About SERE: Survival Evasion Resistance Escape

~ ABOUT SERE ~

General Info

If you are looking for excitement, challenge, and a chance to teach others, then SERE Specialist may be the right career for you.

Our mission is to prepare aircrew and high risk of capture DOD personnel to survive under any conditions. SERE Specialists train over 6,500 aircrew members a year in the proper use of principles, techniques, equipment, and procedures necessary to survive anywhere in the world.

As a SERE Specialist you will become an expert on the methods used to survive in the arctic, desert, open ocean, jungle, mountain regions, in-combat and captivity situations. Through training, you will learn the skills necessary to pass your knowledge on to others. SERE Specialists can "talk the talk" because they have "walked the walk.” Additionally, because of the intense instructional program, you are authorized to wear the SERE Beret, SERE Specialist Arch, and the AETC Instructor badge upon completion of Tech school.

After completion of the SERE Indoctrination Course at Lackland AFB TX, all approved applicants are assigned to Fairchild AFB, Washington where your training will take place. Before starting technical training you will complete the Combat SERE Training course and the Water Survival, Non-Parachuting course. The Combat SERE Training course is a 17 day course that includes eleven days of academic, laboratory, and field training over survival and evasion techniques followed by six days of academic and laboratory training on surviving captivity. The Water Survival, Non-Parachuting course provides aircrew members with two days of hands-on training with the equipment they would actually use in a water survival situation.

After successfully completing your training you will be ready to take your place as one of just over 300 SERE Specialists in the Air Force. While our primary base of operations is Fairchild AFB, Washington, positions are available at several bases around the world. After graduating Tech school you may volunteer to attend a variety of DoD courses, such as the Army's Basic Parachutist Course at FT. Benning, Military Freefall (HALO) and SCUBA to name a few.

The SERE Arch

“More Than Just A Piece Of Cloth”

The Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Specialist career field was born in 1947 when Gen Curtis LeMay, the Commander, Strategic Air Command created the first survival training program at Marks AFB, Alaska. As the demand for SERE training increased the school relocated in December of 1949 to Camp Carson, Colorado. The first arch can be traced back to this approximate point-in-time.

The SERE Arch, as we know it today, is rooted in the United States Army’s Ranger Tab as Gen. LeMay’s initial cadre was recruited heavily from Ranger units. As SERE has evolved the USAF Survival School has changed locations and commands but the distinctive scroll shaped arch worn on the left shoulder has always been a part of a SERE Specialists uniform. Through the years, the arch has been approved for wear at various levels of command.

Nearly two years ago the approval process authorizing Air Force wide wear of the arch for qualified SERE Specialists began. In a June 2004 message from Headquarters AF, the request became a reality. The CSAF, Gen John Jumper through the 96th Uniform Board, approved the wear of this uniform accouterment and in doing so, preserved 57 years of enlisted history dating back to the very inception of the Air Force as a separate service.

The Beret
“Way Ahead”

AF SERE Specialists are the only career field in the entire DOD specifically recruited, trained, and employed to conduct global SERE operations from graduation of technical school to retirement. Led by Combat Rescue Officers (CRO), SERE Specialists prepare our nations highest risk of capture personnel in the employment of Personnel Recovery tactics, techniques, and procedures across the full spectrum of engagements.

Approval of the SERE Beret by the 96th Air Force Uniform Board is a significant milestone in the evolution of the AF. The SERE beret is much more than another piece of head gear as it represents the solidarity in the CRO, SERE and Pararescue communities as a weapon system. Unity as a weapon system ultimately translates into improved combat capability as it provides theater commanders a unique end-to-end capability for Personnel Recovery operations and better integrates subject matter expertise from all three career fields. From pre-mission preparation, to recovery of isolated personnel, thru repatriation and reintegration, effectively closing the Personnel Recovery loop is what the weapon system is designed to do. CRO, SERE, and Pararescue all have different tasks within the PR continuum, but the goal of bringing the isolated person home is shared by all. The triad. United as a weapon system, we do these things so “That Others May Live” to “Return With Honor”.

Code Of Conduct

	Article I 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.
	Article II I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.
	Article III 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.
	Article IV If I become a prisoner of war I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or 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.
	Article V 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.
	Article VI I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, 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.

SERE Specialist

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