Area man trains to become Coast Guard guardian

Published 10:07 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

After weeks of commercial previews and advertisements, a lot of people have at least heard of the movie “The Guardian” starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. The film is about a famed Coast Guard rescue swimmer (Cost-ner) who is assigned to teach at the Coast Guard “A” School and inspires a rookie (Kutcher) to learn the true meaning of heroism and sacrifice. Some may be making plans to go see the film, but as a recently graduated helicopter rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard, Paul Goldenberger of North Bend has first-hand experience.

Like others in his class, the real 55-06 (the same number was used for the squadron in “The Guardian”), Goldenberg-er has high hopes about the movie.

“If it’s done well, it will help people understand what we do,” he said.

In most cases, when Goldenberger tells people he’s in the Coast Guard, they ask what he does. So he tells them.

“They don’t really understand,” he said.

People don’t realize what it takes to get into the program, or how hard it is to get through. He’s hoping that after seeing the movie, people will finally get the idea.

“If it’s done poorly, it will be an insult to us,” he said.

Fortunately, that’s not a big concern. During the time he was in training, the director and crew of the movie came to the training center in Elizabeth City, N.C., to get a first-hand look at the process.

“It made such an impact,” said Goldenberger. “They really just got locked on. They wanted to do justice to the helicopter rescue swimmers.”

A couple of his instructors are actually in the movie. That gave the instructors some influence over the accuracy and validity of the film. The crew did create a few extra scenes not actually done in training, such as the ice pool scene. Overall, the instructors told him the movie will be pretty accurate, Goldenberger said.

Having been in the Coast Guard for four years and about nine months, Goldenberger’s interest began when he was a sophomore at Mount Si High School. His uncle, a police officer in Arcada, Calif., set up a tour at the Coast Guard station near Arcada.

“The helicopter rescue swimmers received us and told us about the job,” said Goldenberger. They gave him a tour of the facility and showed him some of the things they do. “I walked out of there and I just knew.”

Goldenberger graduated from high school in 2001. He joined the Coast Guard on Jan. 8, 2002, as a non-rate, or someone without schooling. He went through Coast Guard bootcamp and was then stationed in Puerto Rico on a 110-foot patrol boat. Right away, he put his name on a list to get into aviation survival technician (AST) school. After a year and four months on the boat, he was transferred to the air station in North Carolina where he started his four-month program.

“When you get there, you have to be 100 percent dedicated,” he said.

During the first week, training is hard. Trainees have to be at a designated area by 7 a.m. for physical training (PT), which involves pull-ups, sit-ups, sprints and more.

“You’re PTing like crazy,” Goldenberger said. “It’s pretty amazing how hard you train.”

After a couple of hours, trainees get a break to eat, then it’s time for the pool for more physical training. That includes pool sprints, long distance, treading water while holding a brick and underwater drills such as swimming from one end of the pool to the other with only a certain amount of time to breath between lengths.

Next is academic class. Rescuers learn to deal with compliant, active or aggressive survivors. They are also taught how to jump from a helicopter, search for a rescue device, put the survivor in and check the survivor for injuries.

Goldenberger didn’t last long. During the first week, he began falling behind. It was too much pressure for him, so he quit.

“I thought, ‘Man, I’m not ready for this,'” Goldenberger said.

With a drop out rate of 50 percent, he was one of many who quit.

“It’s more mental than physical,” he said. “A lot of people who can physically handle it, can’t mentally.”

The rescuers have to be comfortable not being able to breath; being under water, he said. That gets to most people. The instructors give trainees worst-case scenarios: struggling against them, sometimes pulling them under water, but it’s necessary. It gives rescuers all the basic knowledge and understanding to succeed. It gives them the foundation to be put in any sort of situation. As soon as the swimmer leaves the aircraft, “It’s on his shoulders, it’s up to you to control the situation,” said Goldenberger. The instructors won’t send rescuers out unless they’re ready to handle it.

Since he quit, a fault disenrollment, he couldn’t apply to go back to AST school for at least a year, so he was sent back to non-rate detail on a 210-foot cutter (large ship) in Miami. Back to square one, he was depressed, frustrated and at the darkest stage of his life. But that’s where his faith kicked in, he said.

“I put my faith in the hands of Christ,” he said. “I prayed he would bring me back up to my feet. Here I am … I’m really thankful for the way it worked out. It made me stronger.”

Through the recommendations of many people, and after a year and eight months, Goldenberger got back to AST school. This time, he was even more determined and after four long and arduous months, he graduated Sept. 8, 2006.

On vacation now, Goldenberger starts emergency medical technician training Oct. 16 for three weeks, another requirement to be a helicopter rescue swimmer. Then he gets to start duty. In addition to rescues, he’ll have to maintain the rescue emergency equipment on the helicopter such as the rafts, survival vests, flares and the flotation devices used to keep the helicopter from sinking in the case of a crash.

“I’m really excited. It’s been a dream for seven years,” he said.