7 difficult tasks Combat Controllers have to endure in pool training

 

Can a Combat Controller Swim?

*Update*

In this article, I discuss how the PJ and CCT pipelines were different.  They have recently changed how the pipeline is arranged for CCT, and for the PJs, the old style 10 week indoctrination is going away.

They are moving to a more standardized training pipeline, which I'm glad to see, and Combat Controllers, Pararescue, and S/R ( Combat Weather) are all going to train together for four weeks in an event called the Assessment and Selection ,or A & R  course.

Gone are the days of a vague idea of what to expect in the CCT pipeline. Now candidates will have to pass this selection course to move on to training in their respective pipelines.  

From what I've gathered so far, the course doesn't give the physical graduate standards for the course.  They want to move away from a good operator being disqualified for missing the standard by one pull up, or 20 seconds on a fin swim.  

This doesn't mean the selection will be any easier; it just seems they are trying to train smarter and be more streamlined.  

If you've ever researched the way the Australian SAS does their training, this sounds similar.  

You can crush the physical standards, but you will be evaluated, not so much harassed like the old days, and at the end of the A&S course still not be selected.

They are more likely looking at the way you function under stress while being sleep deprived, going without food, and physically exerting yourself.

From what I've researched, after the A & S course, candidates move onto combat dive school, which means they more than likely do the procedures discussed in this article.  It also sounds like it will have an event like Hell Week, which used to be at the beginning of combat control school.

So, now that's out of the way...

Do you want to be a Combat Controller?  Or, are you just curious about what the training's like?

There are lots of questions asked about the training, specifically swimming and dive training.

Are all CCTs combat dive qualified?

Is there a lot of swimming?

Do they try to drown you?

The answer to all three of those questions is, yes.  Well, they don't specifically try to drown you, it just feels like it sometimes.  

I'll try to give you a better understanding of how Combat Controllers train in the water, and how it compares to other  branches of special operators. 

You may not think about water training in the Air Force, but Combat Controllers (CCTs) and Pararescue (PJs)train extensively in the water.  In fact, it's one of the most difficult parts of the training for most of the trainees.

 

CCTs and PJs are very proficient in the water and become qualified combat divers.  Not all special forces are like this.

Combat Dive School: why it's so difficult

To understand why combat control is so difficult, it's important to understand what combat dive is.  If you're familiar with the Navy SEALs and what their training is like, then you have a good idea what Combat Dive school is like.

Being a Combat Diver is what separates certain special operations forces from others in an important way, mainly the washout rates of the training, and the ability to conduct dangerous missions in a very dangerous environment-- the ocean with compressed air or a re breather.

When people are put under stress in the water-- even a small pool-- the discomfort, and ultimately the washout rate increases.

Put weight on my back and work me all day, thrash me on the land, and I'll probably hold up.  Put me in the water, and it's another story.  Nobody can breathe underwater, so staying calm, and playing a mental game with yourself is important in dive training.

Becoming a Combat Diver is not like civilian dive training at your local YMCA.  It's a course that demands extreme attention to detail and comfort in the water.

The ocean is a harsh environment, when you combine that with a combat situation, the margin for error is slim. Combine that with the fast pace of training-- after just weeks of training, your under water conducting training missions-- under the dark ocean,  and the course becomes a very challenging place.

Who attends combat dive school?

Like HALO school, combat dive school is a course open to special operators in different branches.  The Navy, Air Force, and Army all run a combat dive school.  Regardless of the branch, the course requirements are the same.  

These schools are also open to other career fields that aren't considered special ops ( like TACP in the Air Force, or EOD in the Navy), but like HALO school, the waiting list is long and their is no guarantee of getting in.

Even regular individuals from all branches can attend the school, ( like an army infantry soldier etc. , but the odds of getting in are obviously much harder.  

HALO is the same idea.  Only CCT and PJs have the highly sought after jump school listed in the basic pipeline only a few weeks after entering the pipeline . The special Recon guys also attend HALO.  All other special ops teams can go after their initial training is done, provided there is a slot.

Think of the combat dive course like an extra certification for Army Special Forces, Marine Recons, or even Army Rangers to put on their  list of accomplishments and make them more useful in the special ops community.

With CCT, PJs, and the SEALs, combat dive comes STANDARD.  You go to the school whether you want to or not.  Of course, the SEALs have it built into BUD/s during second phase, and as a CCT and PJ trainee, you attended the school at different points in the pipelines.  Now it's after the initial selection and pre dive course, which is discussed below.

To help understand what CCT and PJ trainees go through in the water, I'd actually like to discuss what happens before combat dive school.

CCT on PJs go through a very tough pre dive program known as pre SCUBA.

Even though a lot of people wash out of combat dive school, even special operators, the CCT and PJ trainees have a very high pass rate, and don't often have many issues.

But Why?

CCT and PJ trainees attend a course called pre dive, also know throughout the pipeline as " pre scuba."

Pre scuba used to be THE selection course for Combat Controllers. 

For CCT, this course used be be after graduating CCS, but there's no way around how difficult it is. Even qualified combat controllers fail the course. It almost happened to me.

PRE SCUBA: Water confidence training designed to test an individual's mental strength along with creating total comfort in the water. It is designed to over prepare individuals for the difficult combat dive course.

Pre Scuba is what the Air Force does to prepare CCT and PJs for combat dive school.  It consists mainly of water confidence training ( water con), and it very challenging for even the best of swimmers.  If you're not a good swimmer ( like me) it can be a nightmare.  

As a CCT trainee, the pre scuba course used to be held during advanced skills training ( AST), after graduating Combat Control school.  It was conducted at Hurlburt AFB, near Fort Walton, FL.  

Up to that point, the trainee has been introduced to some of the tasks in the pool, and has done a fair amount of swimming with rocket fins, but the true pass or fail scenario begins in the small pool in Florida.

A lot of the events are exactly the same as the requirements needed to pass the first portion of combat dive school.  Unlike dive school where it's all done in one day as a test, the pre scuba course in a couple of months long.

Below is a list of what is done during the intense pre scuba phase:

Underwaters

Underwaters are just like the name implies.  The trainee swims underwater for 25 meters, touches the crack at the deep end of the pool, ascends, and freestyle swims back to the starting wall.  These are usually done six times and as the course progresses.

The time frames from the start, all the way back to the wall, is above two minutes during the first few weeks, but by the end, you're down to 1 minute and 30 seconds.  For a guy like me, I had no time to recover during the shorter intervals ( even 1:45) , but I got through them.

50 meter underwater swim

The 50 meter underwater swim is something I could never complete on my own, at the college pool.  

note: never try this alone.  The exercises listed in this course can easily cause shallow water blackout, which could lead to death.  Always have someone watch you if you ever practice any of these exercises.

About a month into the course, the day begins with a 50 meter underwater swim.  In the 25 meter pool, you DO NOT get to push off the wall to begin. However on the turn around, you get to kick off the wall. 

As you can imagine, swimming 150 feet underwater is a mind game, but with proper technique, it's not that hard. At this point in training, your body can easily make it 50 meters underwater.

Drown proofing

Another exercise I struggled with before I joined the Air Force, but it became one of the most relaxing events toward the middle of the course because... it's a mind game.

The event is held at the deep end of the pool ( 12 feet) and your hands are strapped together behind your back, while the feet are strapped together, making your limbs useless.

The first part is called bobbing.  You simply bob in the deep end, exhaling as you sink to the bottom.  Then you push off the bottom with enough force to take a breath, and then repeat 10 to 12 times.

After that, in a 4 by 4 foot area, you fill you lungs and float.  I had a hard time with this because I tend to sink.  You float for the required time limit.

Next, you " travel 100 meters.  You look like some kind of sea snake, moving your body like a dolphin, taking breaths along the way.

Once you return, the bobbing continues.  After a few bobs, we performed a front flip, ( which had to be perfect), then a a few more bobs, followed by a perfect back flip.

The last part of the event is the mask retrieval.  You do a few more bobs, then the instructor throws your mask to the bottom of the pool.  You have to maneuver down, grab the mask with you teeth, then bob a few times with the mask in your mouth.  

Knot tying

A large rope was at waist level in the deep end of the pool.  We tread water above the rope, when our name is called we had to swim down and tie a short rope around the large rope using three different knots-- the square knot, half hitch, and something else ( I can't remember the name!)  

The knots had to be perfect, including the tail a certain length.  I re tied a lot of them because the tail wasn't just right.  It's also one of the events I passed out ( from re tying the knots so many times!)

Buddy Breathing

In an attempt to simulate sharing a dive regulator with your swim buddy, this event caused torn shirts, bloodied lips and noses, and felt like pool harassment ( which increased as the weeks progressed) to the full effect.

In the deep end, we paired into teams to share one snorkel.  We passed the snorkel back and forth, holding our breath, while the other person cleared the snorkel ( blowing out the water if it was submerged). Our heads could not come out of the water.

 This wasn't hard at first, but when the instructors came to play, it got interesting.

While the snorkel was passed, an instructor grabbed the trainees, dragging them to the bottom, flipping them, tugging at shirts, hair, or anything they could get their hands on.  It promoted team work, and staying calm under pressure.  Sometimes you were waiting for a breath, but were forced to the bottom of the pool.

Ditch and don

With your fins, mask, deflated dive BCU, and dive weight belt on ( the weight increased up to 20 pounds) we tread water in the deep end of the pool.  When instructed, we swam down to the bottom and took off our gear ( except dive BCU and placed our gear on the bottom of the pool, exactly as instructed-- attention to detail!

The fins were placed first, then the weight belt, and finally the mask neatly on top.  After that, we ascended up and tread water while our gear was inspected.

We had to go back down and put it all back on-- no twisted mask strap-- and tread water, while being inspected.

Like all events, attention to detail is huge-- mask and weightbelt in the perfect position on top of the fins.

          And finally...    tank tread

You may have seen the BUD/s second phase tank tread, and this is the same.  With the dive weight  belt and rocket fins on, with SCUBA tanks on our backs, the requirement was to tread water for 5 minutes.  Our hands had to be in the air, and touching the wall is a disqualification.

There is no way around it.  This event is hard and certainly a gut check, but with long sweeping kicks, and staying calm, it can be done!

These are the main events of pre scuba.  There are physical requirements up to a 6 mile run and 4000 meter pool swim with time limits, along with ocean swims in the Gulf of Mexico, but hopefully this gives a little better understanding of the Combat Control pool sessions BEFORE combat dive school.

I enjoy sharing insights about combat control training and improvement in all areas of life.

Remember, you can live like an operator, even if you never join the military.  Getting in great shape and becoming mentally tough can help you accomplish anything you put your mind to.

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Thanks

Kevin