Aviation Survival Training Center (ASTC) Pensacola sent one of its instructors to the Army's Basic Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia, to learn and share parachute training practices.

Lt. Joshua Muffett, department head of Aviation Water Survival at ASTC Pensacola, completed the Army's Basic Airborne Course (BAC), a three-week class designed to teach Soldiers the techniques involved in parachuting from airplanes and landing safety.

Muffett kept a journal during the course with entries for each day of the course to help him better retain processes and techniques he intends to implement at ASTC Pensacola.

"Now that I see how the Army does things, I see how we can improve things here," said Muffett.

ASTC Pensacola has sent enlisted personnel to BAC in the past, but as a high-level instructor, Muffett is now able to teach best-practice methods to fellow instructors and ASTC students alike.

"Having instructors go through the course allows ASTC staff like me to remain subject matter experts," said Muffett.

Muffett explained that both ASTC Pensacola and the BAC teach a similar curriculum, but one difference he wants to implement at his command is directly based on how the Army trains.

During the ASTC course, students in parachute harnesses are dragged by four personnel on the ground to simulate harsh jumping and landing situations.

"The Army was using only two personnel instead of four due to their gear being modified to reduce wear and tear," said Muffett.

The modified gear consisted of a simple metal sled that was placed under the student. Muffett said that using this sled could help these training scenarios require less manpower, reduce cost of replacing gear and potentially increase safety.

Muffett also said the device would not affect the realism of the training, suppressing any concerns of major changes to the course. Finding alterations like this was Muffett's main goal when he left for BAC. Now that he is back, he continues to work on ideas from both the Navy and Army courses to make sure his command stays at the forefront of Navy medicine education and training.

"Is what we are teaching the best way?" asked Muffett. "How can we make it better?"

ASTC Pensacola is headquartered by Naval Survival Training Institute, a detachment of Navy Medicine Operational Training Center (NMOTC). NMOTC and its detachments are part of the Navy Medicine team, a global health care network of Navy medical professionals around the world, who provide high-quality health care to more than 1 million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ships, in the air, under the sea, and on the battlefield.

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