FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY (Dec. 12, 2014) --Sgt. 1st Class Steven Berry wanted to challenge himself, test his mettle, and become a better recruiter. So when Maj. Gen. Allen Batschelet, USAREC commanding general, got recruiters the opportunity to go to air assault school, the Harrisburg Battalion recruiter was one of the first to sign up, and the first to go.
He graduated from the grueling two-week Sabalauski Air Assault School at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Nov. 20.
"This is something I've wanted to do almost from the time I enlisted in the Reserve in 1994," said Berry. "I have requested this course time and again and was never been approved until now. Doing this course gave me the opportunity to train with one of the more renowned units in the Army and prove I have what it takes."
Making these types of programs available to recruiters gives them the opportunity to reconnect with some of their fellow Soldiers and stay relevant with what the rest of the Army's doing," said USAREC G3 Command Sgt. Maj. Albert Crawford.
"A lot of times, recruiters will come out here for three years and don't get an opportunity to go to a lot of the schools," said Crawford. "So I think it's very important these Soldiers still get the same opportunities their peers are getting back in the operational Army, so that they don't fall behind when it comes to advancements in rank."
Berry became an Army Reserve recruiter in 2009. Prior, he served with the 399th Combat Support Hospital (CSH), the 323rd Maintenance Co, deployed to Iraq from 2003 to 2005 and was a maintenance instructor at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
The air assault course, which is both physically and mentally challenging, includes several runs and marches ranging between 2 and 12 miles, rappelling from towers, fast roping out of helicopters, an obstacle course designed to test upper body strength, endurance, confidence, agility, and the ability to perform at heights. There are also training and written exams on rigging and sling loading, aircraft orientation, aero-medevac procedures, pathfinder operations and combat assault, and proper hand-and-arm signals on guiding aircraft.
"This course is known as the 10 toughest days in the Army," said Capt. Michael Finch, Sabalauski Air Assault School Commander. "It tests Soldiers' physical strength, endurance, mental toughness, and disciplined action. Making it through graduation proves a Soldier has the mental fortitude to endure strict standards and the physical capability to lead from the front. The course develops leaders and Air Assault professionals who are sought throughout the Army."
From the moment class begins, instructors start to smoke students into muscle failure.
"For me the physical portion was not terribly bad - it was the cold that would get me. Many mornings it would be 19 degrees," said Berry. "But it was really the academic side of things is where I was most nervous. I'd prepared for the physical with weekly ruck marches of varying distances and weights, a regimented workout routine, and running trails.
"I was not terribly concerned of failing due to physical toughness. I was concerned with the mental aspects. Everything is closed book and hands on. You had to memorize rated weights of numerous equipment, weight of loads, airframe familiarization, pathfinder and air assault operations, and much more. I had to spend a lot of time studying."
Students who fail a class are immediately dropped from the course. Roughly a third don't make it through. Berry's class started out with 163 students -- 98 graduated.
For Berry, failure was not an option.
"I looked at this school as a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, a 79R AGR recruiter - I had to make it. I would make myself pass, no matter what," Berry said. "And to do it at a school where the division specializes in Air Assault; to train alongside Soldiers of the 101st AirBorne fills me with pride and honor. I was smiling ear to ear once done with the last course, a 12-mile ruck march"!
Crawford said that patch now added to Berry's uniform also helps sell the Army.
"A lot of times the young men and women are fascinated with the uniforms," Crawford said. "They'll ask recruiters what different ribbons mean, so having an air assault badge is another opportunity to add to their Army story in telling about the wonderful opportunities available in today's Army."
Berry said completing the course has also made him a better recruiter.
"I can now talk to applicants with first person knowledge about what air assault training entails. I've been there, done that so to speak. I am now the subject matter expert in it. This also makes me a better Soldier because it helps me be well rounded on the different aspects and operations we have in the Army that prior to this class, I had no knowledge of."
USAREC will get 52 seats a year for air assault training. To apply, contact your company commander or first sergeant. USAREC is also getting six seats a year -- one per brigade - for airborne training. Berry encourages other recruiters to take advantage of these opportunities.
"It gives us firsthand knowledge about operations in the Army. It's not just us briefing it, we lived it. And second, many 79Rs have been in a recruiting office for some time and this gets us back to our roots, back to Soldiering," he said. "No matter what our MOS, we can never be thought to be less than other Soldiers or 'Just a recruiter.' We are Soldiers. We as NCO's should and will always lead the way."
Social Sharing