I left the Army for about 2 hours today and sort of joined the Navy. We took a break from the didactic portion of the Joint Enroute Care Course here at Ft Rucker in Alabama to take a swim test. In a full set of ACUs, a flight vest, and flight helmet we had to swim a lap across the pool. Surprisingly that was easier than I had expected. Our second task was to tread water for two minutes before taking off our
helmets and doing a dead-man's float with the helmet under our stomachs. The helmet provided an amazing amount of flotation. After a 10 minute break I was then back in the water to learn how to inflate a life vest (the kind that sits under the seat of your plane.) We had to inflate the vests while under water because it would be far too easy to attempt this with our heads above water...I had a blast!!!
helmets and doing a dead-man's float with the helmet under our stomachs. The helmet provided an amazing amount of flotation. After a 10 minute break I was then back in the water to learn how to inflate a life vest (the kind that sits under the seat of your plane.) We had to inflate the vests while under water because it would be far too easy to attempt this with our heads above water...I had a blast!!!
We then headed back to the classroom for a few more hours of lecture before heading for some skills training. The skills training is going to be pretty sweet. They have a UH-60 and an HH-60 (two different types of medical helicopters) with a Sim-Man in each. I am really looking forward to what they are going to throw at us. A glimpse at my timeline today:
0515 report to class
0530 lecture begins
0730 report to swim training
0900 brunch
1000 lecture resumes
1230 report to skills training
1800 end of day
Yup, my days are super long. In the long run they all these hours of class and skills lab will be worth it when I am helping to fly our Wounded Warriors out of Iraq.
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