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Guardsmen from the 141st Operations Group took to the choppy waters of Liberty Lake to accomplish their biannual water survival training in early September. The training was coordinated by the 141st Operations Group, the 22nd Training Squadron and the 36th Rescue Squadron from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) specialists from the 22nd TRS led the training with the assistance of the 36th RQS and one of their Bell UH-1N Iroquois “Huey” helicopters to provide water survival training as close to real-world scenarios as possible.
“The purpose of the training is to make sure that every warfighter is prepared to learn how to survive in any condition in the water,” said Staff Sergeant Michael Salvaggio, a SERE specialist with the 22nd TRS. “Trainees are taught everything on how to exit the aircraft to getting hoisted and rescued and getting out.”
The morning consisted of refresher training familiarizing Airmen with survival kits and how to get into quick donning equipment and life preservers. Lessons on how to get into the life rafts and set up the raft canopies followed.
The Airmen were then ferried out to the middle of the lake via pontoon boat and after waiting for the sign to go, were dropped into the water to wait for the “Huey” to hoist them out, simulating a real-life water rescue.
“The training environment in a pool is hard to wrap your head around,” said Salvaggio. “When you’re out being rescued by live helicopter it’s still a training environment but it’s also real. Even though this isn’t a real situation where you’re actually stranded there is a live helicopter picking you up. You have to do everything right or you’re putting everybody else’s life at risk as well.”
Water survival refresher training courses can be completed at the pool on Fairchild, but the opportunity to build on as-close-to-real-life experiences and apply the skills taught prove to be the most beneficial, said the SERE specialists.
The Airmen were able to capitalize on this unique training and were able to learn the ins and outs of water survival by experiencing realistic scenarios in open water.
“Most of it is confidence,” said Staff Sergeant Wesley Ward, SERE specialist from the 22nd Training Squadron. “It gives them that actual experience; giving them that open environment where they have to think for themselves and remember what they did is definitely a benefit for them.”
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2020 17:10 |
| Story ID: | 384324 |
| Location: | LIBERTY LAKE , WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 141st Operations Group trains in open water, by TSgt Rose M Lust, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
