What It Takes To Pass The Army’s Air Assault Entry Test | Boot Camp

good job this is day zero a physically and mentally grueling test it's the first challenge that students at the sabalowski air assault school must overcome before beginning what's known as the army's 10 toughest days day zero is kind of the gut check day that's the first moment where we filter out who is prepared to be here and who wants to be here students at the aerosol school located inside the fort campbell army installation train to insert themselves and equipment into combat using helicopters an air assault graduate is prepared to fight and win on any future battlefield but if students don't pass day zero their time at air assault school is over before it officially begins roster 4 staff sergeant cobb second brigade 6-0 sergeant quintos the day starts before sunrise when students form up to receive their roster numbers about 9 500 students enroll in air assault school every year but only a little more than half end up graduating from the course insider followed two students to find out if they have what it takes to survive day zero and move on to day one of air assault school my name is megan anderson miller i'm a military police officer it's a requirement for us here at fort campbell to have airsoft wings before we can take command of a coach platoon but not only that i'm motivated and i like the physical endurance i'm cw4 rj mccurdy i'm the brigade master gunner for the aviation brigade here so i'm 40. i'm venturing to say looking at the ranks of everyone around here i'm probably the oldest one here i wanted to come out to the air assault course to improve my skill set as a helicopter pilot all right i saw next items one one quart canteen with stencil tape affixed the student's first test is an early morning inspection of their gear headlamp with fresh batteries installed execute they're given a list of 37 items they're expected to have in their rucksacks one two three four five six seven if one single item is missing they're automatically dropped it relates directly to what soldiers do in combat if you're assigned a certain item of equipment that you need to carry and you don't have it but that's an operational failure for the entire unit 17 students from this group were missing at least one item from their packing list and were dropped the next test is a two mile run with an 18 minute time limit 17 minutes you got one minute 59 18 minutes students from this group failed to cross the finish line on time those who passed moved on without them but they don't have much time to rest before their next event the obstacle course with nine events designed to test students strength agility and confidence when it comes to this obstacle the only thing that can touch these beams is your hands instructors demonstrate how to negotiate each obstacle you cannot use any of the vertical beams to assist you and show students what they can and cannot do on the course aerosol we know it's warm stay loose stay hydrated be smart be aware everyone's a safety look out for each other two of these obstacles are major obstacles and students must pass both in order to complete day zero first up is the aptly named tough one aerosol on the left go ahead it starts with a three meter rope climb and then tests balance along with upper and lower body strength at a height of over 30 feet students wait in line with their backs to the obstacle so they don't get a chance to observe other students attempts i don't think a lot of people can climb the rope so i would i would say that one would be their toughest one so over the past two months if there was a rope i go find it and i practice on it i felt good going up it but it was also a little bit of dumb luck that was my very first thing where i had all my strength on my side i would promote others to work on their upper body strength to kind of be able to do that one to its fullest the second major obstacle is the 35 foot tall confidence climb students must climb up 10 wooden beams as they ascend the distance between each beam subtly increases before they climb over and begin their descent down the other side use that black beam and then try to get that leg to swing over the top they have those vertical beams on the side to hang on to it makes it very easy to actually just climb onto the next one but a lot of people you could even see taller people that you think could just reach up grab it pull themselves to the next one but they're scared of the height and they let it get to them mentally there you go at this point in the day the heat index had risen to 105 degrees and it started to affect some of the students it's it's he's he's teetering out teetering that line a medic gave this student a packet of powdered electrolytes to mix with the water inside his canteen to increase hydration i like heights i like being in a pie so just being able to look beyond and i just kind of suppress the fear i guess i don't really fear it though i enjoy it airsoft my height definitely helped like i said i'm six foot three up that high it was challenging which is funny because i'm scared of heights being a pilot but once you got over that top rung on the way down it felt good obstacles like the confidence climb and tough one prepare students for what comes later in air assault training it builds their confidence at high elevation so when it comes to phase three it's easier for them to repel off of the tower as well as when we get aircraft they're a lot less scared and they're more confident in their ability to hold on to something if they need to or climb down something if they need to with the two major obstacles out of the way seven minor obstacles are all that stand between these students and the end of day zero but if they fail two of these obstacles they're out [Music] upper body strength is key when it comes to navigating the incline wall which can be challenging for some students but miller conquered it with ease as did mccurdy in the low crawl students keep a low profile to avoid touching the barbed wire above them flexibility is put to the test with the high stepover where they swing their legs over ten horizontal beams of varying heights off the ground on the sixth vault students can only use their hands to vault themselves over the wooden beams but for some students it's not so easy i feel like i have really good upper body strength and it kind of compensates for other things only thing that is a challenge for me the belly over it's the only thing the low belly over requires students to jump onto a horizontal beam use their stomachs to catch themselves and swing their legs forward onto the other side for people who are vertically challenged i would say the low belly over is one of the biggest ones for them you're looking at it and it's already at their eye level and you've got to jump high enough to where it reaches under your rib cage to be able to flip over miller was struggling i think it's just not pushing myself hard enough i think i can push myself harder i've seen people smaller than me go over it students who failed their first attempt at an obstacle are given one more chance to complete it all right aerosol you just can't miss another miner all right this was miller's first failed obstacle which means she'll have no room for error on the rest of the course mccurdy was also having trouble with a minor obstacle on the swing stop jump students must swing from a rope onto a wooden beam using their core and upper body strength to establish balance certainly would have helped to have a little bit more upper body strength to get up that rope a little bit more i would say at that point on the obstacle course that i was not necessarily burnt out but i was feeling it especially with that older age i actually passed it multiple times in my practice sessions and i couldn't get up on that on that rung this was mccurdy's first failure which meant that both he and miller could not afford to fail the final obstacle known as the weaver after the rope swing my spirit was hurt because i knew i was gonna be climbing up mount everest looking up at that weaver as its name implies students navigate the weaver by dipping over and under a series of ascending and descending wooden beams it's pretty physically exhausting and it'll leave some bruises if done properly but miller handled it with ease i don't know what it is i just tell myself okay just like i when i was a kid let's go play on the playground and i i get it done it just happens mccurdy on the other hand leading into this obstacle course the only one that i didn't want to do was the weaver something that everyone has told me about that it does take a lot of strength a lot of technique you're going to get bruised [Music] i was unsure as to whether or not i can do it but i kept pushing pushing pushing here stop it was a really good feeling getting off that damn thing by completing the weaver both mccurdy and miller conquered the obstacle course and could finally catch their breath overall i thought it was a fun course it was very challenging i'm happy that i don't have to do it again though feels good feels like a refresher it's good to see everybody smiling and kind of build that camaraderie between all of us 250 of the 292 students who arrived at the sabelowski air assault school survived day zero they're given the rest of the day to refuel and rest because they'll need their strength before the army's 10 toughest days officially begin [Music] you

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 1,459,641

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, air assault, day zero, military, boot camp, training

Id: ZCQu8nbRy7o

Length: 11min 57sec (717 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 10 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/airassault_tanker]

Brings back great memories. I got my wings in July 2015 at Fort Bliss, 115 degree heat. Haven't had the chance to air lift an Abrams yet.

[u/accupuncher]

for the stupid obstacle course, if you remove the serious voice and the weird music it's basically PT for a normal combat arms unit. i mean, except for the stupid-anal packing list inspection... and the shitty PRT drills

[u/StreetSmartz0113]

It's really not that hard. Worst part was running in the Swiss seat

[u/Justavet64d]

Easier than it looks. Got my "Bullwinkle" badge with the 101 in June 1994.

[u/legion_XXX]

Wow they failed the ruck. Failed walking.