Basic Airborne School (BAC)
Location: Ft. Benning, Georgia.
The Basic Airborne Course is a three-week training program conducted by the Airborne Department, USAIC, Fort Benning, GA that trains students the use of the parachute as a means of combat deployment. Successful completion qualifies cadets to wear the Parachutist Badge.
You begin your first week on the ground, learning the basics of parachute landings, and start a vigorous training program. During the second week, called tower week, proper exiting of the plane will be mastered. As a cadet, you will be then given the opportunity to parachute from a 250 foot high tower. The third and final week is the jump week. Cadets make five jumps from either a C-130 or C-141, including one night jump and two combat jumps with full combat gear.
Air Assault School (AAS)
Location: Ft. Campbell, Kentucky
The AAS is a 10 day course of instruction that trains cadets on Combat Assault Operations involving associated equipment and U.S. Army rotary-wing aircraft. Successful completion qualifies cadets to wear the Air Assault Badge.
This is available at a number of installations, but the largest is located at the air assault home of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. This eleven day course is very demanding both physically and mentally, involving obstacle courses and several long ruck marches. You will learn the basics of aircraft familiarization and recognition, sling-load operations, and rappelling.
Pre-Combat Diver Qualification Course (Pre-CDQC)
Location: Key West, Florida
The most highly selective program available to cadets, the Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC) has less than fifteen cadet slots each year. This means that they only select the best of the best cadets. The training is physically and mentally exhausting, so preparation above and beyond the basic requirements of the school is mandatory. To get accepted into CDQC, one must complete a Pre-CDQC course. Pre-CDQC training includes an APFT and pool events, including a 25 meter sub-surface swim, a 50 meter sub-surface swim, clump retrieval, two minute water tread, weight belt swim, underwater knot tying, ditching and dawning of equipment, treading water for five minutes with a weight belt and twin 80 air cylinders, and drown proofing.
Mountain Warfare School (MWS)
Location: Jericho, Vermont
A two-week program conducted at the Ethan Allen Firing Range, Jericho, VT. The course teaches cadets the skills needed to operate in a mountainous environment during the summer and fall.
Mountain Warfare introduces you to the techniques and tactics required to operate in a mountainous environment under hostile conditions. The emphasis is on field exercises where you learn mountain-related skills. The instruction includes advanced navigational training, special mobility training (with special operations forces mountaineering equipment), and mountain tactical instruction.
Jungle Operations Training Course (JOTC)
Location: Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
The Jungle Operations Training Course (JOTC) spans 20 (day zero included) days through which students execute a 19-day program of instruction. Subjects focus on jungle mobility training, waterborne operations, combat tracking, jungle tactics, survival training and situational training exercises at the squad level. Graduates of JOTC learn tactics, techniques, and procedures required to fight, win, and survive within any tropical jungle environment. The course consists of three weeks of training following the crawl, walk, run methodology embedded within each activity as well as the overall training path.