Clemson University ROTC cadets sink and swim in combat water survival test

Photo By Ken Scar | Clemson University Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets tread water as their graders look on during one of the events in the Combat Water Survival Test in the Fike Athletic Center Jan. 29, 2015. In this portion of the CWST, cadets have to tread water for five minutes without touching the sides or bottom of the pool. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ken Scar)  

CLEMSON, SC, UNITED STATES

01.29.2015

Story by Sgt. Ken Scar    

108th Training Command- Initial Entry Training

CLEMSON, S.C. - More than 60 future Army Reserve, Guard and active duty officers in the Clemson University Reserve Officer Training Corps “Fighting Tigers Battalion” were tested on their stamina and personal courage with the Combat Water Survival Test (CWST) in the Fike Recreation Center pool Jan. 29.

“This is my favorite exercise that we do,” said cadet Sara Fedyschyn, a senior from Kings Mountain, North Carolina, who is enrolled in the Simultaneous Membership Program, in which she participates in both Army Reserve training and ROTC at the same time. Fedyschyn and her fellow seniors were conducting the drills as a part of their leadership training.

“This is good stuff! This kind of training teaches me a lot,” said Dwaney Mills, an Army Reserve cadet from Rock Hill, South Carolina, studying criminal justice, adding that he fully expects to apply the lessons learned during these ROTC training exercises to his Army Reserve unit once he graduates.

Mills spent the afternoon alongside a few dozen of his fellow cadets being submerged, dunked, blindfolded and generally tormented by Fedyschyn and the seniors – but all for a good reason.

The CWST is designed to evaluate each cadet’s stamina in water and their ability to complete three stations while wearing a uniform. Passing the events helps ensure cadets have the fundamental water survival skills necessary to lead soldiers in a hostile environment where there’s water.

First, the cadets had to swim laps for 10 minutes without touching the sides or bottom of the pool. After a five-minute break, they have to tread water for five minutes under the same rules. The pool’s lap lanes looked like glass pans full of tadpoles as the cadets bobbed and swam laps en masse, keeping themselves afloat and away from the sides by any means possible.

Next came the three events with full gear on:

In the “equipment ditch,” cadets had to wear a tactical vest and hold an M16 rifle while stepping backward into the water. They are required to submerge completely and remove the vest and weapon before resurfacing. This was Fedychyn’s station, where she would calmly brief each cadet while holding a line attached to their M16, which made it easy to retrieve from the bottom of the pool. She looked like a fisherman using the strangest bait ever as each cadet launched backward into the water.

The next event was a 15-meter swim carrying an M16 without touching the sides or bottom of the pool. The senior graders would walk alongside the swimmers as the kicked sideways through the water, holding the weapon up with one arm.

The last event was the five-meter drop, widely considered the most nerve-wracking. For this part of the CWST, cadets are blindfolded and guided off a five-meter diving board carrying an M-16. In order to pass, the cadet must keep hold of the weapon upon hitting the water, take off the blindfold and return to the side of the pool with the weapon still in hand.

Some of the cadets were more gung-ho about this exercise than others, but they all stepped off and hit the water like a depth charge, some of them plunging deep enough to touch the Clemson Tiger paw painted on the bottom of the pool.

Completing each of the tasks in the CWST is a matter of handling anxiety without panicking, a vital skill for officers in the armed forces.

“CWST is one of the ways we instill Army values in our cadets, by allowing them to experience something that might be fearful to them,” said Lt. Col. James D. Mullinax, professor of military science and officer in charge of the Clemson ROTC. “It enhances their courage in a controlled environment, so they know what they can handle and won’t be as afraid in an unsure environment. This will make them better leaders of the Army's most valuable resource, our Soldiers.”

• Date Taken: 01.29.2015
• Date Posted: 01.31.2015 15:29
• Story ID: 153230
• Location: CLEMSON, SC, US
• Hometown: CLEMSON, SC, US
• Hometown: EAST GREENWICH, RI, US
• Hometown: HONOLULU, HI, US
• Hometown: KINGS MOUNTAIN, NC, US
• Hometown: SWANSEA, SC, US