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.
Let's put it this way, Black Berets are Bad A** M***** F*****s. They have to be up with the front-line Army troops directing aircraft to drop ordinance (ex. JDAMs, Paveways, CBUs, Sensor-fused munitions, and other stuff that will ruin your day) which means they could encounter bodies of water. These could be regular Army units, Rangers, Special Forces, SEALs, Force Recon, or others.
Essentially, these guys gotta be on their game or the ordinance intented for the enemy lands in the wrong spot...which could be a BIG problem.
I'm just speculating as a slimy civilian but since most of the world's population lives within 500km of an ocean, waterborne ingress and egress has to be accounted for in military units. That's part of the reason why most of the world's navies are investing heavily in amphibious warfare ships, helicopters, and sealift capability. Most people live close to the sea, 95% of the world's goods get transported by sea, and an increasing amount of food is harvested from the sea. That means being able to operate in those environments is crucial to achieving military objectives.
Good luck!
Billy,
With controllers (otherwise known as FACs), they could find themselves in a situation where they have to cross a half mile wide river to get into position to direct aircraft. If the choices are march 40 miles (20 to a ford, 20 back) or swim a half mile river in 20 minutes, it would sure help to know how to swim.
I worked in a ACS (Air Control Squadron) in the 80's and we interfaced with the FACPs and the FACs on a frequent basis.
Fair enough replies and I am satisfied. But, I wonder when do they start separating the "normal" air base controllers from the advanced combat controllers. In other words, are all controllers trained similarly or do they eventually settle down. I have a swimming friend who is a controller in the Brazilian Air Force. Here they go to a "Sergeant Specialist" school where they are formed either as mechanics, radio operators, electronics, radar, controllers and so forth. Interesting, just as fighter pilots, the controllers in Brazil think of themselves as the "elite" of the Sergeants. Their working hours are different, and they have special transportation and so forth. billy fanstone
Fair enough replies and I am satisfied. But, I wonder when do they start separating the "normal" air base controllers from the advanced combat controllers. In other words, are all controllers trained similarly or do they eventually settle down. I have a swimming friend who is a controller in the Brazilian Air Force. Here they go to a "Sergeant Specialist" school where they are formed either as mechanics, radio operators, electronics, radar, controllers and so forth. Interesting, just as fighter pilots, the controllers in Brazil think of themselves as the "elite" of the Sergeants. Their working hours are different, and they have special transportation and so forth. billy fanstone
Billy,
Two different career fields. Both go to controller school, the CCTs do all the extra physical stuff, to include scuba and advanced swimming.
'Nuf said.
I'm out,
Mike
