ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (July 22)--An Aviation Survival Technician student comes up for air during training at the Aviation Technical Training Center in Elizabeth City North Carolina. Aviation Survival Technicians (AST) along with many other duties function operationally as Helicopter Rescue Swimmers and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) Basic. ASTs may find themselves being deployed into a myriad of challenging rescues ranging from hurricanes and cliff rescues, to emergency medical evacuations fromships at sea. USCG photo by Telfair H. Brown