Fiction Factoid: The Pipeline

We continue our saga of what it takes to become a pararescueman:

Seems like after that 1% graduates from Superman School, they should be ready to go rescue people. But they aren’t. Yet.

After Superman School comes “The Pipeline” – a series of training schools that you get to go to become a qualified Pararescueman. The Pipeline takes about 18 months to complete.

First stop: Fort Benning, Georgia. At the U.S. Army Airborne School, trainees get qualified to use a parachute in combat deployment. See wikipedia for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Airborne_School

Second stop: Key West, Florida. No, you’re not there to get a tan. PJ trainees attend the U.S. Army Combat Divers school. They learn SCUBA basics plus how to be covert and infiltrate stuff.

Third stop: U.S. Air Force Basic Survival School in Washington State. Trainees get to spend two-point-five weeks learning to survive in the wilderness. Fun. Except for the bugs, snakes, bears…

Fourth stop: Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Something called “free-fall school”. Trainees learn to parachute from as high as 26,000 feet. They practice jumping with oxygen, weapons and packs.

Fifth stop: Kirkland Air Force Base. By now, trainees are down to the easy stuff like paramedic training, field tactics, mountaineering, combat tactics, advanced parachuting and helicopter insertion/extraction. No sweat.

After reading about all of the training required to be a PJ, you have to realize how much determination it takes to get through it all. That makes me think of this verse: Romans 5:3-4: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Find out about one PJ’s (Joel’s) determination in Cheryl Wyatt’s new release, A Soldier’s Promise. You can find an interview with Cheryl and review of the book at novelinspirations’ featured author page.

BONUS: Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing to win a copy of A Soldier’s Promise. Remember to leave your email address, so I can get in touch with you if you win (use the format lacy[at]novelinspirations[dot]com to avoid being picked up by spammers).

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