And so begins an amazing journey of learning, training, high stakes, high pressure scenarios that require grueling and elite physical and mental toughness. The SWCC course prior to this has already taught him that his body is capable of so much more than he ever imagined. If there was any quit in him he wouldn’t have made it this far. His two buddy’s in the previous picture have been training with him since October of 21 when they first enlisted.
A SWCC (Special Warfare Candidate Course) class of 300 was whittled down to 120. Kevin got pulled on a medical over halfway through for shin splints that went straight to his bone marrow. He didn’t self report. Bio-metrics and observation by his trainers caught the wince in his gait, elevated heart rate and temp. An MRI revealed the damage. He was in the waiting area when MSgt, TSgt, Doc, and course chief all appeared. He knew it wasn’t good and his goal of making PJ Para-Rescue or CCT (Combat Controller) were out. He was told they had good news and bad news. He opted for the good news first. I’m going to paraphrase….. “You’re a bad mother-#%ker and passed PRT on two broken legs, unfortunately you can’t continue and will not be eligible for A&S.” (Assessment & Selection is an even more intense 8 weeks). Of the 120 that went through less than 80 survived A&S and of those 80 only 40 were selected. Kevin can re-do SWCC as early as 11/24 if he is so inclined.
In an effort to remain associated with AFSPECWAR, Kevin had two choices; EOD or SERE. Passing SERE (Survial, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) just makes you a SERE trainer. EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) encompasses many things including work for the Secret Service to secure environments for POTUS. The best of them attach to AFSOC and embed with other SPECWAR units. They also have a presence on all our bases globally. 24 entered his EOD Preliminary training course. 26 days of PT, instruction, hands on training and simulation. Only 8 graduated.
Tomorrow we will get to spend about an hour with him at DFW airport as he has a 2hr layover there before flying into Pensacola and reporting at Eglin AFB. There he begins an intense 320 day course. All branches attend this EOD school and it is run by Navy. He’ll also get a lot of range time. From here he can go to dive school, jump school, and sniper school based on his own choices and/or how he performs and gets assigned.
I’m extremely proud of him. Not only has he managed to push through extreme adversity, he has excellent post service career opportunities given his MOS. His training counts towards a civil engineering degree and he can easily finish off his BCE while enlisted.
I’ve redacted his last name for his privacy.