Troops suffer dunking to learn survival skills
NEARLY 1000 Townsville defence force personnel will complete training to help boost their chances of surviving in a helicopter crash.
Lavarack Barracks is home to one of two Defence Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) facilities in the country, with hundreds of soldiers from different units to complete the training by the end of this financial year.
Personnel from the 5th Aviation Regiment were placed in a mock helicopter cabin, which had been configured to replicate the stations found in MRH-90 Taipan and CH-47 Chinook army choppers.
They rotated through six different stations, required to successfully exit the underwater cabin through its windows every time.
Pilot Captain Matthew Dwyer said the activity was “challenging” and was best done with eyes closed.
“Because if it’s at night, in the sea somewhere dirty, you’re not going to have that vision anyway,” he said.
“To be able to do it from muscle memory is better way to do it.
“It can be kind of scary. It is common for people to be nervous with this training. The most uncomfortable thing is you’ll probably have water in your nose for two or three days afterwards.”
Army HUET manager Sergeant Nigel Sowerby said people who completed the training had a substantially increased chance of survival if a much a helicopter were to crash into water.
“The big thing to get from the training is the preparation and the drill, if you have those down then you can adapt it, come up with your plan and use it to whatever situation you’re in,” he said.
“We put them in different stations and different exits so they’ve got a vast knowledge.”
Capt Dwyer said HUET helped personnel become familiar with the inside of an aircraft, regardless of their role or position in the air.
“We (pilots) might not be always flying the helicopter. we might be in the back for transit,” he said.
“The importance of this training is teaching us how to remain orientated, how to go through our procedures to find our exit, or our primary exit and an alternate exit, so we can get out … safely.”