MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – Aviators with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing continually train to ensure preparedness for an emergency over water at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Aviation Survival Training Center aboard MCAS Miramar, Calif.
This potentially life-saving training course must be refreshed every four years by any service member who regularly flies with 3rd MAW aircraft.
“Being in the water, actually doing what they would have to do [in an emergency] produces muscle memory,” said Navy Lt. Logan Scheeler, a naval aerospace operational physiologist, and a Bismarck, N.D., native. “They can go through the procedures and build confidence under water, like an emergency was happening.”
The two-day course starts off training with briefs on first aid, equipment and how to fight sensory illusions and sicknesses caused by flying at high-altitudes.
The following day, aviators are brought into the pool where they practice an array of skills to be prepared for any worst-case scenario. They are refreshed on proper swim techniques while wearing gear, proper helicopter rescue techniques and how to evacuate a submerged aircraft.
“No one skill is most important,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Graf, an instructor for the course and an Oakridge, Tenn., native. “Survival-swimming is just as important as knowing how to egress from a helicopter under water.”
It is important for Marines to be prepared for anything, even if it is not likely to happen. The goal of the Aviation Survival Training Center is to train as realistically as possible to ensure the students benefit from it.
| Date Taken: |
08.28.2012 |
| Date Posted: |
08.29.2012 12:41 |
| Story ID: |
93979 |
| Location: |
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: |
BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA, US |
| Hometown: |
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: |
208 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
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This work, Aviators train for worst-case scenario, by Sgt Melissa Lee, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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