Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape

http://townhall.com/columnists/KevinMcCullough/2008/12/21/survive,_evade,_resist,_escape ^ | December 21, 2008 | Kevin McCullough

[Cindy]

Don't let it be misunderstood. Those who serve in our nation's military espouse values that confuse the left, confound their purpose, and leave them unable to understand, much less resonate with our service men and women. This week I saw why.

[kms61]

one of my relatives went through SERE school years ago. To his day he doesn’t like camping.

[FROST18E]

I went through SERE school at Camp Mackall NC in 2000. It's like getting a kick in the balls to prepare for a kick in the balls. Nice article, however there is no breaking of bones major, or otherwise. They have very narrow lanes in which they must operate and treat the students in the RTL. SERE and what goes on there is also classified to the squid should have been mum about it.

[Check6]

I’ll bet the art of SERE peaked at the USAF Academy, late Viet Nam time frame, around 1969-71, as a necessary preparation for the barbarity of the prisons in the north. But, I’ve not seen what they do now. Visiting active duty NCOs who administered SERE for newly trained pilots in the USAF were pretty amazed at what the USAFA Cadet SERE Cadre “got away with”. Of course, with females on campus since the 80s, it is probably all ancient history.

[tet68]

Thought this was an Obama birth certificate or an Obama - Blagovich Illinois Senate Seat thread.

Wouldn’t that be the Deny, evade, obsuscate and make
counter accusations thread?

[JSteff]

My dad had to go through it when he was an officer in the US Sea Bee's. He had heard about it an in the class training they told him not to be a hero. He did not know enough to be important anyway so they thought he would be killed when they found out who he was.

So when they took him down to Pendleton on an unusually rainy night, he went out for about a day in the boonies and hide and evaded. When about 20 hours had gone by he was captured.
The Marines dressed up as “VC” put them into a barbwire enclosure and after a minor “interrogation” he gave up all they asked for... they let him go into a dry tent! He said an “VC” officer laughed and said he should given up sooner and not been so wet and cold for a day. They let him sleep and relax for the next day or so until the weekend was over.

So goes SERE training as and officer in a construction battalion. He said managing building construction was obviously not near as important as a pilot.

[DieHard the Hunter]

What a great article! Bookmarked. Thanks, Cindy!

[tet68]

Obfuscate.

I went through a simple NCO course at Pendleton before going to Nam, one of the treatments was to be bound and gagged, placed into a wooden box with the lid nailed shut and then hoisted about, followed by the instructors throwing dirt on the lid then complete silence...

and I wonder why I can’t sleep at night...

[meowmeow]

Great article!

[Recon Dad]

My son went through SERE about 4 years ago. He attended in Maine in February.
If you evade caputure by the trainers you still have to go through the torture phase. The only benefit you get from evading capture is they give you a ham sandwich as a reward.
We didn't hear all the stories, but various leak out over time.

[tgusa]

“SERE and what goes on there is also classified to the squid should have been mum about it.”

Very true. Thanks for bringing that up.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Very revealing article, thanks.

The brutality of current wars over and against wars in the past (before Korea/Viet Nam) is astounding. Man’s inhumanity to man by inhuman humans.

With Women in the Field . . . I for one do not believe they need to be there . . . it’s just too horrible to envision the torture al Qaeda or Taliban would do to a captured woman.

[rightwingextremist1776]

Been there...done that...and yes, I have the tshirt....

[affan76]

I went through SERE at USAFA in ‘73. The POW’s had returned and they were advisors during our training. It was brutal but I always feel like a wimp knowing that it was only a few weeks for us and the POWs went through it for years. To this date they are my heroes. Went in at 185lbs came out at 160lbs.

[SampleMan]

I’m a proud graduate of SERE. Can’t say much about it, but I can say that I don’t care to repeat the course.

[Guenevere]

So Brad Thor & Vince Flynn are getting it right :)

Truly, I am in awe of the caliber of men we have who will do this and for all the right reasons.

God bless them.

[airdalechief]

I went through SERE in 1967. All Navy Aircrew had to complete SERE before they went to Vietnam.

I don’t know how SERE operates today but back then they would lay hands on you with hostile intentions.

I was a young man back then and I remember thinking that every male in the USA should be forced to spend two weeks at SERE.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy and Healthy New Year.

[Caesar Soze]

I’ve never understood this sentiment. Is the torture of a man somehow morally preferable to the torture of a woman? Is it easier for you to “envision” the torture of a man, and if so, why?

[MadJack]

I went through the 9th Division SERE course in 1977. The MI company was the cadre. One of the guest instructors had been a prisoner of the Japanese. I was the senior POW - not fun but very instructive.