Crawfordsville firefighter/paramedic Seth McCloud lives to push himself and recently he became the 77th member of a very special elite group in Indiana called the Smoke Diver Association.
The association is the elite of the elite for Indiana firefighters — a six-day course where the firefighters are put through mental and physical hardships in an attempt to sharpen their skills and situational awareness.
“It’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” McCloud said.
The week is comprised of 60 to 80 hours the most intense training a firefighter can go through.
A typical day entailed an hour of physical training, followed by a 16-stage obstacle course (both events in full turnout gear.) Then they removed the fire-fighting gear so they could go on a four to five mile run before returning to gear up and go through various training drills.
“The drills were different each day,” the eight-year veteran of the Crawfordsville Fire Department said. “There was a lot of fire, a lot of heat and very intense in nature.”
The purpose of the training is to prepare the firefighters to be at the peak of his or her game at all times.
“It’s like if we get a call at 3 a.m. and maybe we have already had 20 runs that day,” McCloud said. “We have to be at our peak at all times. This could be the run where there is someone hanging out of a second or third-story window and we have to be ready for that.”
Throughout the week of training, the firefighters go through intense training. They are sleep deprived. They have to be ready for everything.
This is all after they have completed a rigorous application process.
That process begins with a lengthy personal resume. If that is accepted, the applicants must participate in a mile-and-a-half timed run, a 16-stage obstacle course and a 50 question written exam that the applicant has to score 80% or better. That is all completed the day before the course begins.
This year’s class started out with 28 members and it graduated 17. The class is offered once a year and has been offered to Indiana firefighters every year since 2013. To date there are only 80 successful candidates that have completed the course.
This class originally began in Georgia. It is now available in Indiana, Oklahoma and Georgia.
“It’s the pinnacle class for those in fire service,” McCloud said.
Why put yourself through this type of boot camp?
“I had a friend at the Westfield Fire Department who went through it last year,” McCloud said. “It is the pinnacle class for those in fire service and I just wanted to push myself and see if I could do it.”
That decision meant he went on a four-month intense training program that include lots of push-up, burpees and stair work – all in full gear.
The training is so intense that once at the class they are encouraged to eat as much as 5,000 calories a day because of the amount of energy they are exerting. Of course, hydration is preached as well and even so, things don’t always go as planned.
“On the fourth day I passed out,” McCloud said. “I got an IV and got right back into it. Anything you missed you had to make up, so I had about 45 minutes of training I had to make up. They don’t give anyone a free pass. If you fall below their standards they boot you out.”
The “Hell Week” was worth it according to McCloud.
“It’s the most intense thing I have ever attempted,’ he said. “There are people who try several times to complete this and for me to do so on my first attempt really humbled me. It’s quite an honor to be part of such a very small group that have graduate this course. It’s one of the most rewarding, yet humbling experiences of my life.”
Crawfordsville Fire Chief Scott Busenbark is just as proud of his firefighter.
“We are super proud of Seth,” Busenbark said. “Seth is the first person to go attend and complete this course from our department. We just couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Both Busenbark and McCloud know that this experience will only help the entire department.
“We are very proud that Seth elected to push himself and do this,” Busenbark said. “I hope this inspires some of our younger firefighters to attempt it. It gives them someone to look up to and to inspire to be like.”
McCloud is more than ready to share what he has learned.
“We learned so much in the areas of self-survival, team building, search-and-rescue and advanced search-and-rescue,” he said. “I want to bring that back and share that with everyone so that our department becomes that much better.”
