Local pilots jump into new water training

  • Published
  • By TSgt Shawn David McCowan
  • 301st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
NAS FORT WORTH JRB, TEXAS --  Pilots from the 301st Fighter Wing's 457th Fighter Squadron completed their requirement for water survival training here July 11. But for the first time ever, the training included real water extraction from Lake Worth using HH-60 helicopters from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
Prior to this training event, pilots were required to attend water extraction training every three years, which commonly took place in a classroom and around a swimming pool. Lt. Col. Lane Beene, Assistant Director of Operations for the 457th Fighter Squadron, was overall coordinator for this event. He stated there was an advantage to more realism in some areas of their training.
"There was nothing technically wrong with training around a pool. Our concern was that our people deploy more and more often, and we wanted them to get the highest quality and most realistic training we could manage. With the high tempo of operations we are living with, I think realism like this makes our pilots safer if they had to deal with the real thing," said Colonel Beene.
As family members of the pilots gathered at the lake, and local Marshals patrolled the waters near the training extraction points for safety, the pair of HH-60 "Pavehawk" helicopters made their landing in a nearby softball field, briefly creating tornado-like conditions.
Members of the 305th and 306th Rescue Squadrons, from Davis-Monthan AFB's 943rd Rescue Group, briefed the pilots on safety and situational awareness. After the briefings, the pilots were "dropped" into the water from a pontoon boat. From there, they waited for their rescuers. Pararescuemen from the 306th Rescue Squadron were lowered from the helicopters to the lake, and then helped hoist the pilots to "safety."
As the rescue training concluded, most of the pilots voiced support for the new realism, and looked forward to more opportunities to train in more realistic environments.
The 305th Rescue Squadron is an HH-60 helicopter unit, and the 306th Rescue Squadron is a Pararescue unit. Their primary mission is military search and rescue.