How the Combat Control pipeline used to be different than Pararescue

*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 ( Special Recon) 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, and 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 be evaluated, not so much harassed like the old days, and at the end of the course 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.

Combat Control and Pararescue what's the difference?

Combat Control and Pararescue.  

The elite warriors of the Air Force. 

Both of these warriors have long, extensive technical training.  Each one has an impressive training pipeline that includes Army Airborne, SERE, Combat Dive, and HALO courses during almost two years of training. 

 Besides the obvious, there is one key difference I'd like to share about the training style of these two units.

It's something I didn't know when I joined the Air Force, but I think it's an important detail often overlooked.

Some people may have a hard time deciding which one of these units to sign up for, and others may just be curious about the differences in the training, so I'm gonna try to give a little insight on my experience.

When I signed up for the Air Force, I knew I wanted to be a special operator.  I wanted to be challenged, and have a job that had an impact on the world.  I knew I wanted to be in the special operator community.

After I decided on the Air Force, I knew I had two options, but I decided on Combat Control, ultimately because of the air traffic skills.  I had a bit of a background in aviation, so it helped my decision.

Once I began the training, I realized that I got lucky because the Combat Control training was changed a few years before.  

Combat Controllers and Pararescuemen are both combat dive qualified, and go through a challenging pre dive course known as pre scuba in the pipeline; however some changes were made about when CCT attended pre dive and dive school. 

When I arrived for Combat Control training, I thought I was going through a 10 week indoctrination ( selection course) focused on pre scuba.  It's 10 weeks of training in an indoor pool with a very high wash out rate.  It's supposed to prepare you for Combat Dive school, but it's used as a selection course to weed out  candidates in the beginning.

Unless you are an extremely talented swimmer ( I'm not) the odds of making it through the first 10 weeks are very slim.  Even a strong swimmer can quit or fail in the harsh environment.

In the past ( early 2000's) the key difference between Combat Control and Pararescue training was more than their job description; it was what order you attended the schools in the pipelines, specifically combat dive and pre scuba.  CCT became critically undermanned in the past.  In an effort to get more qualified Combat Controllers out in the field, a new approach was created.

While the Pararescue ( PJ) candidates focus on to extensive medical training, creating warriors who save other warriors out on the battlefield, making them hard core battle field medics. Combat Controllers ( CCT) focus on to the highly technical skill of air traffic control, also giving them the ability to save their team's ass by calling in airstrikes.  The ability to communicate with aircraft, makes then a highly sought after warrior on any special ops mission.

These are the obvious differences, but there used to be another subtle difference.  

Combat Control is not as popular as Pararescue.  Although Pararescue is not as popular as the SEALs,  it gets more candidates than Combat Control.  

For a long time, ( pre 2005) the Combat Controllers trainees went through the same indoctrination course with Pararescuemen, leaving the career field critically under manned.  There would be a large group of Pararescue candidates in the pool with a few Combat Controllers sprinkled in.

To help with this problem, Combat Control changed the style of the pipeline, hoping to help get more Combat Controllers out in the field.  

Although the training became a bit different, in the end, the same challenges and qualifications were met.  Combat Controllers still went through pre scuba and combat dive school, but not until later in the pipeline.

In the Pararescue pipeline, the big obstacle in the first 10 weeks of training.  Right out of basic training, you are immersed into a situation that is made to break most men.  Out of 70 or 80 candidates, it wasn't uncommon for 10 or 15 guys to be left.  Once you make through that phase, you move onto Combat Dive well prepared for the challenges.  The drown proofing, 50 meter under water swim, and overall comfort in the water is second nature because of the high standards endured for 10 weeks.

Combat Control was different, but it was still very demanding, with the same amount of wash outs.

Combat Control used the opposite style of training, which is great for guys like me.  Swimming is not my strong suit, but I do great with  running and calisthenics.  

The course tries to build you up for a while, but tears you down in the end-- a rare approach in special ops training .

  There was an orientation course in the beginning ( although orientation is a deceiving word)  it wasn't really a selection course, although it was a kick in the groin! Many guys didn't make it past this. Guys got injured or harassed until they left.

The key difference in CCT was they weren't really trying to get rid of you in the beginning; that came later.  You did events that sucked, but as long as you could gut through it, you'd be there at the end of the orientation and air traffic control school. 

Starting from day one, you did go to the pool, but you were slowly introduced to the pre scuba techniques, not forced to master them and pass a test. ( I never did an official pass or fail 50 meter swim until I was in the pre scuba phase, after I was awarded the scarlet beret.)  I did one in orientation that ended with me passing out.  The instructors left me alone. The guys that popped were smoked.

We still did tons of swim tests -- like the 1500 meter swim with fins-- but as long as you got the technique down, it wasn't hard to make the time under 32 minutes.  I was able to do it under 30 minutes, and I am a rock in the water without fins, and slightly below average wearing rocket fins.   

In Combat Control, air traffic control school has dual purpose.  Of course, you learn the basics of air traffic in a 15 week course.  Before the learning begins each day, trainees are working out in the morning getting into the best shape of their lives.  The intensity is very high-- being tested each morning before 8 hours of academic work during the pass/fail academic course.  Again, they aren't trying to get you to quit, but they have no problem getting rid of you if you are becoming a slacker, or just someone who doesn't fit into the community.

Combat Control School was the new selection course.

Although it's not stated in the course curriculum, Combat Control school is the selection phase. Sure, it's where you learn the core skill of a CCT, but make no mistake, it's other purpose is for selection.

So, while Pararescue trainees go through hell, right out of basic training, they get the initial gut check out of the way.

After they get through the first ten weeks, they move onto Combat Dive and HALO.  After that, is paramedic training and the Pararescue apprentice course.

The Pararescue pipeline continues to be difficult, but you get the chance to prove yourself in the beginning, and focus on the core training without a big selection process hanging over your head.

In CCT, pre dive, and dive school is put off until the end of the pipeline, after making it through combat control school and getting your beret.  

You go through the difficult swim portion as a combat controller, and not just a trainee off the street.

Unfortunately, CCT trainees had the burden of knowing a difficult selection, with a hell week at the beginning, waits for them about a year into training during combat control school. 

 For me, this was the better style of training, but for others it may be different.

How the differences apply to success

As I stated earlier, I'm not naturally good in the water, but to be a CCT or a PJ, you must be comfortable in the water as a combat diver.  There is no way around it.

If you don't have much experience in the water, or suck at swimming, and you want to be a PJ... Good luck! It was done by many guys.

At the same time, if you were not dead set on being a combat medic and still wanted to be a special operator in the Air Force and become combat dive qualified - and obtain that cool dive badge - combat control seemed to be a good route to take.  You still learned a valuable technical skill and do the same schools as a PJ.

This doesn't mean it's easier.

Combat Control school is a brutal selection phase that kicks off with a hell week ( 5 days and nights with no sleep), but you are not tested in the water much.  It's a real slap in the face to try and be weeded out a year into the training.  

I had an instructor during this school ( who went through the old style indoctrination with the PJs) and he said this three month selection course was harder.  It's longer and it tears your body down much more.

After combat control school, you still have pre dive, and dive school to get through ( still very tough) but they are not trying to force you to quit.  You have a beret and are more valuable to them.

I still had a hard time with it, but if it was a selection course, I probably wouldn't have made it.

A basic summary:

CCT hand Pararescue are both Air Force special operations forces with long training pipelines, and high washout rates.  They are both combat dive certified and go through a very difficult phase called pre scuba.

Pararescue trainees attended the pre scuba course right out of basic training, and it was used as a selection for the entire course.

The benefit to this style of training is after 10 weeks, you have taken the first step to prove you are worth training to be a PJ.  

You can focus on learning the skills, although guys still wash out further into training.  There may not have been the same pressure of proving you want to be there. 

You also get the difficult dive school out of the way earlier in training.  You also attend HALO earlier. 

As a CCT trainee, you didn't do pre scuba right away, but you went over the techniques, starting in the orientation course.  

The true selection course was combat control school, which was 3 months of fast paced training that included hell week.  You waited almost a year to attend this course, and it hangs over your head in the back of your mind.

After receiving the beret at combat control school, you moved onto pre scuba ( as an instructional course, but still very difficult) and dive school followed 

Hopefully this helps people understand some differences in the training back then 

Which one seems harder?  Which one would you rather do?  

Let me know in the comments below!