“Its harder than it looks” said the dripping cadet emerging from the pool having completed the rifle portion of the swim test. “Pfft… As if…I’m a great swimmer.” I thought to myself. The other day I proved myself wrong.Cadets of the Nittany  Lion, in accordance with the prescribed academic plan and coinciding qualifications dictated by Cadet Command, went to the Natatorium to complete the “Combat Water Survival Test.” I had heard horror stories from the upper class man about the perilous trials about it but I shrugged it off. “We did this shit in Boy Scouts” I scoffed. Again, I would prove myself wrong.

Walking to the Natatorium on that fateful morning, as soon as the windchill blew through my blouse, I remembered that I didn’t bring a change of clothes. I would have to walk back in this weather, in a sopping wet set of Army fatigues. We were off to a great start.

After a quick formation, and some processing, we were ready to go. The first portion of the test was just a regular old swim test. All we had to do, was swim out 50 meters, tread water for a bit, then swim back. Under normal circumstances, this would be stupidly easy. The only problem that one doesn’t account for is how heavy your uniform gets once it has been saturated. Coming back for the second 50 meter length, pulling my arms out of the water was unfathomably more difficult then swimming in a suit. Regardless, I eventually struggled back and passed that portion.

At this point, I realized it would be kind of hard. Any it was time for the next station. In this portion of the test, a cadet had to put on a flick(ammo vest) and swim 15 meters while keeping a rifle un-submerged. This is where that cadet I talked about earlier comes in. It was my turn and, for the first three feet, it didn’t feel that bad but then the gravity of the ammo vest combined with the fatigue felt from the last portion hit me with a force nearly as hard as reality. Basically, I drowned and kicked in a horizontal direction for 15 meters. Regardless, the rifle didn’t drown, so I passed that portion.

Moving on, for the next station, all you had to do, was jump in the deep end with the ammo vest on, and take it off underwater before reemerging. I was one of those kids that always loved diving to the deep end so I was kind of excited for this. Unfortunately, upon releasing my breath and hitting the deep end, I couldn’t find the buckle that releases the vest. Drowning a little more, I eventually free my self from the vest and reemerge. Another station passed.

Finally, I had made it to the fun station. For this one, the cadets just stood at the top of a high dive, and after being literally kicked off, all they had to do was maintain control of the rifle during the fall. Oh, and you are blindfolded for this one. Anyway, besides some initial anxiety about the fall, this station involved no drowning on my part and was actually pretty fun.

So that, was my Water Combat Survival Test experience. Like all the blogs I write, this was a large dramatization for comedic affect. But none the less, it was a hard test for everyone and it reminded us all why we didn’t join the Navy.