Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a training program, best known by its military acronym, that prepares U.S. military personnel, U.S. Department of Defense civilians, and private military contractors to survive and "return with honor" in survival scenarios. The curriculum includes survival skills, evading capture, application of the military code of conduct, and techniques for escape from captivity. Formally established by the U.S. Air Force at the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, it was extended to the Navy and United States Marine Corps and consolidated within the Air Force during the Korean War (1950–1953) with greater focus on "resistance training".
Specialist patch worn by U.S. Air Force "survival instructors"
USAF Resistance Training Specialist patch
Survival handbook of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) from 1944.
A SERE Specialist with the 22nd Training Squadron
Survival skills are techniques used to sustain life in any type of natural environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human life, including water, food, and shelter. Survival skills also support proper knowledge and interactions with animals and plants to promote the sustaining of life over time.
Astronauts participating in tropical survival training at an Air Force Base near the Panama Canal, 1963. From left to right are an unidentified trainer, Neil Armstrong, John H. Glenn Jr., L. Gordon Cooper, and Pete Conrad. Survival training is important for astronauts, as a launch abort or misguided reentry could potentially land them in a remote wilderness area.
A first aid kit containing equipment that can treat common injuries and illness.
Photo release by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation dipicting a shelter built from tarp and sticks. Pictured are displaced people from the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Hydration pack manufactured by Camelbak.
