I think 4000 yards and if you search the internet and find times that seem kinda quick, know that those times include fins and mask (it's a special side-stroke-like stroke that he'll learn in the indoc course. Check out specialtactics.com for the most up-to-date info from actual special tactics personnel.)
That being said, getting him into good swimming condition should be his top priority. Many folks have made it through those schools as "decent" runners, but the same cannot be said about being just a decent swimmer.
Some good practices for him:
Pick a set, say 10 x 50 in a short pool, but get out of the pool at the "far" end and do 10 (or 20 or 30, build up) push-ups and IMMEDIATELY dive back in and swim another length, get out and do 10 (and up) flutter kicks.
At indoc, this same drill will be done, but the "swims" will be 25y underwaters.
That's just an example of a workout he can begin working on now. The main point is for him to be comfortable in the water. A lot of guys I talked to (including some who didn't make it through indoc) stated that it was their being uncomfortable in the water that did them in. This mostly during periods where the instructors will "helpfully" simulate waves and/or personnel who maybe don't want to be helped. This will include being pulled under, having your mask taken off, those sorts of things.
Another "fun" drill is water confidence. Tread water in the deep end, then let yourself sink to the bottom, kick off, surface and breathe, and repeat. He'll have to do several minutes of this, with his hands and feet velcro'd (hands behind back). The trick to this is to be comfortable letting all your breath out (understanding that your lungs will be okay) so that you can sink properly. He'll also have to swim a certain length (can't remember...400? 1000 yards?) with his hands and feet velcro'd. Again, being comfortable in the water is the 'trick.'
He'll need to be prepared for other things as well, like pull-ups AND chin-ups (there's a diff) as well as lots of running, but in my experience, that was less of a problem than water confidence.
Also, in the last few years there have been changes to CCT versus PJ training...as I understand it, CCT candidates have to do the same swim requirements, but have longer to work up to them (consult the website for that).
Also, understand that TACP is just as hard-core, awesome and bad-a$$ as CCT and PJ. Only thing is, you'll never get guys in these three career fields to agree with that statement!
Any other questions, feel free to email me.
Aim high!
Sir,
First off, congrats on raising your son the way you did. His desire to serve his country is appreciated.
I am an active-duty AF guy and have worked for a number of years with TACPs, CCTs, and PJs. They even let me work out with them a few times in the pool, which is saying something.
I want to make sure your son is aware that the PAST swimming requirements are the bare minimums. By the end of his training (either in CCT or PJ), he will be required to swim a 50yard underwater. (He'll only have to do this once during training.) Also, he'll work up to I think 4000 yards and if you search the internet and find times that seem kinda quick, know that those times include fins and mask (it's a special side-stroke-like stroke that he'll learn in the indoc course. Check out specialtactics.com for the most up-to-date info from actual special tactics personnel.)
That being said, getting him into good swimming condition should be his top priority. Many folks have made it through those schools as "decent" runners, but the same cannot be said about being just a decent swimmer.
Some good practices for him:
Pick a set, say 10 x 50 in a short pool, but get out of the pool at the "far" end and do 10 (or 20 or 30, build up) push-ups and IMMEDIATELY dive back in and swim another length, get out and do 10 (and up) flutter kicks.
At indoc, this same drill will be done, but the "swims" will be 25y underwaters.
That's just an example of a workout he can begin working on now. The main point is for him to be comfortable in the water. A lot of guys I talked to (including some who didn't make it through indoc) stated that it was their being uncomfortable in the water that did them in. This mostly during periods where the instructors will "helpfully" simulate waves and/or personnel who maybe don't want to be helped. This will include being pulled under, having your mask taken off, those sorts of things.
Another "fun" drill is water confidence. Tread water in the deep end, then let yourself sink to the bottom, kick off, surface and breathe, and repeat. He'll have to do several minutes of this, with his hands and feet velcro'd (hands behind back). The trick to this is to be comfortable letting all your breath out (understanding that your lungs will be okay) so that you can sink properly. He'll also have to swim a certain length (can't remember...400? 1000 yards?) with his hands and feet velcro'd. Again, being comfortable in the water is the 'trick.'
He'll need to be prepared for other things as well, like pull-ups AND chin-ups (there's a diff) as well as lots of running, but in my experience, that was less of a problem than water confidence.
Also, in the last few years there have been changes to CCT versus PJ training...as I understand it, CCT candidates have to do the same swim requirements, but have longer to work up to them (consult the website for that).
Also, understand that TACP is just as hard-core, awesome and bad-a$$ as CCT and PJ. Only thing is, you'll never get guys in these three career fields to agree with that statement!
Any other questions, feel free to email me.
Aim high!
