USAF SERE

at fairchild air force base in the northeastern corner of washington state there is a serious group of military experts whose training defies logic and whose small numbers reflect why what they do is truly special they are graduates of the US Air Force sere technical training school that breeds nurtures and develops a superior an elite group of risk takers known as sere seer stands for survival evasion resistance and escape it is an acronym that covers a very broad spectrum of specific skillsets that push both the physical and the psychological boundaries of human tolerance [Music] 12 separate but interrelated phases make up their initial six-month training course as sere specialists move from one environmental extreme to another sere candidates are pushed as far as humanly possible to the brink of physical and emotional exhaustion to test the mettle of those wanting to join this fraternity of superfreaks in only their third phase having endured endless days on the trail living off few calories and even fewer hours of sleep the faces of these your candidates pretty much say it all and cold and wet I'm hungry but you learn to hate mother nature because it just beats you up every turn one steep cliff dropping down right immediately to another one and right back up right back down I probably averaged about an hour and a half a night for ten days do those nights no sleep at all you have to have that will to endure to take care of yourself and do all the proper things to survive when you fall down you just get back up get back on the horse keep riding over the course of their training program sere candidates will be given many opportunities to quit and over 65% of those that start will gladly oblige every aspect of training has been designed to eliminate those not up to the task of this demanding profession it's all about heart it's all about mentally strong it's about profusing to stop it's about refusing to give up my team started with about 57 18 graduated look around only one of you ten is gonna make it so I told the other nine guys to pick a different job but okay I'm the only one left standing out of those ten just wanna do something I can look back on and say you know what I did that it was really tough I got through it a lot of people talk to talk but after six months of exhaustive almost cruel training it proves the metal and worthiness of these well polish fire tested sere specialists who actually walked the walk it's not for somebody who can't deal with stress can't deal with with our time they don't need to have the skill sets of being able to start a fire or build a shelter out in the field that's what the school is here for this insanely radical bunch embrace if not welcome extremes that most people would never think about subjecting themselves to those that meet them are immediately drawn to them enamored by the unsurpassed confidence and almost inspirational conviction they have for what they do any environmental condition that you could possibly think of as outside of the natural disaster is what we've been through and all the while we still are test saturated we have have to meet certain amount of objectives throughout a day we're still going 100 miles an hour building a fire building a shelter whatever the case may be for that exact scenario no the job is not for everyone you know it's gonna take somebody that's a little bit tougher someone that's very dedicated and mentally and physically strong you got to be different jumping out of aircraft scuba diving teaching combatives the train that they received after they complete their initial training there's about 15 six weeks of upgrade training to make the mission ready it is pretty awesome the the responsibility Air Force charts with us after six months of training throw you into combat survival training for Air Force air crew members and to see young individuals it's a responsibility of 7 to 10 lives taking them out to our training area miles away from the nearest road for an 18 19 year old to be able to pull that off and have the record that we have is a credit to the instructors that came before me to build us to do what we do today if you ask any sere specialists themselves if they feel any empathy for those they are training those that are being subjected to the living hell or deal that they once endured themselves their message is consistent no I don't have any empathy for my students I've been there I've adapted and I've overcame I still pushed on for what the mission needs I still built my shelter still built my fighters when it comes down to these guys being wet being tired not getting much sleep or hungry and thirsty for water I I went through the same thing so I understand what they're going through but at the same time I'm not gonna feel sorry for them the pilots and aircrew members that come through Fairchild as a requirement for their flying career get only a small taste of the survival experience that those who trained them have gone through coming out of the resistance training was probably one of the most memorable events that I'll have I mean I never really heard about the way things finished there I mean it's definitely tear jerker I'd have to say it's probably the most intense training I've ever been through in my life I would rather have this training and not need it than need it and not have it the men and women of sere are often shadow warriors whose contributions often go unnoticed by the masses but are greatly appreciated by those operating in harm's way hiding in a place of concealment or who are in the hands of an enemy captor captain Scott O'Grady an f-16 pilot who was shot down over Bosnia in 1995 and evaded capture for six days says this about his experience at sere school and the specialist who trained him the men and women of ceará fantastic I'm alive today because them their confidence and expertise and just the dedication that they put into my training and all the students without question prepared me for those days where I actually was in a real world combat survival situation I never gave up hope never lost faith because I always remember our survival instructors telling us to reach for the small victories and to never give up and to constantly have a will to survive that's the thing I absolutely admire the most undying and absolute conviction for their mission our slogan for this schoolhouse is to return with honor and when people come back from their isolated event or from being captured and tell us that without the seer training they would have never made it is the reason why I wake up I had zero 600 every day we are live communication between the down person behind enemy lines and the recovery asset in the desert been to South America been over to Asia I've worked with special operations forces throughout the world I have fellow sere specialists that can recount stories of that Erik remember they may have taught and he came walking off the helicopter after being recovered and it's like hey thanks a lot I really appreciate it so definitely a huge impact for us more often than not sere specialists are the on-site experts in any recovery center case in point is tech sergeant James hangs Leoben a sere specialists who is also this year's kite Award winner an award given to the individual who had the greatest significant impact in the business of personal recovery as a sere specialists we form a very unique jobs within the reintegration process we're responsible for first meeting the returnee if need be getting information from them about anybody else that may still be out there we are operational I was deployed in summer of 2007 I was in Qatar for three months in Afghanistan for a month all right all the while we still have a mission going on over there through reintegration that's what we do while we're deployed I received a joint service Achievement Medal for my work down in Central America as well as the army Achievement Medal for my work in Costa Rica in the last 10 to 15 years the the sere specialists career field has gone through a transformation we are truly providing operational support to the warfighter the will to survive is something that's difficult to measure and is as unique to someone as their own identity it is the essence of skill faith and courage the drives a person to continue when others would quit press on when others would fold and keep their faith when others have lost hope the measure of a person's individual will to survive or internal strength is not even something that the trained observer can see with the naked eye it's something that a person either has or they don't have when they come face to face with adversity peril or death I mean this is my classroom today is not the optimal day but some days you're gonna have those days and a lot of opportunities to do cool stuff jump out of airplanes jump out of helicopters scuba dive with all kinds of different equipment in all kinds of different places and work with great great people all over the world it's a great job I love it and that's why I'm sticking with it for a second listen doesn't get any better than this for me personally having walked the narrow but significant line that separates the edge of things from the end of things these professionals understand that man can live 40 days without food 7 days without water 3 minutes without air yet not a single second without hope their ranks among the air force population or a few but their reputation and respect is widespread they are an elite cast of operational characters warriors were the warrior's heart top-tier examples for all those who aspire to return with honor [Music] you [Music]

Channel: American Zealot Productions

Views: 28,430

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Id: IeZZsBR-FUY

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Sun May 27 2018