SERE Military College Courses - What to Expect?

I've heard about Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) courses at military colleges and they seem intense. But what do these courses really entail, and what can I expect if I decide to go this route?

The Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) courses offered at military colleges are indeed quite rigorous. These courses are an important part of training for certain military personnel, and their purpose is to prepare students for survival scenarios when they're isolated and may have to evade capture, resist interrogation, or successfully escape from captivity.

The content of SERE courses can vary slightly between different military colleges, but generally, the courses are divided into three main phases:

1. Survival and Evasion: In this phase, you would learn various survival techniques that apply to different environments, whether it be desert, jungle, mountain, or sea. These skills include finding and making safe drinking water, procuring food in the wild, and creating ad-hoc tools and weapons. The evasion component focuses on how to avoid capture, emphasizing camouflage, stealth, navigation without compasses or maps, as well as planning and executing movements to evade enemy forces.

2. Resistance: Here, you'd be taught how to resist interrogation and exploitation attempts if captured. This training could include mock interrogations to condition you and make you aware of manipulative tactics that may be used by captors. The ultimate goal is to equip you with the ability to protect sensitive information under duress.

3. Escape: In the final part of the course, you'll be trained in methods of escaping captivity. This includes learning about confinement conditions, escape planning, and ways to signal friendly forces once you've escaped.

Serious mental and physical challenges are a fundamental part of SERE courses. You'll likely experience considerable physical discomfort such as fatigue, hunger, or even exposure to varying weather conditions. Moreover, these courses are not just about survival, but resilience and adaptation in mentally stressful situations. Therefore, these courses often have a significant psychological component, testing and enhancing your ability to deal with uncertainty, fear, and stress.

Just remember, if you opt to take these courses, the training scenarios may feel intense and extreme, but they are controlled and monitored by experienced instructors to ensure safety. The ultimate goal of SERE training is to build resilience, improved decision-making, and survival skills, all essential components for military readiness.