History of commandos:
"The objective for weak and non-swimmers was to survive if the landing craft sank. The better swimmers were taught rescue techniques. All RCTs rotated through the division amphibious training site as well as the live-fire training areas."
Are you a Jocko Willink fan too???
I recall in college taking a PE course that was called survival swimming.
I was told it was a holdover from WW2 to address too many servicemen drowning. The final included a jump from the high dive (to simulate jumping off the sinking ship), followed by an underwater swim (to simulate getting away from the burning oil on the surface surrounding the ship), and then swimming a number of laps and treading water for what seemed a crazy long time (to simulate waiting for the lifeboat to pick you up). We also had to use our pants for a makeshift life preserver. I'm sure there was more, but that's all I recall at the moment.
I think they finally retired that course from the mandatory list...
