would be inserted to search for personnel who were being forced to escape and evade; in such cases the mission might last for days. The Pararescue teams racked up an impressive record; during the conflict only 19 Airmen were awarded the Air Force Cross. Ten of those were awarded to Pararescuemen. Modern era Pararescuemen have continued to play an integral part in the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror and beyond. Deploying with other Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams, Pararescuemen continue to fight and save lives on the battlefield. Training and structure The process of becoming a "PJ" is known informally as "Superman School". Almost two years long, it's among the longest special operations training courses in the world. It also has one of the highest training attrition rates in the entire U.S. special operations community, at around 80%. Pararescue trainees are first required to pass the Special Warfare Preparatory Course and Special Warfare Assessment and Selection at Lackland AFB (replacing the previous Pararescue Indoctrination Course). Following that is a long string of courses including Combat Dive School, Army Airborne, National Registry for Paramedic, Survival (SERE-C), and Military Free-fall Parachutist. Upon completing the aforementioned, a pararescue trainee is required to then complete the Pararescue Apprentice Course, which combines all the prior skills and adds a few more. Once a Pararescueman has completed the pipeline, he is assigned to a Rescue or Special Tactics team as per the needs of the Air Force. Graduates assigned to Rescue Squadrons will receive on-the-job operational upgrade training. Graduates assigned to Special Tactics Squadrons attend portions of Advanced Skills Training at the Special Tactics Training Squadron along with Air Force Combat Controllers in order to complete most of their operational upgrade training. Special Warfare Preparatory Course (SW Prep), Lackland AFB, Texas (8 Weeks) This course is designed to give candidates the best possible chance of getting through selection. They are coached in collegiate-level strength/conditioning, running, swimming, nutrition, physical therapy, and other specialties. This course is currently only for Non-Prior Service Airmen, while Prior Service Airmen attend a condensed 2-week course. — Indoctrination Course (currently A&S) Training Gear is essentially made up of a high volume face mask, a silicone snorkel, rocket fins and booties. The mask and snorkel are key throughout training, being used in water confidence training such as water inserted into the mask throughout the training, simulating