Photo By Susan Martin | 170425-N-CM124-039 GREAT LAKES, Ill. (April 25, 2017) Renee Bray, a water survival...... read more read more
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GREAT LAKES (NNS) -- When Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Francisco Carlos joined the Navy seven years ago, he didn't know how to swim.
Today, he is a water survival instructor helping recruits power through their fear of the water so they, too, may go on to graduate from the Navy's only boot camp at Recruit Training Command (RTC).
While thousands of recruits graduate from boot camp annually, they cannot do so until they are able pass the Third Class Swim qualification, something that intends to elude many recruits on a weekly basis.
"If you join the Navy, you're going to be on or near the water. You're going to be on a ship. Sailors belong on ships, ships belong at sea - that's how we operate," said Carlos, who's been an RTC instructor since May 2016.
RTC's Water Survival Division provides recruits with basic survival-at-sea techniques, including lifeboat organization, survival kit contents and usage, and the Third Class Swim qualification. Their training will ensure that they can stay afloat and stay alive without the use of a personal floatation device in open water long enough to be rescued if they were to fall overboard.
Water Survival Instructors are certified experts in swim instruction, in-water rescue, life guarding, and CPR. At RTC, 40 instructors - 30 military personnel and 10 civilians - are on hand to administer the tests during the recruits' first week of training.
For Carlos, the opportunity to become such an instructor was an easy decision.
"When you see a recruit be here for multiple times or weeks or months and they finally get that gratitude of passing their swim test and you had a part of it, it's very rewarding," said Carlos."
Prior to entering the water, recruits first attend a classroom session where instructors give them a basic understanding of what the USS Indianapolis entailed, the history and why the Navy now incorporates survival at sea classes and a Third Class Swim qualification.
On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. Out of the remaining 900 men who were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water, only 316 survived.
There were no required swim qualifications at the time and the Navy has since incorporated the Survival at Sea lecture for the recruits as well as the Third Class Swim qualification to ensure every Sailor knows how to swim or float.
In order to pass the test, recruits are required to jump off a 10-foot tower platform and then swim 50 meters using the breast stroke, freestyle, side crawl or backstroke. They next must be able to do a 5-minute prone float which is requires them to have their face in the water followed by coverall inflation.
"They'll put on a pair of coveralls in a particular way, push off the wall, get into prone float position and then slap air into their coveralls with the understanding that this will help them survive at sea if they were to jump off the side of a ship or abandon ship scenario," said Carlos.
During the testing, instructors are in the water at all times as well as alongside the pool to ensure the recruits' safety.
For those recruits who have a fear of water or doubt their ability to swim or just never have even been in the water, the instructors will conduct a screening process to see where they need additional training.
"There are two words to describe what we teach them: water acclimation. We have to make sure they are comfortable putting their face in the water. We have them do a simple push-up position on the edge of the shallow 3-foot pool and if they can hold it for 10 seconds, they're good to go and move onto the next evolution," said Carlos.
For those who don't do that push-up or don't like getting their face wet, they remain in that three feet section where instructors will start acclimating them to the water.
"I never realized how many recruits have never been in the water or near water or even put their face in the water. We just have to break it down for them to understand they can do this. We push and motivate them so they can get through it," said Carlos.
Recruits who require remedial training will come to the pool daily for additional training. For Carlos and the rest of the instructors, teaching these recruits to relax in the water is the key to their success.
"It's all about helping them feel comfortable and relaxed, because if you're not relaxed, it's hard to move forward," said Renee Bray, an instructor. "I just like working with the recruits and knowing that some of them come in, know absolutely nothing, and we're able to help them move on to the fleet."
As graduation approaches, those recruits who are still having difficulty in passing their test are sent to the Fitness Improvement Division where they attend additional training twice daily at the pool.
"Some of them push it to their limits on their final days before graduation because they have the heart to want to get out of boot camp and feel that pride for their families as well as to get out into the fleet," said Carlos.
After he and other instructors finish the morning session with the remedial swimmers, the recruits already appear to feel more confident in the water than previously.
For Seaman Recruit Aniesa Leveritt, Division 145 who didn't know how to swim, attending the remedial sessions has been exceptionally rewarding.
"I thought I'd be too nervous and allow my anxiety to get to me. Surprisingly, I swam twice the length of the pool today and that's progress. I have to come to the pool five times for instructions and the instructors have been so patient and really helpful. They made me feel more relaxed in the water," said Leveritt. "There were times before when I felt like, 'I don't think I'm going to be able to do this. How am I going to be in the Navy when I don't even know how to swim?' and I didn't think I was going to make it to graduation, but now I have confidence that I'm going to make it."
For those who still cannot pass the test by graduation, they are given an additional 21 days to do so, before they are separated from the Navy.
Carlos strongly recommends incoming recruits to learn how to swim before they arrive. He also makes it a point to stress that he too was a non-swimmer prior to boot camp and draws on his experience to help motivate the recruits.
"BM1 Carlos is an exceptional Water Survival Instructor that brings a level of professionalism to the division that motivates the staff as well as recruits," said Senior Chief Electronics Technician Jamie Brinkley, Water Survival Leading Chief Petty Officer. "He continually raises the bar and increases the proficiency of all our instructors on a daily basis,"
For anyone contemplating coming to RTC as water survival instructor, Carlos points out key factors to finding success.
"It's a different aspect here. We are here early in the morning conducting constant evolutions and training recruits to swim," said Carlos. "Just be ready and be determined. It's a very fulfilling job at the end of the day because you're going to see recruits pass whatever evolution they are in. It's fast paced and you will be busy, but once you see your finished product you're going to have a lot more pride in having helped the recruits."
Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. About 30,000 to 40,000 recruits graduate annually from RTC and begin their Navy careers.
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc/.
| Date Taken: | 05.05.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2018 13:17 |
| Story ID: | 263403 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 141 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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