My Husband: The Superhero

Seriously, my husband has some unusual powers. Not only is he superdad, he also has amazing powers of the unknown. Because of his recent transfer he's been asked to take several Navy survival training courses and tests before riding on any Naval aircrafts. About two months ago, he had his first class and "exam". This particular one was a water test. For the exam, he was taken to a pool where he was given a physical exam in the water, consisting of obstacles and maneauvers while underwater and fully clothed (with boots on too). The one particular situation was that he was strapped to a chair, that was then put in the pool and put upside-down and he had to get out of the straps, swim to a hatch and open it. All without drowning... And then he had to do it (and all the other tests) again, blindfolded. Out of 13 who started the exam together, only 3 passed the first part, and those three went on to complete the exam as well. Ken was one of those three.

This week he has a second class and exam that he must endure for the Navy. This is pressure training. He learns about pressure drops and how to administer his mask if he senses the pressure drop in his body. They teach him how to detect a problem within himself and then to put a mask on before he has a problem. Today was training and a "test". He said that he watched a group do their test and then he was in the second group. How it went was this... they breathed in pure oxygen for 30 minutes, so they wouldn't get the bends afterwards. Then they were put in a pressure chamber where they were in a simulated situation of being at 25000 feet in the air. Then, they began to feel the pressure loss. Once at that point they could choose to put on their mask, but the point of the training is to feel the effects of the pressure and THEN to put your mask on. During the "free time" the instuctor asks them questions. The idea is that when you are too deprived of oxygen at that height, you begin to not process correctly and some don't even communicate at all. Ken said that he saw a guy who was unable to count backwards by 3's and stopped communicating. And the others had to put his mask on for him. Another guy was asked to put his arms out straight in front of him and "navigate" himself to the right, which he successfully did. Then he was asked to navigate a "descend", which should have caused him to move his arms in a downward position, he couldn't. He was frozen in his right position.

Then it came to Ken's group. They dropped the pressure and the test begins. He was questioned by the instructor who asked him a couple of questions. He was sure to say more than a yes or no answer (as the brain tends to shut down with pressure loss). He was asked if he was good at math and he said "Not really. I try to use a calculator when ever possible." Silly husband!! Ken was the last one in his group to need his mask. The instructor had to finally just ask him to put his mask on! All in all, the first day went well. He has his "exam" tomorrow and will be asked to do the same sort of things.

Hopefully he'll do even better tomorrow. He's gone to bed early tonight and been drinking tons of water (as the low pressure depletes your body). Hopefully he'll be ready in the morning for a long drive (about an hour and a half - again) and his exam. Praying for my superhero hubby!!