What does a rescue swimmer do in the Navy?
About When lives are on the line, Navy Aviation Rescue Swimmers (AIRRs) are exceptionally adept at answering the call. These brave men and women embody the courage of America’s Navy – readily going into harm’s way to complete their rescue missions in some of the most extreme environments imaginable.
What skills do you need to be a rescue swimmer?
Rescue swimmers must have flexibility, strength, endurance, and be able to function for 30 minutes in heavy seas. It is obviously far and above the normal lifeguard course; you're not just treading water, you're expected to be able to hold your breath, and perform challenging tasks.
Can a female become a rescue swimmer?
Women are now allowed to become rescue swimmers (since January 1, 2016). Women must meet the same physical, endurance, and performance standards as men in order to earn a qualification as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. The first female US Navy rescue swimmer was Catherine Elliott (Rizzo), HMC (AC) USN Ret.
What risks do rescue swimmers have to take?
But despite all the training, rescue swimmers sometimes have to deal with unpredictable risks. Flythe recalls a rescue swimmer in Alaska, for example, who arrived at the scene of an aircraft crash, and was confronted by a bear looking for a quick meal.
How hard is it to be a rescue swimmer?
Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers represent one of the most thrilling and challenging roles in the U.S. Coast Guard. The specialists have advanced through incredibly difficult training and testing in order to achieve the rank of an Aviation Survival Technician (AST)/Helicopter Rescue team member.
What does it take to be a rescue swimmer?
Standards for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers The required monthly physical training fitness regimen includes a 12-minute crawl swim of 500 yards or longer, a 25-yard underwater swim, and a 200-yard buddy tow. Those are in addition to performing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, just like other military fitness tests.
How much do Coast Guard rescue swimmers make?
Salary Ranges for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers The salaries of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers in the US range from $18,477 to $485,361 , with a median salary of $88,722 . The middle 57% of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers makes between $88,727 and $220,646, with the top 86% making $485,361.
What does a Navy rescue swimmer do?
Saving the crew of downed aircraft, people aboard stranded or capsized vessels at sea, or hikers and mountain climbers in danger. Rescuing civilians during natural disasters in collaboration with other forces such as the Coast Guard. Delivering aid and supplies to other countries in humanitarian operations.
How often do rescue swimmers go out?
The attrition rate in some years has been as high as 85%, although the 10-year average is just over 73%. Prospective U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers are physically conditioned to meet high physical fitness standards. About half of prospective candidates make it to AST "A" School.
How high do rescue swimmers jump from?
10 to 15 feetFrom the time that they jump from the copter into the water — ideally, from a height of 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters) — rescue swimmers also have to work against the clock, because the aircraft only has a limited amount of fuel, and has to keep enough in the tank to get back to land.
Are Coast Guard rescue swimmers Special Forces?
The US Coast Guard's Special Operations are known as Rescue Swimmers. The Coast Guard's rescue swimmers are the brave young men and women who risk their own life to save others.
Are Coast Guard rescue swimmers real?
It is one of the toughest U.S. military trainings, with just 75-100 trainees attending each year. ASTs are trained to save lives in the harshest of conditions from hurricanes and cliff rescues to emergency medical evacuations at sea.
Can females be Coast Guard rescue swimmers?
After much considerable thought, the Coast Guard decided any physical fitness standards would be both “mission specific” and gender blind; meaning women who possessed the strength and stamina were as eligible as men to become rescue swimmers. It was an historic moment for the Coast Guard.
How hard is it to be a rescue swimmer in the Navy?
The training is some of the most grueling in our military. When you arrive at Navy SAR or USCG Rescue Swimmer School, you will be placed in a stressful environment and expected to excel in military education, close-quarter living, teamwork and physical fitness tests (PFT).
How much do Navy rescue swimmers make?
United States Navy Rescue Swimmers earn $57,000 annually, or $27 per hour, which is 13% higher than the national average for all Rescue Swimmers at $50,000 annually and 15% lower than the national salary average for all working Americans.
Are Navy rescue swimmers Special Forces?
Navy AIRRs are members of the Naval Special Operations (NSO) community, comprising men and women who take on the most impossible missions and the most elusive objectives. As an Aviation Rescue Swimmer, you will be part of a tightly knit group, dedicated to being the top emergency response unit in the world.
How do you become a civilian rescue swimmer?
In general, however, you typically need CPR and first aid training to become a rescue swimmer, which you can gain from the Red Cross or a similar organization. Rescue swimmers are often required to complete bloodborne pathogen training prior to beginning work.
How long does it take to become a Coast Guard rescue swimmer?
To qualify for this role, the roughly 75 candidates a year must make it through an 18-week training program at the swimmer school in Elizabeth City, North Carolina—a place where the graduation rate hovers at 50 percent.
How many USCG rescue swimmers have died?
Related: COAST GUARD BOOT CAMP: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW Tragically, 11 died, but over 100 survived. They jump into the water from helicopters or planes and then swim into burning ships or complicated, underwater cave systems.
Are Navy rescue swimmers Special Forces?
Navy AIRRs are members of the Naval Special Operations (NSO) community, comprising men and women who take on the most impossible missions and the most elusive objectives. As an Aviation Rescue Swimmer, you will be part of a tightly knit group, dedicated to being the top emergency response unit in the world.
What are Coast Guard rescue swimmers?
Officially known as Aviation Survival Technicians, the primary mission of rescue swimmers is to conduct rescues at sea, medical evacuations, and tr...
Where is their training conducted?
Rescue swimmer school is conducted at the Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
How much do they make?
U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers make about $38,000 per year, which averages out to around $18 per hour.
How many rescue swimmers are there?
According to official sources, it's estimated that there are around 350 Coast Guard rescue swimmers currently serving.
How hard is it to become an AST?
Out of the 75 - 100 Coast Guard personnel that attend training, only around 40 - 50 will graduate and become rescue swimmers. In rare cases, the at...
What is a rescue swimmer?
A rescue swimmer dives out of a helicopter. Image: Flickr. Each branch of the military, including the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army, have some form of “rescue swimmer”. Most often, they are referred to as “Search and rescue swimmers” (or SARs), and their primary goal is to rescue downed aviators.
What is the job of a Coast Guard rescue swimmer?
The preparation and maintenance of emergency flotation devices (fancy word for rafts) Storage and handling of aviation ordnance and pyrotechnic devices. Other administrative duties. Becoming a U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer is considered by many one of the hardest things one can do in the US military.
How much do rescue swimmers make?
According to CareerBliss, U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers make about $38,000 per year. It averages to about $18 per hour. According to the same source, the pay is approximately 27 percent lower than the national average for rescue swimmers.
Where do rescue swimmers go to school?
Upon graduation, candidates must attend seven weeks of training at the Coast Guard Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) School in Petaluma, California. Rescue Swimmers with the U.S. Coast Guard must have EMT skills, and there are even higher demands for the Coast Guard Air Station in Sitka, Alaska. In addition to EMT training, ASTs are required ...
How many people are on the Coast Guard Rescue Team?
According to the U.S. Coast Guard reports, approximately 350 individuals are currently part of the Coast Guard Rescue Team, or Aviation Survival Technicians. An approximate 75-100 attend training for the team each year and some progress to become specialists of the unit.
Where is the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School?
Image: Wikimedia. The Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School is based out of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Schooling for an opportunity as one of the team members lasts 24 weeks. It includes intense physical fitness, particularly long hours of fitness in a pool.
Which branch of the military has rescue swimmers?
The U.S. Coast Guard is not the only branch of the U.S. Military that has its own rescue swimmers. In fact, the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force also have their own rescue teams. U.S. Air Force Rescue Swimmers are known as pararescuemen.
What does it mean to be a rescue swimmer?
That means that in addition to being a highly conditioned athlete and a skilled swimmer, a rescue swimmer also has to be part psychologist, and understand how to deal with someone paralyzed by panic in an unfamiliar, frightening situation.
What was the rescue swimmer program?
The Coast Guard's rescue swimmer program was created after the 1983 Marine Electric tragedy, in which a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter team attempted to rescue 34 crew members of the ship the Marine Electric that capsized during a winter storm off the coast of Virginia. By the time the rescue team arrived on ...
How tall do rescue swimmers jump?
From the time that they jump from the copter into the water — ideally, from a height of 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters) — rescue swimmers also have to work against the clock, because the aircraft only has a limited amount of fuel, and has to keep enough in the tank to get back to land.
Why was Flythe trained by the Navy?
Navy because the Coast Guard hadn't yet started its own school, says that the Coast Guard rescue swimmers' function is different from their Navy counterparts, whose job primarily is to rescue well-trained pilots who've crashed in the water.
Where did the Coast Guard train rescue swimmers?
Flythe, one of the Coast Guard's initial group of rescue swimmers, later ran rescue swimmer training at the service's facility in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, ...
Can rescue swimmers let go of someone?
Unlike a lifeguard in a pool, rescue swimmers can't let go of someone, no matter what. "If he gets away from me, it's easy to lose contact," Flythe explains. Welcome to the hazardous, high-pressure world of Coast Guard rescue swimmers, who are trained to jump from helicopters into the water to save lives. As the service's website notes, they're key ...
What is the training required for rescue swimmers?
Rescue swimmers need to be able to provide basic life support for whoever they may be rescuing, of course, and their training will include emergency medical training (EMT) course. But it's not the standard EMT training; it's for rescues to be conducted in the open seas under extreme conditions.
Where do rescue swimmers go to school?
And as part of their training, candidates must complete a four-week emergency medical training course at the Coast Guard EMT school in Petaluma, California.
How long is the rescue swimmer training course?
The first six weeks of the four-month course is loaded with rescue swimmer training.
What are the requirements for Coast Guard rescue swimmers?
Requirements for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Rescue swimmers must have flexibility, strength, endurance, and be able to function for 30 minutes in heavy seas. It is obviously far and above the normal lifeguard course; you're not just treading water, you're expected to be able to hold your breath, and perform challenging tasks.
How many students go to Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School?
Roughly 75 to 100 students go through 24 weeks of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer school in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and just over half of them complete the course successfully. Some years, the dropout rate for this program has been as high as 80 percent.
How many yards does a military swim?
The required monthly physical training fitness regimen includes a 12-minute crawl swim of 500 yards or longer, a 25-yard underwater swim, and a 200-yard buddy tow. Those are in addition to performing push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, just like other military fitness tests.
Do you have to take a test before you graduate from a rescue school?
Finally, before graduating, candidates are required to pass a test involving multiple rescue scenarios.
What is it like to attend Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School?
The Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School is based in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and trains rescue swimmers for the Coast Guard. The training period for the opportunity to become a member of the team is 24 weeks long.
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Overview
Rescue swimmer is a designation given to rescue specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. Rescue swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the land, or in the air. This highly specialized position is extremely challenging.
United States
Arguably the most widely recognized team of rescue-swimmer operators, the elite United States Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician (AST)/Helicopter Rescue Swimmer team is called upon to respond in the most extreme rescue situations. High seas, medical evacuations, downed aviators, sinking vessels, and hurricanes are some of the deadly scenarios that Coast Guard rescue swi…
Canada
Royal Canadian Air Force Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR TECHs) serve as rescue swimmers. They are military aircrew who deploy from rotary or fixed-wing aircraft in any environment or climatic condition. They will locate and penetrate the site, then treat and evacuate casualties.
Qualified SAR TECHs have opportunities for advanced training and promotion. …
Denmark
Most rescue swimmers in Denmark are Danish Air Force personnel from the Danish Transport and Rescue Squadron (Squadron 722 or in Danish Eskadrille 722), and operate from AgustaWestland EH101 helicopters. These rescue swimmers have to be fully qualified as helicopter technicians before they start a 4-week course at the Danish Frogman Corps, followed by a 2-week first aid/PHTLS course.
Japan
In Japan, air-sea rescue operations are mainly conducted by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF).
In the JCG, divers (潜水士, Sensui-shi) have been conducting public safety diving. There are now two additional categories of rescue-swimming specialists: mob…
Rescue swimmers in the media
The release of the 2006 motion picture The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, introduced viewers to this small group of elite rescue workers.
A rescue swimmer saves Tom Cruise's character Maverick in Top Gun. The rescue swimmer's name is John Baker, the name of a former Navy SAR School Instructor at NAS North Island in the early 1980s.
See also
• Aircrew (Flight crew)
Bibliography
• Martha J. Laguardia-Kotite, Tom Ridge. So Others May Live: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers Saving Lives, Defying Death. The Lyons Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-59921-159-6
• Shawn Lansing. The Marine Electric tragedy: So others may live. Coast Guard Compass - Official blog of U.S. Coast Guard, Monday, February 13, 2012.