SERE Training (Part 1)

Well, I just got back from one of the more intense experiences of my life, SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) School at Fairchild AFB in Washington state. This is the 3 week program in which "high risk of capture assets" are trained to deal with what might happen if we ever find ourselves in enemy territory. It was incredibly helpful and almost too realistic at times. The first half was all about survival skills which I loved. After some classes we went out and spent five days in the woods practicing what we'd been taught. The low points were at night which I spent shivering in an inadequate sleeping bag under my shelter made with pieces of parachute, lying on snow and layers of pine boughs for a little insulation. When the temperature is -17 F there's not much you can do but just wait for the sun to come up. Several guys were afraid to go to sleep cause they didn't think they would wake up. Another tough part was that I didn't eat much over that period except for a couple of rabbits and some potatoes that I split with 7 other pilots. There's not an abundance of food to be found in the winter time.
An awesome thing though was that during the day we would trek all over the mountains (with 75 pounds of gear) evading capture. In the morning, we would be given the coordinates for an LZ and a time to be there. Then I would set up with my partner, Jeremy Wiggins (a Viper guy), and we would use our orienteering skills to get to the point without getting caught (it was a new experience to be hunted by human beings) and set up a hole-up site to watch the LZ. If it was clear, when we heard the chopper I'd get on our secure radio and vector the helo to our position using the radio and smoke or flares (those little signal mirrors work great too), then run out and get hoisted up onto the helo for a successful extraction.
Very cool. The best part though was snowshoeing through the woods by yourself (did I mention there was 3-4 feet of snow on the ground) where everything was so quiet and peaceful. Despite the hardships after five days I kind of wanted to stay out there for another week.
If I'd known what was coming next I would have definitely wanted to stay...