My good friend “Mountain “ Mel Deweese was a Navy SERE instructor for several years during his Navy career, He told me several stories about the course and its effects on the aviators who attended the school. It sounded like a program I would avoid if possible but would attend as a part of mission readiness.
Over the past few years I have been hearing stories also about the “Torture” going on in the Army course – everything from water boarding to being choked out. I was a soldier for several years and know 1st hand how a lot of soldiers will embellish on a story to make it seem harder than it really was.
I’m not saying the Army SERE school is easy; or any military SERE school for that matter, But id have to experience it for myself to truly believe it is tough.
From what I have found in my research there are schools in the Army, Navy/Marine corps, and the Air Force. I’m kind of partial to the USAF Sere instructor school and wish that I had known this job existed in the military before I enlisted in the U.S. Army and wasted the better part of my youth in Combat arms career fields.
Anyhoo, here is a little Info I found on the U.S. Military SERE programs.
I am dedicating this post to my friend “Iowa woodsman” who was a USAF SERE Instructor and to my friend “Mountain Mel” both continue to inspire me today.
Tomahawk – Scouts out!
SERE is a United States military acronym for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, a program that provides military personnel, Department of Defense civilians and private military contractors with training in evading capture, survival skills and the military code of conduct. Established by the United States Air Force at the end of the Korean War (1950-53), it was extended during the Vietnam War (1959-75) to the Army and Navy. Most higher level SERE students are aircrew and special operations soldiers considered to be at high risk of capture.
The NAVY SERE uniform patch:The depicted SERE patch is said to have the following symbolic significance: the color green represents freedom; the patch is halved with a yellow strip to signify that survival, evasion, resistance and escape all require caution, with the knife the basic survival tool; the severed barbed wire represents captivity but freedom regained; the word tiger in Chinese alludes to the Here be dragons/tigers legend found on early maps; finally, the black surround honors symbolically those who have died on active service.
Curriculum:The curriculum has three key parts: survival and evasion; resistance and escape; and water survival; some parts are classified.
Survival and evasion:Most of SERE training focuses on survival and evasion. Skills taught include woodcraft, and wilderness survival in all types of climate. This includes what is known as emergency first aid, a variant of the battlefield variety, land navigation, camouflage techniques, methods of evasion, communication protocols and how to make improvised tools. This list is by no means comprehensive, and some of what is taught is classified secret.
Resistance and escape:Training on how to survive and resist the enemy in the event of capture is largely based on the experiences of past US and allied prisoners of war. Most of this aspect of the course is secret. Several official websites, however, give a general overview. Official sources insist that SERE students are not themselves taught how to apply coercive techniques, but are taught how to resist them if captured.
Water survival:How to survive in water is taught at a separate Professional Military Education (PME) course; it takes two days and is typically attended after the main SERE course. In addition to training in the use of aquatic survival gear, more academic skills include first aid tailored to an aquatic environment, communication protocols, ocean ecology, and equipment maintenance.
Code of conduct:SERE training is intended, above all, to provide students with the skills needed to live up to the US military code of conduct when in uncertain or hostile environments. It is recited as follows:
- I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
- I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender those under my command while they still have the means to resist.
- If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
- If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.
- When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
- I will never forget that I am an American, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.
LEVELS:Level A: Entry level training. These are the Code of Conduct mandatory classes taken by all at induction (recruit training and OCS). All service personnel get this basic training annually.
Level B: For those operating or expected to operate forward of the division rear boundary and up to the forward line of own troops (FLOT). Normally limited to aircrew of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Level B focuses on survival and evasion, with resistance in terms of initial capture. Because of reports of captured British sailors being broken easily as a result of lack of resistance training, the U.S. Air Force now requires all aircrew to receive Level B SERE training.
Level C: For troops at a high risk of capture and whose position, rank or seniority make them vulnerable to greater than average exploitation efforts by any captor. Level C focuses on resistance in terms of prison camps and serious military interrogation.
Level D: For aircrews, but more recently phased out; what would have been SERE-D students in future undergo SERE-C training at Fairchild (see below).
MILITARY COURSES:
AIR FORCE:The primary Air Force SERE training center is at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington; training for Level “C” medical aircrew is conducted at Brooks City-Base, Texas until the planned course closure 30 September 2009. The Air Force conducts arctic survival training at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and parachute water survival training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
SERE training was also conducted at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs from the late 1960s until 1995, at which time the resistance/escape element of the course was abolished (see Controversies below), leaving the survival and evasion classes in a program called Combat Survival Training (CST). The academy discontinued CST entirely in 2005, but has more recently announced the reinstatement of the program, including some portions of resistance training, in summer 2008.
Army:The Army’s two SERE schools are at Camp Mackall, North Carolina (25 miles SW of Fort Bragg) and Fort Rucker, Alabama. The former is run by the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS). The program began in 1981 under the supervision of LTC James “Nick” Rowe, a Special Forces officer and author of Five Years to Freedom who suffered under Viet Cong captors in South Vietnam for 62 months before his escape. All details pertaining to SERE at USAJFKSWCS and U.S. Army Special Forces involvement are classified information.
The Fort Rucker SERE school is at the Army Aviation Warfare Center, near Daleville, Alabama. Its 21-day course is one of several prerequisites for aspiring pilots wishing to enter the Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW), or initial Army Aviator training. It is designed mainly for student pilots and aircrew, and run by cadre of 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment.
Navy/Marine Corps:https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/csf/
Level A is taught to recruits and candidates in Officer Candidate School and the Recruit Depots, or under professional military education.
Level B at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, California, and at the North Training Area, Camp Gonsalves, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
Level C is held at Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine at the Navy Remote Training Site, Rangeley, and at Naval Air Station North Island, California at the Navy Remote Training Site, Warner Springs. This installation provides ‘Code of Conduct’ that is necessary for MAGTF Recon, Navy SEALs, and Navy SWCC. As the “eyes” and “ears” of the commander, they carry knowledge of sensitive battlefield information.
The training encompasses those basic skills necessary for worldwide survival, facilitating search and rescue efforts, evading capture by hostile forces, resistance to interrogation, exploitation and indoctrination, and escape from detention by enemy forces. It is based on and reinforces the values expressed in the Code of Conduct while maintaining an appropriate balance of sound educational methodology and realistic/stressful training scenarios.
Additional survival training in Level C Code of Conduct may include the five-day Peacetime Detention and Hostage Survival (PDAHS) course. This training provides the skills to survive captivity by a hostile government or terrorist cell during peacetime.
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