Survival School! Any tips? n/t

[av8instyle]

don't sneak any power bars/energy meal bars in your flight suit.

I say bull, try to sneak the power bars and beef jerky in. The instructors will love you for it.

 

[fieldw]

will they love you b/c they will get to be harder on you, or b/c you actually tried?

 

[DaveGriffin]

Because they get to confiscate and consume the smuggled goods.

 

[av8instyle]

What he said. (You almost said hard on)

 

[CCDiscoB]

Eat your oatmeal, all of it, you'll need the energy.

Don't like oatmeal, learn to love it, quick.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
I would have to say the biggest tip, isn't necessarily a tip as much as it is FYI. Two of the biggest factors are locale and season. Both of these can varily greatly and add to the misery factor of survival training.
I can't comment on Air Force survival training, except that the Navy and the Air Force merged their syllabus for SERE training in the late 90's. However, if you are going through the Navy program you'll be introduced to land survival as a part of AI, OCS or NACCS. When I went through it was a 4-day course consisting of two days in the classroom and two in the field. More than likely you'll be taken somewhere out in the Eglin AFB range compex with your instructors. Part of the syllabus is a land navigation exercise. It's over before you know it, and other than the fact that it is pretty picked over we enjoyed some beef jerky and prickly pear cactus.
SERE training for the Navy is conducted in two locations, NAS North Island and NAS Brunswick Maine. I went through on the west coast at North Island and after the classroom phase we were taken out to the desert close to El Centro for Desert Environment Survival Training (DEST). Then it was onto the high chapparal area of the Laguna mountains near Warner Springs, CA. This iis where you'll do some more classroom/field work ending with the POW stuff. I went through in the summer, so it was hotter than blazes in the desert and not too much cooler in the mountains. However, I had friends that went through in winter and actually had some snow there as well as rain/wind and all that fun stuff.
Brunswick...Well, it's in Maine, so I don't need to go into great detail what that place must be like in the winter! My advice would be go west coast if you are going through SERE in winter time!

regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[Yahtzee]

Anyone willing to comment on survival school?

Please specify which branch of service and which school....as you can already tell there are various schools for each service.

 

[luck4unme]

Actually I'm not the officer who is going but the info I'm looking for is for recent SUPT grads going to Washington. I think the base is Fairchild and it starts next week.

Thanks for all the posts so far.

 

[DaveGriffin]

Eat your oatmeal, all of it, you'll need the energy.

Don't like oatmeal, learn to love it, quick.

Oatmeal!!
You got oatmeal at SERE?
The "country club" never ceases to amaze me.

 

[Purple Haze]

Feb 1988, Fairchild AFB, Cascades, WA
-7 degrees Fahrenheit (before windchill)
5+ feet of snow
Most firewood = buried
Food?.........What food?
Snowshoes are not fun when your dawgs are frozen.
Our only water came from melting snow over a fire. If you didn't drink the nasty "smoke-water" fairly quickly, it would freeze in your canteen.

But we liked it...We loved it....That was the day

Tips:
Don't stand out--blend
Do not whine -- you will make it much worse.
If you have good camping skills you will have a MUCH easier time
Don't be an idiot -- help the others in your group who think the meat in the grocery store somehow grew from a plant.
Best advice: Just gut it out, realizing that it is the only remaining obstacle between you and a goal you set a long time ago.

Resistance Training Tips:
Don't be dumb like I was -- CHEAT! Any time they are not watching you, RELAX. Daydream -- heavily.
Don't freak out -- it isn't real -- they can't (permanently) DNIF you