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mm::t i | ^Iterespected menin U.militaryranksCai StankelWeekly NewsBy CAL STANKE Weekly News EditorHow many people could sit straddling a one-foot metal bar attached to a cable on a helicopter hovering above ground and be lowered over 250 feet into a forest?Sgt. Anthony Tormey knows he could.Tormey is one of seven PJs (precision jumpers) in the Detachment 6 of the 40th Air Rescue/Recovery Squadron at Holloman Air Force Base.PJs main mission during wartime is to fly in helicopters with the members of the 40th ARRS Det. 6 and rescue injured soldiers. During peacetime they must practice and help law enforcement agencies locate and rescue lost or injured hunters, hikers and campers.Tormey, like all other PJs, went through almost two years of intense physical and medical training to earn his maroon beret — and the respect of many a military men.They know what he had to go through to become a PJ. In order to become a PJ, one must first pass basic training, then pass a slew of physical fitness tests just to be eligible to take the next course.There is an 85-90 percent “washout rate,” Tormey said, meaning only 10-15 percent of the people who start the testing ana training will actually become PJs. He said there are only a little more than 200 PJs worldwide.Tormey said maybe 100 people will want to take the physical fitness test. About 40 will pass the strenuous test qualifying them for the next training course, he said. “Ten will graduate —maybe — only three graduated when I did. Sometimes only one. The most was 15 (graduates),” Tormey said.He said during the physical test, candidates do pushups, situps, chinups, running, swimming and many other things. While swimming,‘ ‘they try to harass you, cause you to drown — they want to see how you can deal with stress,”he said.From there, a candidate advances to Army Jump School. He learns to parachute properlyand with precise accuracy. Then they attend Army Survival School. From there, it’s onto an“There’s only 200 in the world. You feel privileged.It’s prestige.’’intense eight-week medical training course where they learn mountain climbing and take a combat rescue course.“If all goes well, they award you your maroon beret. Kind of an honor, ’cause so few make it,” Tormey said.Once a person makes it as a PJ, training does not stop. Tormey says PJs must perform a routine of daily exercises and practice dressing the wounds of dummies or live people with imaginary injuries.What motivates a man to push and drive himself like that?“The challenge, the esprit de corps among us. There’s only 200 in the world. You feel privileged. It’s prestige,” Tormey said.Where does a person go from being a PJ? Tormey, who is 26, says there is no age limit, so many PJs are career military people. “As long as you can pass the tests, you can stay in,” he said.There are physical fitness tests for active PJs twice a year, he said.Tormey said if a PJ wanted to leave the Air Force, he could become anything.“If you are enthusiastic, it will rub off on other people,” he said.He said the motivation, self-discipline, self-confidence and concentration a PJ has can give him die ability or stick-to-it-tiveness that can help him no matter what profession he goes into.However, once a person has been a PJ, he has a hard time finding an equally challenging career outside the military. Consequently, many PJs stay in or re-enlist after taking a civilian position, according to Tormey. Tormey said he owned his own business for a year. He was a salesman, but the business world just wasn’t for him. He went back to the Air Force.READY FOR A MISH' - Sgt. Anthony Tormey, 26, a pecision jumper (PJ), squats in one of the Air Force's helicopters with most of the gear he would need to rescue some in the field. Tormeyand other PJs are trained to administer medical attention beyond first aid. PJs can climb mountains, swim and parachute to get to where they have to be to rescue people.
Newspaper Details
Alamogordo Weekly News
Alamogordo, New Mexico, US
Wed, Dec 10, 1986
Page 2
Full Page
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USA 05 Jun 2019
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