Air Assault
Course Description:
A helicopter can't land everywhere. Where it can't, the team gets to the ground by fast rope, quickly and without wasting time in a hover. At Air Assault you will learn this step by step, from a special training tower to fast roping from a hovering helicopter.
Air Assault is a two-day course in inserting a tactical team using a Eurocopter EC135 helicopter. On the first day you will learn how helicopters are used in tactical and rescue operations, how to move safely in and around one and how to communicate with the crew by voice and hand signals. You will prepare a landing zone, guide the helicopter in to land and get to know personal safety equipment. You will practice fast roping on a specialized training tower, then come boarding, organization inside, fast roping from a helicopter sitting on the ground with the engines off and tactical movement after insertion.
On the second day you fast rope from a hovering helicopter at various heights from 3 to 10 meters and insert the whole team into the field, where a prepared tactical or medical scenario awaits you. You don't have to buy any tactical gear, and you train with inert training replica weapons, which we provide free of charge.
We never have more than 8 students per instructor, so everyone gets real attention. Over 230 students have completed this course.
Choose a date in the calendar below.
Who Is This Course For:
For anyone who wants to try a helicopter insertion: soldiers, reservists, members of tactical and rescue services, and civilians interested in tactics. The course has no prerequisites, but expect physical strain and work at height.
What You Will Learn:
After two days you know how helicopters are used in tactical and rescue operations and how to move safely in and around them. You can communicate with the crew by voice and hand signals, prepare a landing zone and guide the helicopter in to land. You can use personal safety equipment, board and organize yourselves inside, and fast rope, first on the training tower and from a helicopter with the engines off, then from a hovering helicopter at heights from 3 to 10 meters. And you know how to continue tactical movement after insertion, and you have taken part in inserting a team into the field for a tactical or medical scenario.
Contents:
Day 1: basic theory on the use of helicopters in tactical and rescue operations, safety in and around helicopters, verbal and non-verbal signals for communicating with the helicopter crew, guiding the helicopter in to land and preparing landing zones, using personal safety equipment, fast rope practice on a special training tower, practicing boarding, organization and movement inside and fast roping from a helicopter sitting on the ground with the engines off, tactical movement after insertion.
Day 2: fast rope training from a hovering helicopter at various heights of 3–10 meters above the ground and inserting the team into the field for a prepared tactical or medical scenario.
Required Equipment:
Tactical clothing or a combat uniform and solid outdoor or duty footwear (both suited to the current weather and outdoor temperatures), fast rope gloves, a work seat harness or full-body harness, protective glasses, a protective helmet, a belt, or a plate carrier or any full ballistic vest, magazine pouches and knee pads. Above all, come to the course in clothing and gear that match your everyday carry or work as closely as possible, without having to buy any tactical gear. It is not required on this course.
If you would like to try modern ballistic gear, click on your chosen course date and you can rent one of the plate carriers on offer, including ballistic plates, or a top-of-the-line Galvion ballistic helmet.
Weapon:
We will provide you free of charge with our inert training replica weapons.
Tactical Courses and the Law:
Czech law does not regulate participation in tactical courses in any way. You don't need any permit, and it doesn't matter whether you are a citizen of the Czech Republic, another EU country or a country outside the EU. Czech law sets no fixed minimum age, but a minor participant must be reasonably mature, both mentally and physically. We do not recommend registering children under 15 for a course this intensive.
Timing:
Class starts at 9:00 am. Please arrive at the venue no later than 8:30–8:45 am. The course usually ends around 4:00 pm, with a 30-minute lunch break during the day.
Venue:
We run our courses at various locations across the Czech Republic. You will find the exact venue for each date in the calendar, just click on the date. For multi-day courses that use more than one location, all venues are listed there.
Please check the venue carefully before booking. The same course often runs at different locations on different dates. Every now and then a student books a date expecting it to be at our home base, the Oleško shooting range, only to find out on the day that the course is taking place in Moravia, some 300 km away. To avoid this, always click on the date before booking and check where that particular date takes place.
Language:
Czech with English translation available.
Accommodation and Food:
Accommodation is not included in the course fee, each participant arranges and pays for it themselves. There is a 30-minute lunch break, so bring food that doesn't need cooking or ordering, such as an Adventure Menu type ration, an MRE or food from home, and enough to drink for the whole day.
Where to Go Next:
The direct follow-up is
Air Assault Advanced, where you fast rope from a helicopter hovering over water onto the deck of a moving tactical boat. You can then develop teamwork on the boat at
River Operations, with silent infiltration and exfiltration, emergency extraction under fire and reacting to contact from the shore. If you want to shoot from the helicopter as well, continue with
Aerial Platform Operations, where you shoot a rifle from a helicopter in a hover, during air taxiing and on firing passes over the targets;
Dynamic Rifle 1 is required. You will learn classic rappelling with a descender, knots and rescuing a person on the rope at
Tactical Rappelling, and put it to use rappelling onto a balcony or terrace and entering through windows at
Tactical Rappelling Advanced. And since teams are also inserted into medical scenarios,
Combat LifeSaver is a good fit too, where you learn to apply a tourniquet, treat torso injuries and perform the initial assessment of a casualty.
Have a Question?
You will find answers to the most common questions in our
Questions and Answers section. Didn't find what you were looking for? Write or call us using any of our
contacts, we will be happy to help.
Air Assault Video Clip:
On our YouTube channel you can watch a
video clip from the Air Assault course. You will see how the course runs and what fast roping from a hovering helicopter looks like.
Got everything you need? Choose a date below and don't forget to check where your chosen date takes place.
