Email   Print   Share By Spc. Amy Lane, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

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JROTC cadets practice ACU flotation techniques during a drownproofing class taught by Soldiers with the 418th Trans. Co., 49th MC Bn., 4th Sust. Bde., in the Wrangler Pool June 13 at Fort Hood. Spc. Amy Lane, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

JROTC cadets encourage one of their own to jump in the pool during a drownproofing class taught by Soldiers with 418th Trans. Co., 49th MC Bn., 4th Sust. Bde., in the Wrangler Pool June 13 at Fort Hood. Spc. Amy Lane, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

Soldiers with the 418th Transportation Company, 49th Movement Control Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade taught a drownproofing class to a group of high school students participating in a cadet leadership

challenge at Fort Hood June 13.

The Soldiers, who recently attended the drownproofing class with their unit, volunteered to pass their skills on to the 175 cadets, who came from 10 high schools throughout Texas to attend a weeklong camp at Fort Hood for students involved in their school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

The purpose of drownproof training is to take away fear by building confidence in and around the water, and teach basic safety procedures to survive in water. The training was broken up into four stations: Army Combat Uniform flotation, water entry, treading water and advanced swim strokes.

“This is the Army’s future right here,” Staff Sgt. Frantz Gourge, a squad leader with 418th Trans. Co., said. “I’m glad I have the opportunity to do this.”

Gourge taught a group of cadets who were inexperienced swimmers, and some others who couldn’t swim at all. He gained their trust until they were jumping into the pool and paddling around the shallow end.

“I have kids, so it comes easy,” he said. “If you get down to their level, they listen to you and trust you.”

Sgt. Brian Moore, a team leader with the 418th Trans. Co., emphasized the safety precautions that were taken. There were five instructors in the pool with the cadets and several lifeguards on hand to keep an eye on the cadets.

“Most of these guys are strong swimmers,” he said. “But we’re keeping weaker swimmers in the shallow end in case they have any trouble.”

The cadets broke up into two groups for the training. While half were in the pool, the other half received first aid training just outside the pool area.

“It’s an opportunity for the cadets to interact with kids from other high schools, and many of the kids have never spent time around Soldiers before,”

Lt. Col. Len Tatum, the senior Army instructor for the JROTC program at Killeen High School, said.

“The local kids are used to the Army, but for those who came from towns far from Killeen, any armored vehicle is a tank. This is a great opportunity for them.”

Moore, who helped teach his company’s drownproofing class recently, said the main difference in teaching the cadets was how much they enjoyed it.

“For them, it’s not just training, it’s fun,” he said. “They definitely seemed to enjoy it more than the Soldiers. I’m having a blast too, spending the afternoon in the swimming pool instead of the motor pool.”