SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) is a U.S. military training program developed at the end of the Korean War to provide service members with training in the Code of Conduct, survival skills, evading capture, and dealing with being taken prisoner. It was created by the Air Force but was expanded to the Army and the Navy after the Vietnam War. The school is intended to train aircrews, special forces, and other service members who operate in dangerous areas and are thus more likely to be captured. The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the United States Army United States Navy United States Air Force United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard Note: The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. ... Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: Republic of Korea United States United Kingdom Communist combatants: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Jeong Il-Gwon Syngman Rhee Kim Il-sung, Peng Dehuai Strength Note: All figures may... The United States Military Code of Conduct (CoC) is the legal guide for the behavior of U.S. military members who are captured by hostile forces. ... The United States Air Force (or USAF) is the aerospace branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Peoples Republic of China Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~520,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230...

The flagship program is conducted by the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS—which Col. Wendell Fertig helped to found), at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The program was begun in 1981 under the supervision of LTC James "Nick" Rowe, a Special Forces officer who suffered under North Vietnamese captors for 62 months before escaping and evading to freedom (Five Years to Freedom). The primary Air Force SERE training location is Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. The Navy SERE training is held at NAS Brunswick, ME and NAS North Island,San Diego, CA. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wendell Fertig (b. ... Fort Bragg is a census-designated place and a major United States Army fort, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA, near Fayetteville. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 560 miles (901 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 9. ... Image:Nikkirowe. ... A US Special Forces operator in Afghanistan The United States Army Special Forces —also known by the nickname Green Berets or simply Special Forces (capitalized)— is a Special Operations Force of the U.S. Army trained for unconventional warfare and special operations. ... The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN), or less commonly, Vietnamese Democratic Republic (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cá»™ng Hòa), also known as North Vietnam, was proclaimed by Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, September 2nd1945 and was recognized by the Peoples Republic of China and the... Fairchild AFB is a town located in Spokane County, Washington. ... This article deals with the U.S. state. ... Naval Air Station Brunswick is United States Navy airfield in Brunswick, Maine—the only one in New England. ... A C-5 Galaxy is loaded with people and equipment from the Deep Submergence Unit, Naval Base Coronado. ...

SERE at USAJFKSWCS is a 19-day intense course of instruction that is also Phase VI (last phase) of the Special Forces Qualification Course (the "Q course") in order for Army Special Forces candidates to receive the coveted Special Forces Tab. The course is taught 25 miles southwest of Ft. Bragg, NC at Camp Mackall.

Training

The SERE training curriculum can be divided into three parts: "survival and evasion", "resistance and escape", and "water survival". The majority of SERE focuses on survival and evasion. Skills taught include wilderness survival (encompassing a wide scope of natural climates), emergency first aid (a variant of battlefield first aid), land navigation, camouflage techniques, evasion techniques, communication protocols, and the construction of improvised tools. This list is not comprehensive and some of the subject matter has been classified Secret by the United States Government. First aid is a series of simple, life-saving medical techniques that a non-doctor or layman can be trained to perform. ... Table of geography, hydrography, and navigation, from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... Anolis caroliensis showing blending camouflage and counter-shading. ...

The "Resistance and Escape" component of SERE focuses on resistance and survival in captivity. Despite constituting only a small portion of the whole training, it is often regarded as mysterious and controversial, despite, or perhaps because of, the dearth of verified information regarding its actual content. The majority of this portion of the course is classified Secret by the United States government. What is known about this portion of the course is that it is very unpleasant.

The remaining portion of SERE is Water Survival, a separate Professional Military Education (PME) course lasting two days and typically attended after the main SERE course. During the water survival portion, students are taught skills to enhance their ability to survive in an aquatic environment. Academic subjects covered include emergency first aid (tailored to an aquatic environment), communication protocols, ocean ecology, and equipment maintenance. The course also requires students to become familiar with and display proficiency using aquatic survival gear.

Techniques

The actual techniques used in the school have been classified by the US government, but several official sites exist to give a general overview of the curricula. The training has been widely reported to provide a realistic simulation of harsh and abusive interrogation techniques. The SERE program has been reported to involve the following elements: Interrogation is the method of interviewing a source used by police and military personnel to obtain information that the source would not otherwise willingly disclose. ...

• extreme temperatures
• waterboarding - being tied to a board with the feet higher than the head and having water poured into the nose
• noise stress - playing very loud and dissonant music and sound effects. Recordings have been reported to include babies wailing inconsolably, cats meowing, female orgasms, and irritating music (including a record by Yoko Ono)[1]
• sexual embarrassment
• religious dilemma - being given the choice of seeing a religious book desecrated or revealing secrets to interrogators.
• flag desecration
• prolonged cramped or restrictive confinement
• sleep deprivation/starvation
• excrement familiarization/humiliation
• mock execution
• overcoming food aversion (eating bugs, roadkill, dumpster diving, urine drinking)
• height/water/enclosed spaces
• physical beating
• "stress inoculation"

Waterboarding is a form of torture and refers to a variety of different interrogation techniques. ... Yoko Ono during an appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show Yoko Ono Lennon (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese-American musician and artist, but probably best known as the widow of John Lennon of The Beatles. ... A mock execution is a method of torture, whereby the subject is made to believe that he is being led to his execution. ... Resilience is a commonly used concept in psychology (such as in child development, adolescent development, psychopathology, and positive psychology) to describe the positive capacity of people to cope with stress and catastrophe. ...

SERE at the U.S. Air Force Academy and the 1995 scandal

One of the U.S. Air Force's SERE training programs was conducted at the United States Air Force Academy from the late 1960's until 1995. Because a large number of pilots and other aircrew members graduated from the academy, it was more efficient for the Air Force to send all cadets through SERE training while they were still at the academy. Cadets would normally complete the training during the summer between their fourth-class (freshman) and third-class (sophomore) years. A number of selected second-class (junior) and first-class (senior) cadets would serve each year as SERE training cadre under the supervision of enlisted Air Force SERE instructors. The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, (, ), is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers in the United States Air Force. ... The United States Air Force (or USAF) is the aerospace branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... In military service, an enlisted rank is generally any rating below that of a commissioned officer. ...

As a result of POWs' experiences during Operation Desert Storm, sexual assault resistance was added to the SERE curriculum. However, some of the training scenarios allegedly were taken too far by SERE cadre members at the academy during practical portions of the program. In 1995, the ABC television news program 20/20 reported that as many as 24 male and female cadets in 1993 had been allegedly sexually assaulted at the Academy during SERE training. One of the cadets sued the government, which eventually settled for a reported $3 million in damages.^[1] Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the American network, for the Australian network, see Australian Broadcasting Corporation The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ... 20/20 is an American television newsmagazine broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

As a result of the scandal, the SERE program at the Academy was reduced to the survival and evasion portions only, and called Combat Survival Training (CST). All graduates going on to aircrew positions were then required to attend the resistance portion of the training at Fairchild Air Force Base before reporting to an operational flying unit. The CST program was discontinued entirely in 2004. As of 2006, the training at the academy has not yet been reinstated in either form. Fairchild AFB is a town located in Spokane County, Washington. ...

Use of SERE techniques in interrogation

In July 2005 an article in the New Yorker magazine alleged that SERE staff have been advising the military at Guantanamo Bay and other sites on interrogation techniques. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A 2004 cover with dandy Eustace Tilly, who debuted on the first cover and reappears on anniversary issues. ... Detainees upon arrival at Camp X-Ray, January 2002 Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, serving as a joint military prison and interrogation center ( Joint Task Force Guantanamo: JTF-GTMO), has occupied a portion of the United States Navys base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since 2002. ...

According to a November 14, 2005, New York Times op-ed column by law professors Gregg Bloche and Jonathan H. Marks, the Pentagon "flipped SERE's teachings on their head, mining the program not for resistance techniques but for interrogation methods. At a June 2004 briefing, the chief of the United States Southern Command, Gen. James T. Hill, said a team from Guantánamo went 'up to our SERE school and developed a list of techniques' for 'high-profile, high-value' detainees. General Hill had sent this list - which included prolonged isolation and sleep deprivation, stress positions, physical assault and the exploitation of detainees' phobias - to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who approved most of the tactics in December 2002." November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining until the end of the year. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... A regular pentagon A pentagram enclosed in a pentagon In geometry, a pentagon is any five-sided polygon. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: June 2004 in sports Deaths in June • 28 Anthony Buckeridge • 26 Naomi Shemer • 26 Yash Johar • 22 Bob Bemer • 22 Thomas Gold • 22 Francisco Ortiz Franco • 16 Thanom Kittikachorn • 10 Ray Charles • 5 Ronald Reagan... The United States Southern Command (also called SOUTHCOM) is responsible for all United States military activities in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean basin. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932, Evanston, Illinois), the 21st United States Secretary of Defense. ... December 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → // Events December 31, 2002 United States troops get into a brief gun battle with paramilitary forces of the Warzirstan Scouts of Pakistan, in a remote tribal area along the undefined Afghan/Pakistani border, in Paktia Province...

The SERE program's chief psychologist, Col. Morgan Banks, issued guidance in early 2003 for the "behavioral science consultants" who helped to devise Guantánamo's interrogation strategy although he has emphatically denied that he had advocated the use of SERE counter-resistance techniques to break down detainees. The "New Yorker" notes that in November, 2001 Banks was detailed to Afghanistan, where he spent four months at Bagram Air Base, "supporting combat operations against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters". New Yorker may refer to: the magazine, The New Yorker a resident of New York City the hotel New Yorker a named passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad between Detroit, MI and New York, NY This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... Bagram Air Base Bagram Air Base is located at the antique city of Bagram near Charikar in Parvan, Afghanistan. ... Al-Qaeda (Arabic: ‎, translit: ; the foundation or the base) is a Sunni Islamist organization with the stated objective of eliminating foreign influence in Muslim countries. ... Flag flown by the Taliban. ...

In June 2006 an article on Salon.com confirmed finding a document buried among 1,000 pages obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through the Freedom of Information Act. A March 22, 2005, sworn statement by the former chief of the Interrogation Control Element at Guantánamo said instructors from SERE taught their methods to interrogators of the prisoners in Cuba.^[2]. The article also claims that SERE's physical and mental techniques mirror the treatment of some detainees at Abu Ghraib. And the statement of the interrogation chief and the interrogation logs of Mohamed al-Kahtani reveal many striking parallels. 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Screenshot of Salon. ... Mohamed Mani Ahmad al-Kahtani (Arabic: sometimes transliterated Muhammed Al Kahtani or other ways) is a member of the terrorist group al-Qaida. ...

According to Human Rights First, the interrogation that lead to the death of Iraqi Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush involved the use of techniques learned in SERE training. According to the organization "Internal FBI memos and press reports have pointed to SERE training as the basis for some of the harshest techniques authorized for use on detainees by the Pentagon in 2002 and 2003." [2] Human Rights First is a U.S. based association formerly known as Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. ... Abed Hamed Mowhoush, the former Iraqi Head of the Iraqi Air Force, died on Nov. ...

Levels

SERE training is presented at three levels:

• Level A - Entry level training. All services personnel are provided this basic level training annually.
• Level B - For personnel operating (or anticipated to operate) forward of the division rear boundary and up to the "forward line of own troops" (FLOT). Normally limited to flight personnel of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
• Level C - For troops at a high risk of capture and whose position, rank, or seniority make them vulnerable to greater than average exploitation efforts by a captor.
• Level D - For aircrews, but it has recently been phased out and all SERE-D students will undergo SERE-B training

Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ...

See also

• John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center
• Fort Bragg, North Carolina
• Fairchild Air Force Base
• Abed Hamed Mowhoush

Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Fort Bragg is a census-designated place and a major United States Army fort, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA, near Fayetteville. ... Fairchild AFB is a town located in Spokane County, Washington. ... Abed Hamed Mowhoush, the former Iraqi Head of the Iraqi Air Force, died on Nov. ...

References

2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... The United States Navy Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) forces are the elite Special Operations Forces of the U.S. Navy, employed in unconventional warfare, foreign internal defence, direct action, Counter-Terrorism, and special reconnaissance operations. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... Screenshot of Salon. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ...

External links

• US Army SERE training
• US Navy SERE training (Brunswick)
• US Navy SERE training (Coronado)
• US Air Force SERE training
• New Yorker magazine article about SERE
• Army code of conduct for SERE training
• A narrative of SERE Instructor School