Contrary to popular belief, U.S. Marine Corps recruits need only basic swim skills to pass the qualification for entry-level training, leaving many would-be Marines lacking more robust aquatic survival skills. This may be changing, however, in response to the military aircraft that went down off the coast of Australia leading to the loss of 3 soldiers last August.
In an effort to implement a more rigorous swimming requirement for Marines, General Robert Neller wants to make proven swimming skills a requirement, or at the very least, a contributing factor for promotion ongoing.
In an interview with Military.com this week, Neller stated, “I know nobody wants to have another requirement, [but] it’s either that or accept the fact that somebody might go into the water off a ship or off an airplane and they drown.”
Neller continued, “We lost three Marines in that crash. I don’t think it was because they couldn’t swim. But … we teach everybody basic life-saving or basic swimming at recruit training, but we never test again. So why don’t we test?”
Currently, Marine recruits need to prove such swimming skills as jumping into a pool from a 15-foot tower and swimming 25m in deep water, but no additional qualifications over the basic entry-level training is required at this point.
According to the military blog ‘futurejarheads.org’, recruits do not necessarily have to be a ‘swimmer’ to be able to pass swim week during boot camp as a Marine. The blog states, “passing swim week isn’t so much about being a proficient swimmer. It is more about being confident in the water and being able to move from point A to point B in a pool and this includes in the deeper water and while wearing boots and some gear. You are not taught how to swim during boot camp.”
To that point, Neller states, “If you add it [the ability to swim] to cutting score, it incentivizes it.
“If you’re not qualified for promotion unless you can swim, or you’re more qualified if you’re a better swimmer … There’s a whole lot of things going on, there’s a whole list of things we’re trying to do, and we’ll have to poke on this one again to see where we are.”
Regarding the use of “loss of 3 soldiers” in the first paragraph…
Seems like silly semantics to me as a humble squid, but I know the marines do not appreciate being referred to as soldiers.
…and U.S. Marines is always capitalized. Great Article. Stay on it, more robust swimming and water survival requirements are necessary. The Marine Corps needs to look at how they train to improve swimming skills. They don’t train enough underwater requirements. They also need to equip ever Marine with a spare air bottle (HEEDS) when flying over water.
Hoo Rah