Introduction
Anyone who has seen the movie The Guardian, knows about Rescue Swimmers. It is a hugely popular film among the members of the Coast Guard because the filmmakers really went out of their way to get it right. (Reading the cast list down past the stars is looking at a roster of some of the very best the USCG has to offer as many real swimmers took on the roles.)
Aviation Survival Technician / Rescue Swimmer School has the same failure rate as the most elite Special Operations teams: SEALs, Delta Force, the 24th STS, and a few others. Under twenty percent of applicants make it through any of these courses. Even the 75th Army Rangers only have a sixty-five-percent cull rate. And the only ones allowed to apply to AST school are already some of the very best there are—yet still, f
