Weighed down under water in Okinawa; MAET incorporates flak jackets with SAPI plates into training

4/25/2008 By Lance Cpl. Richard Blumenstein , Marine Corps Base Camp Butler

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan —The Marine Corps Base Camp Butler’s Survival Systems USA training unit recently re-implemented the wear of flak jackets with Small Arms Protective Insert plates into the Marine Corps’ Modular Amphibious Egress Trainer course to more closely simulate real-world situations.

Instructors here taught the first course under the new standards April 14-16 at the Camp Hansen House of Pain 25-meter pool. The course is designed to teach Marines and sailors techniques to survive a helicopter crash in open water.

In the past, flak jackets with SAPI plates were standard gear in the training course, but in 2004, the flak jackets were removed from the course curriculum because the chlorine in the pool water deteriorated the flak jackets’ material and degraded the vests’ ability to stop sharp metal and small arms fire, according to Robert L. Smith, the site manager with survival Systems USA.

The situation changed, however, when Headquarters Marine Corps authorized the issue of 110 Outer Tactical Vests to Survival Systems USA for the egress course. The OTVs present an obstacle similar to what the Modular Tactical Vests, a newer flak jacket, would present in the event of an actual helicopter crash, said Kurtis Reese, the chief instructor for Survival Systems USA.

The egress trainer can simulate the interior of either a CH-46 or CH-53 helicopter. The trainer, known to many Marines as the “helo dunker,” lowers into the pool with students inside strapped to their seats and rotates upside-down.

Once the dunker submerges, students practice escape procedures to safely egress from the dunker. Now that jackets have been added to the course, the service members have the additional obstacle of removing the vest before escaping from the dunker.

“It makes the training more realistic because we are wearing something similar to what we would actually be wearing if we got into a crash,” said Lance Cpl. Jackie R. Gibson, a flight equipment technician with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Service members taking part in the course also wear the vests in the Shallow Water Egress Trainer, a chair that rotates upside-down in the water, to prepare for the dunker.

“The course is harder with the flak jackets,” said Lance Cpl. Jeffery J. Scott, a CH-46 helicopter airframe mechanic with HMM-262. “If I got into a helicopter crash tomorrow, I would probably freak out, but I think I would survive thanks to this course.”

Ellie