Water survival training

Capt. Matt Spears, 309th Fighter Squadron instructor pilot, examines a day flare before “popping” it during a water survival training course at Silver Wings Pool. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Deborah Silliman Wolfe)

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Water survival training

Airman 1st Class Johnathan Breining, 56th Operations Support Squadron aircraft flight equipment life support, teaches pilots about the force penetrator, a rescue device used in water rescues. “They know most of this already, but the course is a good refresher so if it does happen, they know what to do and how to handle it,” he said. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Deborah Silliman Wolfe)

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Water survival training

More than 80 pilots had the opportunity to take a water survival training course at Silver Wings Pool last week. Participants, dressed in flight suits, were drug into the pool by a pulley system operated by course instructors to simulate a crash landing. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Deborah Silliman Wolfe)

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Water survival training

Members of the Aircrew Flight Equipment Flight give instructions to three Luke Thunderbolts at the Silver Wings Pool during a water survival refresher course. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jeffery Wolfe)

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Water survival training

Col. Hank Reed, 56th Fighter Wing vice commander, gets yanked backwards into the Silver Wings Pool by members of the Aircrew Flight Equipment Flight as part of water survival refresher training. The move is designed to simulate a pilot being drug by his own canopy after ejection from an aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jeffery Wolfe)

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Water survival training

After attaching himself to the force protector, a rescue device used in water rescue, Col. Hank Reed, 56th Fighter Wing vice commander, gives instructors the signal that he is properly hooked to the rescue device. (U.S. Air Force photo/Deborah Silliman Wolfe)

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Water survival training

Published May 7, 2009

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- More than 80 pilots participated in a water survival training course last week at Luke Air Force Base's Silver Wings Pool, The class lasted about an hour and gave the pilots a chance to refresh their water survival skills including popping flares, living in a life raft on the open water, releasing from a parachute while in the water and a variety of other skills needed in case of a water landing.

"This training is on a lot smaller scale than what the pilots go through initially, but it is definitely good refresher training," said Staff Sgt. Brock Atchley, 56th Operations Support Squadron water survival instructor. "Hitting those key points is so important. As long as they remember them, they will successfully complete the training."