Posted on Jan 7, 2014
Top things to know/prepare for at Air Assault School?
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Just came down on orders for the 101st. I'm curious about what most people mess up on, or don't know prior to attending.
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Air Assault School
Air Assault School
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 37
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Sergeant I've been asking some of my friends that went through Air Assault, the ones that passed anyways, and this what they told me: Day zero is going to be a lot of vigorous physical activity. They usually accept far more applicants than they have room for so they try to weed out the weak through PT, last longer than the guy to your right and left. The ruck march is the hardest part of the course. 12 miles in three hours or less. Inspection is key, on day zero the Air Assault Sergeants will lay out a very detailed and specific packing list that you must adhere to. If anything is missing, out of place, or deemed unserviceable the student will lose points and possibly be dropped. There are nine total obstacles, two are major and seven are minor. Fail two minors and you're gone, fail one major and you're gone. Good luck!
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Capt (Join to see)
Went through in 09 and SPC Mullins gave an excellent writeup. Make sure you pay attention and study during slingload phase, I almost got dropped as I missed some knots on the web basket thing, got it the second time but having studied before saved me. Otherwise I would've had no idea what to look for!
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Capt (Join to see)
Oh and I forgot, have fun! AAS was a blast, hanging out with the Army rappelling and rucking around was awesome!
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PFC (Join to see)
I was wondering what kind of things you were studying while you were there. I'm in the National Guard and by some miracle I got an air assault slot but I have to take a pre written exam and I want to set myself up for success and I would like to know what to study
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I was a Senior Instructor there in the early 90's, so things most likely have changed some. Biggest thing that got people kicked is zero day obstacle course, make sure you can climb a rope. There are techniques that people can be taught to climb if they do not have a lot of upper body strength. If you need to know those contact me. The other big thing is phase 2, Rigging and Slingloading. Pay close attention to the inspection sequence that will be taught you and ALWAYS keep your hand on the load you are inspecting so you don't over look a deficiency. The last big one was not being able to complete the 12 miler in under 3 hrs. If you make sure your gear is clean and serviceable, pay attention to detail and stay motivated you will have no problem
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CPT (Join to see)
Ditto. In my 2009 course we had the majority of our failures in the same three areas. We had a couple of recycles as well who had both failed out on the sling load test.
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SGT (Join to see)
SGT Brendan Beely, CW3 (Join to see) - I'm not 1SG Don A. Guess, but considering it's been over two years I figured I'll go ahead and answer for anyone that might be reading this. I've never had the greatest upper body strength, but rope climbing is easy for me. Learn to lock the rope between your feet. If done correctly you essentially stand on the rope exerting very little physical effort to keep yourself in place with your arms just being used to loosely hang on to the rope and keep you vertical. Next use your hands and upper body strength to get a solid grip on the rope, unlock your feet, and then use your core muscle strength to "inchworm" your feet higher. Lock your feet on the rope at their new higher elevation and "stand up." Most of your vertical gain should be achieved by using your legs to stand your body up and get a higher grip on the rope. Rinse and repeat.
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SSG (Join to see)
1SG. I need advise on the rope climbing please. I am about to go full force with the course in less than a month.
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SGT (Join to see)
Can we use the same technique the marine corp uses to climb a rope? 1SG Don A. Guess
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Speaking at a former AASLT Instructor make sure you have everything on your packing list and you will be fine. Pay attention during the demonstrations for the O-Course and pay attention when you get to sling loads. Those are the two things that will get you booted out. Message me if you need anymore details. You know what unit you're going to yet?
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SSG (Join to see)
Where are you going to AASLT at? My advice to you SPC, is to make sure you know how to climb a rope. For zero day, make sure you don't give up on yourself. It might suck but pain doesn't last forever, make you get your packing list inspected at least times before you go by at least three different NCOs. If they're AALST qualified, even better because they'll know what to look for. Don't over think this and sike yourself out. Put your best foot forward and believe in yourself and those wings are as good as yours
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SFC(P) (Join to see)
I agree with SGT Eashman in regards to ensuring you can climb a rope before you attend as the Tough One is a mandatory obstacle and failure to negotiate the rope will send you home. Aside from that, in my 1.5 years spent as an instructor, I have noticed that the two obstacles shorter individuals struggle with the most are the Low Belly Over and the Six Vaults. On the Low Belly Over there is not a whole lot you can do if you are unable to jump high enough, the Six Vaults however can be successfully negotiated through proper technique. When you practice the O-Course with your unit ensure to ask for a demonstration of the windmill technique or at the very least do so when you go through on Zero Day and are getting your obstacle briefs. Rather than having to hop over the six horizontal beams which requires a decent vertical jump this method is more of a rocking motion which I have seen prove to be successful for countless of individuals who are on the shorter side. (Besides with a 300+ PT score you may do better than you think.) After the O-Course all you need to do is maintain an attention to detail and you will do great.
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SGT (Join to see)
Any chance you can provide some more info about the windmill technique? I'm not going to do well on the vaults...
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LTC Nancy Bodyk (Retired)
2LT (Join to see) - I'm with the rest of the group, you need to be able to climb a rope. And attitude is everything, keep a positive attitude and tell yourself you can do this.
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