The Day 0 candidates must prove they can be "Air Assault Students" by completing a obstacle course and a two-mile run. The 10 days are broken up into three, three day phases. Air Assault training focuses on the mastery of rappelling techniques and sling load procedures, skills that involve intense concentration and a commitment to safety and preparation. Lastly is Jump Week where the Soldier will complete five jumps at 1,250 feet from a C-130 or C-17 aircraft and land safely.Īir Assault Air Assault School is a 10-day course designed to prepare Soldiers for insertion, evacuation, and pathfinder missions that call for the use of multipurpose transportation and assault helicopters. Tower Week involves Soldiers qualifying on the Swing Lander Trainer (SLT), master the mass exit procedures from the 34-foot tower, gain canopy confidence and learn how to manipulate the parachute from the 250-foot tower. Ground Week builds Airborne skills by giving Soldiers the skills to parachute jump and land safely. The three training weeks are broken up into Ground Week, Tower Week, and Jump Week. The purpose of this training is to qualify the volunteer in the use of the parachute as a means of combat deployment and to develop leadership, self-confidence, and an aggressive spirit through mental and physical conditioning. This program is exclusively designed for MS III Cadets before and after completion of the Cadet Leadership Course (CLC).Īirborne This is a three-week course that teaches Soldiers the techniques involved in parachuting from airplanes and landing safely. Platoon Leader positions have a 3-4 week duration depending on the hosting unit and location. The exercise includes more than 9,000 members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard working together to simulate fighting a war in the Pacific region.Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT) This is an opportunity for Cadets to gain leadership experience by serving as a Platoon Leader for an active duty unit. military working together, is one goal of Exercise Northern Edge 2009. Interoperability, or the different branches of the U.S. "We are always looking ways to improve skills Northern Edge 09 gives us an opportunity to do that." "The training that we are learning here is invaluable," said the SEAL. "We work with the Marine Mountain Warfare School in California and the Army Mountain Warfare School in Vermont so we are all teaching the same skills to our troops," he said. In addition to rope skills like those taught to the SEAL unit, the typical NWTC course also teaches altimeter use, basic knots, land navigation in mountainous terrain, movement on glaciers and snowshoe and ski skills, according to Stacy Griffith, the NWTC executive officer.Īlthough the SEALs didn't do the entire mountaineering course, the NWTC instructors strive to make sure their mountain warfare training is the same as that found in other services and geographic areas, according to Pete Smith, NWTC training and standards officer. "It is essential that USARAK Soldiers learn how to fight, sustain and win in a cold weather environment," said Major Bragg. They accomplish this lofty goal by training platoon and squad-level leaders, who in turn train the USARAK Soldiers in Arctic Light Individual Training. The NWTC is responsible for teaching cold weather and mountaineering skills not only to elite groups like the Navy SEALs, but also to every Soldier in the U.S. "The water was pretty cold and the current was fast," said the SEAL, "but our guys weren't afraid to get in there and go to work."įor the nearly 40 members of the NWTC, this type of training is nothing new. NWTC staff estimated that Phelan Creek, which is fed by Gulkana Glacier, has June water temperatures between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit. The SEALs were transported to the training area in CH-47D Chinook helicopters, flown by Fort Wainwright's Task Force 49, 1-52 Aviation Battalion, B Company. The west-coast based Navy SEAL unit practiced the techniques in Phelan Creek, which is in the Black Rapids training area about 30 miles south of Delta Junction. The NWTC instructors provided demonstrations and hands-on training on how to cross using only a rope in a variety of conditions, including when the river is high-flowing, low-flowing, narrow, wide or cold. "We're happy to have a new asset in our skill set." "The instructors from the NWTC showed us some excellent techniques that our guys will use in the future," a senior SEAL member said. The Army's Northern Warfare Training Center, headquartered at Fort Wainwright, participated in Exercise Northern Edge 2009 here June 17 by instructing a visiting Navy SEAL team on cold-weather river crossing techniques.
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