This summer, I, Cadet Michael Chaitovitz, was selected to attend to the Army’s two week long Air Assault Course from 20JUNE2015-03JULY2015 located at the Army National Guard’s Warrior Training Center in Fort Benning, GA. In order to get selected, Cadets, at Clemson University, must compete and complete all specialty school PT during the spring semester before the summer they plan on attending the course they are selected for.
Upon my arrival to Fort Benning there was three days of 
in-processing to ensure all candidates had the proper equipment and documents to enter the course, as well as adjust to the Georgia heat. After in-processing the course begins with “Zero day” which consists of a strenuous PT session and an obstacle course in which you must successfully complete 9/10 obstacles including 2 mandatory obstacles that consist of a rope climb and a confidence climb as well as a two mile run in ACU’s. Once the Zero day activities are complete, you are admitted into the course and immediately begin phase 1 of a 3 phase training curriculum. Phase one introduces candidates to the rotary wing arsenal the United States military has to offer, as well as their respective armaments, sling load capacities, and pathfinder hand and arm signals. During this phase you also learn about various aeromedical capabilities and ways to successfully choose and clear and landing zone for medevac and other operations. Phase 1 also entails mandatory PT sessions and a 4 mile company run. At the end of this phase there is a written exam and a hands on Pathfinder hand and arm signals exam. Once you are given a GO in phase 1 you move on to a 6 mile ruck march that must be completed in under an hour and immediately begin Phase 2 which consists of rigging and inspecting sling loads. The attrition rate during phase 2 exponentially increases due to the amount of academic strain they put on you in such a short time period. This phase experiences the most drops out of any of the phases during the course. At the end of this phase, like phase 1, there is a written exam and a hands on sling load inspection exam which you must successfully identify 3/4 deficiencies on the rigging of 4 of the sling loads you learn about during this phase. Luckily you are given 2 attempts to complete this test if you fail to identify the deficiencies on the first time around. I personally found all 4 deficiencies on 3 out the 4 sling loads and had to retest on the M110 HMMV. Once you pass Phase 2, you move into phase three, my favorite, the repel phase. There is no written exam during this phase and consists of a 90 second hip repel seat test and 3 tested, 60 foot free wall repels and 120 foot repel out of a UH-60 Blackhawk. The repels begin with a hollywood repel(no gear), semi-combat(w/ weapon), and a full combat repel( w/ ruck and weapon). Before this test there was plenty of training and repels to prepare you. Once you complete the repels, the final event to graduate the Air Assault course is a 12 mile ruck march in under 3 hours. Overall, my time at Air Assault school was very useful and has helped further develop my leadership skills and professionalism when in a military setting.
