The Personal and Financial Side

Becoming a Para-trooper!

Personal/Financial Side (pt. 1)

Para-rescue Jumpers ( or PJs) are members of the Air Force’s Special Forces. Their job is to rescue not just downed airmen but service members from any branch. This often means parachuting into hostile territory to deliver emergency medical treatment and then extract military members. The additional training after basic training can last as long as 17 months. To join any special operations unit means sacrificing seeing loved ones for many years in total, Para-rescue is no different. 

Salary

The base pay for PJs, who must have at least the rank of airman first class, senior airman or staff sergeant, ranges from $21,089 to $36,155 per year as of publication. They also receive housing allowances or free on-base housing, and a food allowance. These allowances vary by rank, however the housing ranges from 1,500 to 2,000 while food is closer to 500 to 1,000 dollars. 

Pay with Bonuses
In addition to the base pay, PJs are eligible for several bonuses, including dive pay, flight or jump pay, and para-rescue proficiency pay. If you qualify for all three, you would receive up to $650 per month or $7,800 per year as of publication. This would bring the annual salary up to a range of $28,889 to $43,955. PJs can also qualify for other bonuses such as hazard duty pay, which is figured on a monthly basis.

Extremely Rigorous Requirements
To qualify to become a PJ, you must be a U.S citizen, male, have vision correctable to 20/20, no color blindness, able to obtain a secret security clearance, and meet some of the most rigorous physical requirements in the military. You also must score at least a 43 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Though there is always a demand for these jobs, the competition is tough and the "washout" rate is extremely high. Interest in medical treatment is important, as are adaptability and flexibility. Tell your recruiter if you are interested so you can be prepared even before basic training.

The Physical SIde

Becoming a Para-trooper!

Physical Side (pt. 2)

What to expect?

In order to join Para-rescue, you have to go through around 22 different 8-30 week courses throughout your military career. Starting with basic training in Lackland AFB, TX. Basic training is followed by Special Warfare Preparatory Course, Special Warfare Assessment and Selection Course, Special Warfare Pre-dive course, Special Warfare Combat Dive Course, Airborne School, Military Free-fall Course, Sere Training, Para-rescue EMT-B Course, Para-rescue EMT-P Course, and finally Para-rescue Apprentice Course. 

Selection course

The selection course is comprised of taking the ASVAB examination that measures your aptitude in a variety of general educational topics. These topics include but are not limited to: Basic Algebra, Mechanical information on basic technology and automobiles, leadership skills, and problem solving. The better score that you have, the larger pool of possible career choices you have. In order to be involved in special operations forces in the military, such as Para-rescue, you must show a high aptitude for basic knowledge as well as the aptitude to learn exceedingly difficult information as well. 

Indoctrination course

This initial course is the one that weeds out the weak. This course is meant to show you that special operations forces is home to those who are the cut above. This course is the one that includes the daunting physical tasks that you may see in videos on youtube, These exercises include but are not limited to: bear crawls, fireman carry's, 50 pound water jug carry's, crab walks, burpees, mud trench crawls, swimming exercises, wading in water, towing vehicles, helicopter ladder climbs, and much more! Here's the good news however. After this course, the remaining physically challenging exercises will be focused on what you will encounter as a practicing Para-rescue Airmen. 

The Mental Side

Becoming a Para-trooper!

Mental Side (pt. 3)

Strong Mental Fortitude

Airmen must complete 80-weeks of training before receiving the title, Air Force rescue man. The para-rescue man code states: "It is my duty as a para-rescue man to save life and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things I do, that others may live." Air Force para-rescue men, an elite corps of Airmen, are responsible for combat search and rescue missions. They provide life-saving services to Airmen, the joint-service team and civilians in all types of environments.

Advice from Veterans 

• Senior Master Sgt. Douglas Isaack 342nd Training Squadron Indoctrination Course Commandant: "The job is extremely demanding due to the challenging mission profiles we execute in all environments and in extreme conditions. We can't let fatigue, stress, pain or injuries get in the way of making sure we do our job right to save a person's life. The key to developing resiliency is equipping Airmen to persevere, control emotions and bounce back from difficult and stressful situations. Whether you're doing physical training or you're being a good wingman, you're proving to yourself that your teammates can count on you to be there, do the right thing, do it right, and never quit."
• Tech. Sgt. Anthony Cervantes 342nd Training Squadron para-rescue instructor: "It's a tough course. It takes a resilient mind-set, reminding yourself why you are there every day.While on deployments, everything is generated around the effort of the team. Your mind has to push aside all the chaos and focus on the                task at hand. It's the essence in putting others before yourself."

Help is on the way!

Recommendations about assessing and evaluating the psychological readiness of training candidates for high-risk, high-demand operational duty positions involve two stages: selecting-in and selecting-out. 

The select-out phase involves the assessment of psychological functioning focused on the presence or history of psychopathology. This involves areas of emotional, social, and behavioral functioning diagnostic of a psychiatric disorder or that are maladaptive under a wide range of conventional, routine, and non-high-demand conditions.

To help aid those who may suffer from mental illnesses, recommended AETC embed “seasoned” operational psychologists are stationed within flight medicine and operational units to improve USAF capabilities and effectively assess the readiness and fitness of training candidates and identifying those with a history of psychopathology. At the end of the day, the Air Force wants to help every individual, however there is so much required of a rescue man that anyone suffering mental illnesses may not be able to move through 'the pipeline.'