SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany-- Staff Sgt. Robert Martin, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, demonstrated proper evading procedures during Combat Survival Training, Jan. 26, 2008. The CST program is a fast paced two-day refresher course that provides pilots with the skills to return home. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Staci Miller)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- (left to right) Majs. Scott Hurrelbrink, 81st Fighter Squadron, and Wilford Kauffman, 23rd Fighter Squadron and Col. Patrick McCrea, 52nd Operations Group Commander, listen to instructions given during Combat Survival Training, Jan. 26, 2009. The CST program is a fast paced two-day refresher course that provides pilots with the skills to return home. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Staci Miller)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- Master Sgt. Tod Erickson, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, instructs a group of pilots on survival techniques during Combat Survival Training, Jan. 26, 2009. The CST program is a fast paced two-day refresher course that provides pilots with the skills to return home. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Staci Miller)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany – Staff Sgt. Robert A. Martin, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, runs from enemy forces during a Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training exercise Jan. 27. The purpose of the course was to offer training to evade and escape enemy forces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Wilson)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany – Staff Sgt. Robert A. Martin, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, uses a survival radio while trying to conceal himself from opposing forces during a Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training exercise on Jan 27. The purpose of the course was to offer training to evade and escape enemy forces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Wilson)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany – Staff Sgt. Robert A. Martin, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, scans an area while trying to conceal himself from opposing forces during a Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training exercise Jan. 27. The purpose of the course was to offer training to evade and escape enemy forces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Wilson)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany – Staff Sgt. Robert A. Martin, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, reaches into his vest while trying to conceal himself from opposing forces during a Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training exercise Jan. 27. The purpose of the course was to offer training to evade and escape enemy forces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Wilson)

SERE Training

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany – Staff Sgt. Robert A. Martin, 52nd Operations Support Squadron, pulls a signal panel close to conceal it from opposing forces during a Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape training exercise Jan. 27. The purpose of the course was to offer training to evade and escape enemy forces. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Wilson)

CST, SERE Vital to Mission

Published Jan. 29, 2009
By Master Sgt. Tod Erickson
52nd Operations Support Squadron

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- Sometimes a pilot's mission to fly, fight and win takes an unexpected turn. An enemy surface-to-air missile or aircraft malfunction may force the pilot out of the relative safety of the cockpit, placing him or her on the ground and in hostile territory. Fortunately, all 52nd Fighter Wing pilots attend Combat Survival Training to prepare them for such occasions.

CST is a refresher course designed to re-familiarize pilots with skills they were taught in basic survival training courses prior to their first operational flying assignment. Although the basic course is a 17-day program that runs the gamut of hunting, hiking, evading and applying the code of conduct in a simulated prisoner of war camp, the CST program is a fast-paced two-day course that incorporates new tactics, training and procedures that weren't utilized during the basic course. The goal of both courses is identical - to provide pilots the skills to return home with honor.

The CST course consists of two phases. Day one is devoted to academics training, which covers combat medical procedures, sustenance, protection from the environment, navigation and signaling techniques, and how to evade, resist and escape from enemy forces. On day two, the pilots travel to the Gerolstein Bundeswehr range, about 35 miles northwest of Spangdahlem Air Base, for operational training. During the operational training, pilots are challenged to meet their basic survival needs while evading to a recovery site.

The training is far from a walk in the park. In addition to contending with Germany's notoriously unpredictable weather and thicklyforested terrain, they face being hunted by aggressors. The 52nd Operations Support Squadron Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialists manage all aspects of the program, but for the operational portion, they get help. Other Griffin intelligence and aircrew flight equipment specialists are more than willing to add to the team effort in the role of opposing forces, who, along with Bundeswehr soldiers, make the day as realistic as possible.

To add to the pilot's arsenal, they are provided hands-on training with the equipment they fly within the area of responsibility, which is particularly useful for communication with recovery forces. The SERE specialists talk to the pilots on survival radios, giving instructions to keep them moving to their recovery site. As darkness sets in, movement becomes more challenging for the pilots, but so does the aggressors' ability to find them. The pilots are equipped with night-vision scopes to increase the odds of success.

CST culminates with recovery. As the pilots approach their recovery site, a simulated special operations team apprehends them and ensures they are correctly identified by use of an isolated personnel report that was filled out on day one. Once complete, it's back to the cockpit for the pilots with a renewed confidence until they will return in three years for another refresher.

Lt. Col. Shaun McGrath, 52 OSS commander, described the squadron's CST program for the wing's pilots as "the most realistic and comprehensive combat survival training I've had in my 18 years in the Air Force." The level of realism, from enemy troops with AK-47s to Special Operations teams lurking in the woods, forces pilots to get in character and practice the classroom lessons, he said. Without the practical application, the only time they would use these learned skills would be during actual combat scenarios; far from ideal. Should they have a mishap in the air, the CST course arms pilots with the skills necessary to return to friendly forces with honor.