MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Stranded thousands of miles in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, a Marine pilot struggles against the large waves and harsh forces of nature batting away at him. He inflates the small flotation device around his neck and swims toward the life raft only yards away.

The training that he received at the Aircraft Survival Training Center here kicks in and using the maneuvers learned at the training center to enter the life raft, the aviator takes refuge from the gale-force winds and ice-cold water.

The ASTC held a helicopter refresher course Feb. 7 for aircrew members from the San Diego area. All air crew members must re-qualify in the helicopter water survival training every four years, explained Petty Officer 1st Class Tasha Perez, corpsman, ASTC.

The ASTC here is one of only three survival training centers on the west coast. Center personnel provide training year round for more than 4,000 students from all branches of service.

The course begins with lectures and class time with a final exam. The students then take their knowledge to the extreme by applying their skills to real life scenarios in ASTC pool which can simulate weather situations varying from the perfect surfer’s afternoon to a windswept, torrential downpour.

“This is some of the most realistic training we can do,” explained Maj. Matthew Nisbet, pilot, Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775, Marine Aircraft Group 46, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. “It is especially appropriate for us helicopter pilots, because we are constantly flying over water.”

The student spend the day in the pool practicing underwater egress training and problem solving. They also learn how to be good ‘rescuees,’ learning how to effectively board a life raft from the water and be safely hoisted out of the water to a helicopter, explained Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Swanson, Navy diver, ASTC.

After ensuring the students understand basic egress and water survival techniques, instructors flip and dunk the students in a simulated helicopter crash, Swanson added. They then have to move as a team out of the aircraft through selected windows and doors.

After each task is completed with the benefit of daylight, students don blackout goggles and run through the training exercises again in simulated darkness.

“We try to produce a comfortable, confident water-survival swimmer,” said Swanson.  “Aquatic familiarity, using real-life training, is important.”

Students attending the Feb. 7 training had the benefit of prior experience as they had all previously completed similar training, but this didn’t negate the confidence boost provided by the refresher course.

“I now feel confident that the class, as well as myself, can execute water survival and fly more confident while over vast oceans and seas because of this training,” said Nisbet.