NORFOLK, VA — If you're a sailor, you have to know how to swim and if you're going to fly, you have to pass underwater survival training to help save your life if you crash into the water.
"What I don’t want is for you to have to do this the first time in a real-life scenario," said Amos Meyer, who helps train sailors.
Meyers is now based in Norfolk, VA but was a former rowing coach at Tampa’s Plant High School back in 2015. Now he helps sailors prepare for worst-case in flight and in water scenarios.
"What we want to do in the pool is give you a little bit of skill set and a little bit of confidence to take that skillset out to your particular scenario," said Meyers.
As part of the Sailor for a Day program, I, along with other journalists from the country, had to pass a basic level of underwater survival training.
First, we had to swim across a pool in full-flight gear and heavy boots.
Then there was the drown-proofing technique. The idea is to be able to float in the water for a long time without spending all of your energy treading water.
The concept is to make yourself into a ‘C’ shape and be in a relaxed float, then lift your head when you need a breath.
After two minutes of that, then we had to blow up our own life-saving vests.
The training was all done in a controlled environment. But real sailors may face crashing into the ocean when it's freezing cold and not knowing when help is going to come.
That's why they have to do a lot more water training, like parachute landing, rescue basket lifts, and how to get themselves out of a helicopter that crashes and flips upside down.
"My dad always said, you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of training," said Meyers.
The training we did was the basics, but it certified us to be able to fly over the water in a Navy Seahawk during one of their training exercises.
From the air, Seahawks do a lot for the Navy, including surveillance, transport, search and rescue, gunfire support, and other critical work.
Work that Meyers says he’s honored to prepare people for.
"God forbid something terrible happens; we want a very high level of training for you to fall to and give you the best chance of survivability," said Meyers.
