Here's how the Air Force trains its pilots to survive, evade, resist, and escape when behind enemy lines
"I joined the Air Force and spent my first three years as an F-15 crew chief," said Tech Sgt. Timothy Emkey, 366th Fighter Wing SERE specialist. "I cross-trained to because I wanted to do something more challenging and outside of the norm."
SERE specialists teach multiple courses and hold yearly and monthly refreshers with other military personnel to ensure they know what's required to survive in a deployed environment and to better their knowledge and skills on what to do if they have to bail out.
One of these trainings is combat skills training (CST). CST helps instill the necessary skills and knowledge needed to survive in a situation where the aircrew must bailout from the aircraft behind enemy lines.
The training starts with an hour-long classroom session before aircrew are taken out to Saylor Creek Bombing Range. Then the aircrew are taught how to use everything from flares, radios and other equipment to properly and effectively invade the enemy and return to safety.
Aircrew are then given certain points to reach via global positioning system before they contact friendly forces to extract them from the hostile area.
Aircrew throughout history, such as Capt. Scott F. O'Grady who in 1995 was shot down and stranded in enemy territory for six days during the Bosnian War, used these skills taught by SERE to return to safety.
"Knowing we provide training that could save someone's life, but hope they never have to use it, is one of the most rewarding things in this job," Emkey said.
Dedicated SERE specialists take lessons learned from situations all over the world, not just the military, and apply it to SERE's skill set, whether it be survival, evasion, resistance or escape.
The US Air Force's main missions are to take care of airmen and enhance readiness. SERE accomplishes just that and will continue to with the ever changing environment these men and women might find themselves in.
"SERE is constantly adapting," said Staff Sgt. David Chorpeninng, 366th FW SERE specialist. "We are continuously implementing new technology and tactics to increase survivability in the future."
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