Our speaker last week was Air Force Master Sergeant Jeremy B. Peyehouse, a 21 year veteran of the Air Force and the NCO in charge and SERE Training Leader at Luke AFB.  

 

Any Air Force member has to go through 3-weeks of SERE training in order to be allowed to become a pilot or a part of an aircrew. The Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school was established at the end of World War II with the mission of training combat aviators and aircrew in the fundamentals of surviving and escaping if they find themselves in a situation in which they must evacuate a stricken aircraft over enemy territory. The course concentrates on the principles, techniques and skills necessary to survive with confidence in any environment and return with honor.  M. Sgt. Peyehouse told us that the training is constantly evolving based on the feedback of former prisoners of war.  For example, it used to be common that captured personnel were taught to only recite "name, rank and serial number".  Based on real time feedback the Air Force determined it was better to respond to interrogation but to feed true but less useful information or disinformation in order to avoid more severe interrogation.   He also said they strive to keep the training realistic to make the training more effective.  A number of excellent questions followed, including from Bruce McCalley who asked if the M. Sgt was aware of any SERE training for married couples.  Why did everyone laugh?  Another great program from our friends at Luke AFB thanks to Todd Halberg.