By Shawn Powers
Faculty Member, Homeland Security at American Military University
Spoiler alert, this is not a movie review but if you have not seen the movie “The Guardian” you may not want to read any further.
The reality of a United States Coast Guard aviation survival technician is represented in the following sentences, “Petty Officer McCann swam to the point of exhaustion in 40 foot seas in his effort to save as many as he could. Conditions were so severe and the temperatures so cold that seawater on his facemask froze.” 1
In the movie “The Guardian,” the focus is on the United States Coast Guard aviation survival technician (AST) program, or rescue swimmers as they are more commonly known. AST’s are the brave young men and women who hoist or free fall from helicopters into dangerous, unforgiving seas to perform courageous rescues.
So just how accurate is “The Guardian”?
According to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) website, the USCG is one of the five armed forces of the United States and the only military organization within the Department of Homeland Security. Of the 50,800 active and reserve personnel, less than 300 serve as aviation survival technicians and perform search and rescue (SAR) missions.
“The Guardian” spends a lot of time focusing on the intense AST training and showing the attrition rate as candidates wash out of the program. It is reminiscent of movies like “Top Gun,” “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Men of Honor,” and “G.I. Jane.” So is this fiction or reality?
AST candidates endure physical and mental challenges that rival those facing any potential U.S. Army Special Forces, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, or Air Force Para-Rescue. The training depicted in the movie is very accurate and brings the viewer into the rigor, persistence, and dedication required in becoming a trained AST. The reality is a 50-60 percent washout rate from AST training.
An area where reality shifts to fiction is when one of the main characters, Ashton Kutcher, reports to his first assignment. We see Kutcher assigned to the USCG Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, and performing his first rescue soon after arrival. This is a misrepresentation. When an AST graduate arrives at the first duty station, he or she undergoes further training and earns certifications as an emergency medical technician, aircraft ground handler, and aircraft life support technician to name a few.
However, the movie does have rescue scenes that are representative of the real life missions that ASTs undertake. For example, during the “Storm of the Century” that raced up the Atlantic coast in March 1993, “the Coast Guard responded to numerous distress calls from Miami to Cape Cod. Coast Guard helicopters operated in the most extreme conditions imaginable, with winds in excess of 80 knots and seas up to 60 feet.” 3
So just how accurate is “The Guardian” to reality in the Department of Homeland Security? This movie does very well to represent the role of the USCG AST. The movie does well to paint an accurate portrayal of the training and requirements to become a USCG AST.
References:
1. Richard M. Wright, USCG (Ret.). U. S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program. Retrieved from: http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/USCG_Rescue_Swimmer_History.asp
2. United States Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security. (2013). About Us: Overview of the United States Coast Guard. Retrieved from: http://www.uscg.mil/top/about/
3. Richard M. Wright, USCG (Ret.). U. S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program. Retrieved from: http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/USCG_Rescue_Swimmer_History.asp
About the Author:
Shawn Powers is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces First Sergeant, AMU Professor, Entrepreneur, and Government employee specializing in Crisis Management, Counter Terrorism, and CWMD technologies. Mr. Powers has a M.A. in Business Organizational Security Management and is currently a doctoral candidate. Mr. Powers has vast experience working with the Special Operations community like those depicted in The Guardian.
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