Drowning in the Corps
I alluded in several previous posts that I was a good swimmer. In boot camp, you have to start out at the very bottom of the swim quals scale, which is basically jumping into the shallow end and walking around the edge of the shallow section. Now, this was in the late 80s, but I recall being in the pool pretty much all day and working my way up to a first class.
Next up was WSQ (Water Survival Qualified), basically water rescue techniques. You need to be freaking drown proof if you take the WSQ test. This part is where you jump in the water and rescue a fellow “drowning” Marine. Today, all this has changed drastically, but back in the 80s I recall being in the freaking water for hours. When I was stationed with the air wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina, we started with the lowest level in the morning and worked our way up. Many of the Marines in my group tried the WSQ test, including me. Today, it takes weeks to complete the WSQ level.
I didn’t have a problem with any part of the tests, as I had a swimming pool growing up and took lessons starting when I was four or five years old. I loved swimming and was a fish in the water. There are a few things in the Marine Corps swim quals that you wouldn’t get to practice growing up, like jumping from the diving platform in full gear and carrying your rifle, or many of the escapes, but the rest is standard swimming-type stuff.
Besides the whole rescue of a panicking swimmer, you had to swim the distance with your full gear and the gear of your buddy. I’m not sure if it was WSQ or one of the earlier tests, but you also had to do the burning oil swim, rescue a cinder block from the bottom of the pool, and a ton of other shit. We were on the very last part, you swam the distance in full gear, swam back, and grabbed your buddy and his gear. I was teamed up with a Captain, and we finished the part where I was the wounded Marine and needed to be rescued. We finished it, and it was my turn to rescue the wounded Marine (the Captain). We are on the very last part of the test. I have about 10 feet to go, and the Captain grabs the ladder on the way by, and that action disqualified me.
And being the weasle that he was, he didn’t apologize, he didn’t fight to allow me to try again, nope, he picked up his gear and fucking left the pool area. I mean, what a fucking shitty ass leader, you don’t even fight for our Marines. Sadly, there are many officers out there like that in the Corps. The good thing is that there are many good officers out there, too.
I found a post on Leatherneck.com that lists all the steps for swim qualifications.
