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Pushing The Limit--The Value of PJOC
C/Col Danny Catino, CAP
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 | | Cadets practicing the Fireman's Carry. |
National Cadet Special Activities are the heart and soul of the cadet program; there is something for everyone. If a cadet is interested in aviation, engineering, space, leadership, honor guards, or even weather, there is a course for them. Many cadets desire to discover more than what can be read in textbooks or taught in classrooms. These cadets want to learn a never-quit attitude and a level of teamwork that cannot be taught anywhere in the Civil Air Patrol except for at the Pararescue Orientation Course.
For many years, the Pararescue Orientation Course has been sending cadets back to their units with a newfound sense of pride and accomplishment. These cadets have endured the toughest that Civil Air Patrol has to offer. At PJOC, they are taught the basics of wilderness survival, mountain rescue, and land navigation while they spend most of their time working and living outdoors. There is something more that PJOC teaches cadets, but it is not so obvious when looking at the curriculum. These cadets learn more about themselves in such a short period of time than any of them could have imagined. Many cadets go to PJOC nervous and worried that they may not make it through the course, but when they return they carry their heads high and have a new confidence about themselves. They know that nothing is out of their reach and that anything is attainable if they put their mind to it.
 | | Cadets practicing a rescue technique called "The Pickoff". |
Not only do cadets learn about themselves at PJOC, but they also learn what it means to be part of a team. This is not the same level of teamwork that can be learned at other CAP activities; the teams at PJOC are more closely knit teams than can be found anywhere else in the Civil Air Patrol. As Matt Decker, an APJOC-Land Navigation graduate said, "I've still never come across a better working team than ours two years ago, not in CAP or anywhere else." It is no accident that PJOC is the best teacher of personal insight and teamwork; it was designed to provide cadets with such qualities that are desirable in our future leaders.
 | | Cadets doing log PT |
Many wonder what it is about PJOC that causes it to produce cadets that make great all-around people. The only way to get these kinds of results out of cadets, or anyone in general, is to put them through incredibly high stress situations where they must give it everything they've got and work as a team or they will not accomplish their goal. Incredibly high stress situations are very hard to create in the cadet program of CAP because of all of the new hazing regulations and liability issues, but PJOC is able to do it. At PJOC, cadets are dropped for pushups when they make a mistake. This is not to teach leadership, but to contribute to the stress of the situation. At PJOC, every task a cadet performs must be done in seemingly unrealistic time limits and must be executed perfectly. In a real-life situation, if those tasks were to be performed too slowly, or with minor flaws, people would get hurt or possibly killed. The way that PJOC simulates this is through constant physical trials. This "simulation" is in place of a real life situation where lives are at stake. At PJOC the only thing on the line is a mere 25 pushups for a mistake that could have been fatal in a combat situation.
 | | Cadets practicing ascending. |
There has never been a real need for cadets that can coordinate a high-angle rescue attempt, so why should PJOC teach this? The answer can be found in the definition of PJOC. The course is not a CAP training exercise, but it is a Pararescue Orientation Course. Cadets who desire to attend PJOC do not wish to do so to become Ground Team qualified or to learn to work an L-Per; they go to get a taste of what Air Force Pararescue is like. The program orients cadets to Pararescue so well because the instructors are actual Air Force Pararescuemen. If this course were to be taught by anyone other than them, it would not truly be a Pararescue Orientation Course because the instructors would not be able to back what they say with actual experience. The beauty of PJOC is that the instructors are not CAP Senior Members who can hook up a rappel and teach a class on what Pararescuemen do, but they are people who do this for a living. Many of the instructors have combat experience so they can attest to the need to perform quickly and flawlessly under high-stress situations. No instructor other than an actual Air Force Pararescueman can bring to PJOC what it needs to remain such a great activity.
The most important aspects of PJOC are not written in the activity description. The training that cadets participate in at PJOC is a lot of fun and great for those who like the outdoors, but the meat of the program is not the training; it is the attitude that cadets leave with. PJOC cadets make outstanding leaders not only in CAP, but also in countless other areas, because of their team-oriented attitudes. Teamwork is not just something that sports teams use; it is applicable in nearly every situation. From a squadron of fighter pilots on a combat mission, to a business trying to reach a goal for the new quarter, teamwork is vital to success. At PJOC, cadets are taught that teamwork is "a group of individuals working together to achieve a common goal while putting aside personal desires and comforts for that team." The cadets at PJOC do not just memorize this--they live by it. There is not a single task at PJOC that can be accomplished by an individual.
 | | SrA (now SSgt) Jason Attinger, a PJOC graduate, Spaatzen, and now Pararescueman. |
Many CAP cadets desire careers in the Air Force, but before they enlist or receive a commission, they must go through Basic Training. As C/Col Chris Perrine, a PJOC graduate and Spaatz cadet, put it, "There was nothing in CAP or anywhere else that could have prepared me better for Air Force Basic Training than PJOC did." Many cadets find out what they are made of at PJOC. They find out how they deal with loud instructors barking confusing commands at them. They also learn what it is like to be dropped for pushups. These experiences prepare cadets for what they will face at any boot camp or Basic Training. PJOC graduates who go into the military go with a head start on everyone else because they have the experience needed to approach any situation with confidence and a never-quit attitude.
 | | SrA (now SSgt) Mike Herrara, one of the Pararescuemen that instructed at PJOC. |
For some cadets, PJOC is a life changing experience. It teaches cadets that a healthy and physically active lifestyle is very important. There are countless cadets who have returned home with a new desire to get in shape and eat healthy. With the current problem of obesity in the United States, programs that instill this type of attitude and drive in cadets are vital. These future leaders of America need to be motivated to keep not only themselves, but the rest of the country healthy. Not only has PJOC affected the lifestyles of thousands of cadets, it has also helped some make career choices. For many cadets, the first time they learn of Pararescue is at PJOC. There are several Pararescuemen that owe their career decision to their experiences at PJOC. A graduate of APJOC-Mountaineering 2002, Craig Patterson, said, "Without that experience (PJOC), my life now would not be a possibility." Craig is currently an Airman First Class in the Air Force, has graduated the Pararescue Indoctrination Course, and is on his way to becoming an Air Force Pararescueman.
The Pararescue Orientation Course has given so much to the cadet program of the Civil Air Patrol. Graduates of PJOC have gone on to do amazing things in CAP and in their lives and a lot of that is owed to their experiences at PJOC. The attributes that cadets return home with after PJOC are more than their tangible abilities such as rappelling and navigation; they come home with a new outlook on themselves and life. This course is one of the only places where a teenager can accomplish something that can be looked back upon and held in such high regard. There is not another place in CAP where cadets can go to be pushed beyond their preconceived mental and physical limits and learn that they are stronger people than they used to think. The people who run PJOC, and the way they run it, are responsible for all of the benefits of this course. If the course were to be run by anyone other than Air Force Pararescuemen, or if the cadets were to get any less out of the course than they have in the past, it would be a great loss for all of Civil Air Patrol. For these reasons, it is imperative that National Headquarters lets PJOC continue as it has always been run. This course is too precious to be taken away from the cadets; it must remain just as challenging and rewarding as ever.
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