-
Step 1
Join the Air Force or Air National Guard. Sign up for pararescue during basic training when given the option. Every recruit is eligible.
-
Step 2
Pass through the first of a series of schools, the three-month "Superman school." Rigorous daily training includes running 10 miles, a punishing calisthenics program and 1-mile swimming warm-ups. The intensity increases every week for three months. You can be one of only 8 out of 80 recruits selected by the end of this 3-month period. The program gets harder and harder until only eight members remain.
-
Step 3
Enter "The Pipeline," a series of training programs taking place at various locations. You train in parachuting, SCUBA diving, survival while living off the land. You also train for jumping from 26,000 feet with weapons and a backpack and clearing munitions from the bottom of a ship.
-
Step 4
Receive paramedic and combat medic training. At this phase, you also pass through hospital rotations, desert survival, mountain climbing, air operations and tactical and military maneuvers. You learn things like surviving enemy interrogations, navigating under water in the dark and escaping from downed helicopters.
-
Step 5
Practice rescue scenarios. You start flying mission rehearsals after becoming an aerial gunner on a H-60 aircraft. Prepare for very scenario—mountain, forest, sea or desert. After 18 months, you finish the program.
