khyros (1/31/2006)

---

See JR, if you just waited a little bit longer you could've worn a high-speed new costume without changing branches.

DAMMIT - Should I go back?!?!?!?

OH, HELL NO!

"U.S. Paratroopers offer the enemy maximum opportunity to give his life for his country."

"This is H37 adjust fire over"

First, they attend a selection course at Lackland AFB, TX.  If selected, they will complete an EXCELLENT course of instruction, which includes all of the SERE schools in the USAF. 

Following successful graduation from those courses, they have a separate course of instruction to become a SERE specialist.  While in the course, they participate in extremely in-depth field-based training.  They are all deployed to the various environments (woodland, jungle, arctic, desert, water) their students will encounter and are graded on their ability to operate and survive in those environments.

Once they graduate, their first assignment (and many subsequent assignments) is spent at one of the three USAF Survival schools:  Fairchild AFB, WA; Eielson AFB, AK; and NAS Pensacola, FL.  Once they have completed at least one tour, they are eligible for assignment to any one of the many USAF Flying Wings worldwide. In the USAF, these personnel tend to work in the SERE field for their entire career.

But that's all just off the top of my head, and I'm no expert on the SERE career field, so your best bet for more info is to go direct to their website:

http://www.gosere.com/

BTW - They're taking prior service guys, if anyone's interested!

Here's a couple of excerpts from the site:

Course S-V81-A Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape Specialist Training School (6 months)   SERE Specialist Training (SST) is located in Fairchild AFB, WA. It is the 6 month technical training program that all potential SERE Specialists go through to learn SERE, Personnel Recovery and Instructor skills. During this course, students will become specialists in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape as well Personnel Recovery. All of this prepares future SERE Specialists to instruct any Air Force SERE related program and be world wide deployable.   =====================================================================     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.

WTF? Who's Mr. Pillow Pants? - Clerks 2

Just a thought.

 

I'm Surprised Panama's still sea level, after all the Push Ups I did down there.

Can't play golf though.....am I still qualified???

Do you listen to yourself when you talk; or do you just fade in and out?

Also, I've deployed with my brothers in the Army, and I've trained at some point with members of all the other services.  All I've worked with for any amount of time have been great people and outstanding soldiers.  However, the topic of my Arch (scroll) has always been discussed.  Many have said that we are offending (if not disrespecting) our tabbed brothers by wearing our Arch on our uniform.  This could not be further from the truth, and I will explain why. 

First, I would like to say that we are not "door-kickers" and any SERE Specialist worth the boots they walk in will tell you the same (although there are VERY FEW exceptions to this).  As far as the history of our Arch is concerned, it IS rooted within the Rangers.  When survival training in the USAF first began, Gen. Curtis LeMay recuited his cadre heavily from the Rangers... who, of course, wore their tabs on their left shoulder and helped identify them as Survival Cadre among the Zoomies.  When the Air Force broke into its own seperate branch of service, the tab remained.  In order for future instructors to be recognized as such (berets were not authorized until very recently... 2005), without being mistaken for a Ranger, the Arch was modified to read "Survival Instructor."  It has since been modified two more times in order to reflect the official title which also changed twice: "SERE Instructor," and currently "SERE Specialist."  So, our Arch is not meant to offend anybody.  We wear it as a symbol of what we are, who we are, and what we do.  We wear it to honor the original instructors, the Rangers, that helped form the foundation of our career.  We are not "Long-tabber-wannabe's" and I hope no other SERE Bubbas give that impression to anyone.

I hope this has helped resolve some misconceptions about who we are, what we do, and what we stand for.

"Return With Honor"