Swagger Jack Productions

We have finally made it to Friday, the final day of the class. This afternoon the students will graduate and celebrate this past week, an accomplishment that will make them proud the rest of their lives.

There is no PT this morning, as the “Monster Mash” is scheduled. This consisted of a run from the river to the lake, a swim across the lake, flutter kicks, more running, pull-ups, dips, more running, more swimming, and ending with even more running across the field to the finish line, where ice cold Gatorade awaited them.  The men started today by loading up their swim gear and getting on the bus for a short drive to the river. Shortly after we arrived, the helicopters made their entrance, ready to give each student a ride he’ll remember forever, ending with a 25′ drop off the skids into the river and a swim to shore.

The men loaded each helicopter two at a time and had a brief, invigorating ride closely following the twists and turns of the river with exciting bank turns often triggering warning lights and alarms. There were times where the skids almost touched the water. The pilots also maneuvered very closely together during strait-aways as well as coordinating bank turns for us to get the best shots highlighting their skills. Out  of all of  the helicopter flights that the SwaggerJack crew has taken, these were certainly the most daring, brave, and talented pilots.  At one point, near the end of the flight, the heli banked through turn after turn after turn, then continued strait towards the treeline, making everyone think we would crash. At the very last second, the pilot pulled the craft up and over, gluing us to our seats, then pointed the nose down as we crested the peak to create a zero-g effect, often making ourselves and the students float out of our seats, or at least feel weightless. The pilots really were amazing.

Shortly after the zero-g thrill, the pilot would shout “Stand by!” to the men, signalling them to unbuckle their seat belts, refasten them behind their backs, and step out onto the skids while holding a support bar.  This was their ready position to drop into the river.

When the heli was hovering over the correct area, the pilot would shout “Bust ‘em, bust ‘em, bust ‘em!”, signalling the men to step off of the skids and drop into the water. Even though this was the first time in a helicopter for many of the men, not a single one hesitated when he was instructed to drop.  Once they resurfaced, they swam to shore to be greeted by Chief Fuch and Senior Cheif, then enjoyed a short break before beginning the Monster Mash.

The men completed their grueling Monster Mash within 45 minutes, and each had a quiet celebration for their completion. This signified the end of their course, they had passed their final test. They were ready to graduate EXTREME SEAL EXPERIENCE. It was a simple ceremony, with a few special acknowledgements of standout students, and beautiful thank you for the camera crew, and each student receiving his graduation certificate and letter of recommendation for the BUD/S training course. Now it was time to celebrate, reminisce, and for the men to enjoy their last day with their new found brothers.

Thursday morning’s PT started with a warm-up of basic moves, then transitioned to a fun touch-football scrimmage between the shirts and skins. Once again, the men split into their teams and took turns playing each other on the field. Once one team scored, the other team would take over to play the winner. This was a good way for the guys to get in some PT and have some fun, all while relieving some of the week’s stress with the game.

After PT, there was a brief break before loading up the bus to travel to a local air soft field with a 48’ rappel tower and generous firing range. Today’s activities included rappelling, fast roping, and shooting a wide variety of weapons, all while the heat index climbed to 114°F.

For the men on their second week of class, they started lessons on all the different artillery the instructor’s had available. The men on their first week were briefed on rappelling, issued gear, and climbed to the top of the tower.

Luckily for the camera crew, Senior Chief Don Shipley was more than willing to let us get in some of the action too, setting us up with harnesses so we could rappel and film while going down the tower.  Not only did we get some awesome footage, but we all got to share in the same experience as the men, conquering our own nervousness by rappelling strait down this 48’ foot tower, even “Aussie Style!” After the rappel lesson and practice, it was time to shoot the .50 caliber Barrett from the top of the tower. Once again, Senior Chief was kind enough to allow the camera crew get a piece of the action, each getting their turn to shoot, even allowing the first shot to be done “ladies first” by our own camerawoman, Stefanie.

The .50 caliber Barrett has a specially designed muzzle which projects the pressure through special vents, making the recoil much less than what one would expect from such a large gun. In turn, this causes a shockwave which damages hollow organs, shakes the ground, and causes nosebleeds and headaches after several shots by one shooter. The bullet is capable of travelling over 5 miles and the longest recorded accurate shot was clocked over a mile away.

While that team was rappelling and shooting the .50 cal., the other was practicing shooting a variety of firearms including M-4’s, M-14’s, 9mm pistols, .308 sniper rifles, and a .40 caliber Glock. They were practicing double-taps and shooting balloons at a variety of distances. They also had pre-mixed containers of explosive material which they shot, being quickly rewarded for hitting their target with a loud explosion.

Once each group had completed that area of training, they switched. The ones rappelling were now shooting and those shooting were now rappelling. The men now rappelling were on their second week and had previously rappelled the week before, so they practiced more advanced techniques, such as swinging directly in and out of windows while performing a controlled drop down the building. This was a particularly fun challenge, as the men were directed that the proper technique included yelling “weeeeeee” while swinging in and out of the windows. Also, Senior Chief added another element of danger by shooting his flamethrower through the windows and the men rappelled down. As one would imagine, there were also many crashes into the window frames, provided some entertainment for men.

Before leaving, the mean each got to “fast rope,” a technique where they grab the rope with their hands and slide down it as if it were a fire-pole, without using their feet for stabilization. This technique is also considered a controlled fall.

Time for one last explosion before leaving…

By the end of the afternoon, everyone was exhausted and ready to hit up the local rope swing. So after getting back to camp and unloading equipment, the men enjoyed a good dinner and a fun evening at the local rope swing at the lake. Tomorrow morning is going to be their last physical challenge, the “Monster Mash,” as well as their heli-casting training.

Wednesday started bright and early with some PT including a nice jog through a wooded trail. Shortly after finishing, the men were issued gear and loaded up the bus. They were on their way to a beautiful farm field with two amazing large, decrepit abandoned houses for some CQC training with live air soft rounds.

The men split into teams, one to defend the house and one to seize it. They practiced shooting in the door with shotguns, then using explosive charger devices. Once the main entry door was breeched, the men would form a train and meticulously work their way through the house, room by room, clearing each area and shooting any opposition.

After several runs where they simply “killed” whoever was defending the house, they transitioned to a capture mission, where they would detain those defending the house rather than just shoot them. This is where the men really started to have some fun with choke holds and body slams, doing whatever they felt necessary to detain the “terrorist.”

Each team did several runs before loading the bus back up and driving back to camp for an afternoon break before coming back to these farm houses for some night runs.

For the night runs, the men switched from a one-story house to a two-story house, adding the danger element of a stairwell. Once again, they split into teams and one would defend the house while the other would seize. On some runs, the men seizing the house would also be on a rescue mission, trying to save one of their own from the “terrorists.”  They did several runs into the night, each becoming progressively smoother and more intense. The night ended on a high note, with a well-executed run initially breeching two doors with both the 12-guage shotgun and explosive charger.

The men were eager to rinse off and get to bed, as tomorrow was another early morning with PT starting at 0700.