Chapter 150: Chapter 150 Let's Go Wild in Africa
Joe Ga felt a bit solemn as he entered the training.
Now just the preliminary training for combat diving was overwhelming Joe Ga. How formidable must those be who repeat underwater demolition training yearly just to renew their contracts?
Joe Ga didn't know if his country had teams of this caliber. He felt there should be, given the large population, but he guessed he would never get to see them.
The training lasted for two days, with sessions in the morning and evening, each lasting three hours.
This so-called preliminary training shattered some people's sanities, not only screening out nearly half of the candidates but also significantly improving the swimming skills of Joe Ga and all participants.
Tony almost drowned during the final diving phase on the second day. According to Vito, after leaving here, there wasn't a river that could drown him.
Out of 64 who came for the selection, only 26 remained. Excluding the cook Old Bull and Tony, the remaining 24 could form three enhanced assault squads or four reconnaissance squads of six each.
Joe Ga didn't interfere; he just focused on his training, allowing them to get to know one another during training and naturally form teams.
The obsessive-compulsive style of even team distribution didn't apply here. Forcing them together could have the opposite effect, so letting them choose for themselves was the best approach.
Sanderson and Hemostat naturally teamed up with the four from Diamond.
Azerbaijan's 'BOS' gave up on pursuing a team formation with the Sri Lanka Reconnaissance Assault Team after their initial attempt failed and started waiting for others to approach them.
Honestly, anyone who persisted to this point was among the elites of elites anywhere. But even among these elites, the trio from Sri Lanka stood out.
Lean, silent, serious, and brimming with a murderous aura!
Karman said they were very formidable, but couldn't specify how; he just added that he might not fare well against them three-on-one in the jungle.
This old fellow suddenly adopting such a fresh and refined air took Joe Ga by surprise.
However, by now Joe Ga was beginning to react. During the entire selection process, Sanderson was universally acknowledged as the most formidable without even needing to look at the training results—his resume stood out above everyone else's.
The Sri Lankan trio was formidable, but they weren't in a position to be compared with Karman and Sanderson.
Their overt murderous aura was a clear indicator of prolonged high-tension combat exposure, but compared to Karman and Sanderson, they lacked a certain easiness.
To laypeople, Karman and Sanderson might just seem like an elderly African American man with graying temples and a down-on-his-luck cowboy, but those in the know feel a chill in their hearts at the sight of them.
This thing you can't quite name might just be the aura of masters among masters.
The medic 'Hemostatic Forceps' was also remarkably formidable, more so than Joe Ga had expected.
This selection made Joe Ga feel like he had stumbled upon a treasure. Although there weren't many left, he felt that raising the standard was worthwhile as it made the team more combat-effective.
There's a saying, isn't there? The shortest plank decides how much water a bucket can hold.
A team of people with similar standards has a longer life span.
After the selection, Joe Ga spent the most painful 15 days of his life in the combat diving training!
To take care of his cousin, the instructor Vito secretly increased the intensity of the training, adding the technical content and intensity typical of special forces to the civilian version of the training.
Of the 26 who remained, only 17 volunteered for this combat diving training, which was considered a benefit. Those who didn't participate had similar experiences and didn't want to suffer through it again.
These 17 people followed their new boss and experienced a comprehensive hell.
For an idea of how painful it was, one could refer to the infamous waterboarding exposed at Guantanamo Bay Prison.
They were drowning daily, each day experiencing near-death due to lack of oxygen.
Twice daily drown-proofing survival training involved being bound hands and feet with nylon straps, requiring them to swim up and down continuously for five minutes in deep water without escaping the bindings.
Then float on the water surface for two minutes.
Followed by swimming a lap around the pool with hands and feet tied.
After completing the lap, they would return to the deep part of the pool to perform a forward somersault and a backward somersault at the pool bottom.
Then they had to locate a discarded diving mask at the bottom of the pool and do five surface breaches while holding the mask in their mouths.
During this, they could not escape from the nylon straps nor let the diving mask fall from their mouths.
Initially, Joe Ga was quite confident, but when he had to hold the diving mask in his mouth, preventing him from breathing, he frequently broke free from the nylon straps, interrupting the training.
Had a soldier done this, the only outcome would have been elimination.
Fortunately, Joe Ga was a civilian participant and had paid sufficiently, allowing the instructors, led by Vito, to be very patient.
As time passed, Joe Ga learned to control his fear during the daily routine of drown-proof survival training. Once fear was manageable, the instinctive tension his body produced due to fear began to lessen.
Because only when his body was naturally relaxed could he undergo the training without swallowing water; even if his heartbeat surged past 90, he would inevitably experience the agony of choking on water.