GREAT NAVY TRAINING (The Dreaded DUNKER)
October 21st, 2009 | Photography | Posted by Erik Hildebrandt
If you are going to be a Naval Aviator or aircrew personnel, everyone must go through water survival and flight physiology every four years. In preparing for this project, my own qualifications were about to expire, so last April, I returned to NAS Norfolk for my fourth re-qual evolution. It was not realistic for me to photograph the class as I went through, so instead, I actually went back to the pool a few weeks later and followed several classes through the various stages of device training. As you will see in the still images, and soon to be posted, unprecedented dramatic underwater video clips, this is the most realistic and effective survival training in the world. From the “Night Storm” scenario that starts with an over water bail-out , and ends with a helicopter hoist in pitch dark with hurricane rain and rescue soundtrack, to the multiple runs through the helo dunker, by the time you leave the pool, you have “lived” through your own personal mishap survival experience.
This post is the first in a series that will showcase the world-class survival training beginning with the Helo Dunker. Sound off if you have ever been through this training and we’ll start a conversation about the specific details that make this device so diabolical, yet realistic.
EROK
