MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Seventeen Marines graduated from the Marine Combat Instructor of Water Survival qualification course at the IronWorks Gym indoor swimming pool here Thursday, certifying them to administer swim qualifications for their unit.
“We run swim (qualifications) once a month,” said Sgt. Patrick T. O’Brien, Marine Combat Instructor Trainer of Water Survival, indoor small arms range operations chief and Jacksonville, Fla. native. “With five (instructors) on the pool deck vice one or two, swim (qualification) runs a lot smoother.”
The three-week MCIWS qualification course is designed to teach students how to confidently handle challenging aquatic situations.
“Traditionally, it’s one of the hardest courses in the Marine Corps,” said Staff Sgt. Timothy A. Hartmann, water survival director for the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Pacific. “It’s designed to get them to a level where they don’t panic and where they stay in control.”
Prospective MCIWS students are required to be Water Survival Qualified and must complete a pre-test demonstrating their level of fitness in the water. During the course, students focus on aquatic conditioning, advanced techniques such as cardio respiratory resuscitation and methods for rescuing drowning victims.
Students are evaluated during the final week of the course and must demonstrate proficiency in the water while either their hands or feet are tied together.
“The technique is designed to instill confidence in the students and in the methods they learned during the course,” said Hartmann.
To graduate and earn the MCITWS swim qualification, students must also give a 20-minute lecture on a swimming topic of their choice and show proficiency in different strokes in the pool.
“It’s a tremendous confidence builder,” said Cpl. Zachary A. Hemmerling, MCIWS student, calibrations technician and Monroe, Wis., native. “You come to a lot of barriers – mental (and) physical. When you get more confident in yourself and everything that you’ve learned, you understand where all these other Marines are having trouble in swim (qualification), like where their fears are. It helps you understand where you can help those Marines.”
The new commandant’s current “Every Marine into the fight” program means more Marines will likely be deployed to combat zones. Current statistics indicate the importance of combat water survival skills.
“So far there have been 35 drownings in Iraq in the Marine Corps and over 80 with Marine Corps and Army combined,” said Hartmann. “You don’t normally associate Iraq with water, but there’s water out there.”
Combat water survival instructors are needed not only to administer swim qualifications but to increase interest and participation in the program, said Hartmann.
“The goal of the instructor trainer program is to increase participation in water survival training and to support or introduce it to battalions,” said Hartmann.