Ask a Naval Aircrewman

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Originally Posted by Haasino

As an Aviation Rescue Swimmer, your primary duty is serving as a crewman on either an MH-60R or MH-60S helicopter, depending on rate... Romeo crewmen conduct Anti-Submarine Warfare, Counter-Narcotics and Counter-Piracy Operations, Search & Rescue, and limited Naval Special Warfare support operations... Sierra crewmen conduct Vertical Replenishment, Search & Rescue, and limited Naval Special Warfare support operations. Unless assigned to a SAR or CSAR squadron, most AWR's and AWS' spend 99.5% of their careers acting as helo crewmen... with that rare .5% spent doing actual rescues.

Surface Rescue Swimmers retain their normal rates and are called upon in the event someone goes overboard and needs to be rescued... it's an on-call duty similar to VBSS, Snoopy Teams, etc. You will spend your days as an AD... doing normal duties assigned as an AD... and will act as a rescue swimmer if needed. For Surface Rescue Swimmers, I'm not sure if it's a drop-of-the-hat duty, or if you are one of several assigned to occasional "shifts", similar to ASF duties on a shore command.

Sounds like I'll go the surface rescue swimmer route to begin with....how would I go about that. Is that something I start in boot or after I go to A school?