SERE is an advanced Code-of-Conduct course. All military personnel receives initial Code-of-Conduct instruction during basic training. At this early training, they are taught an American service member’s moral and legal responsibilities if captured by enemy forces.

Survival

Survival training starts in the classroom for the first week. Then it is tested out in the field, living off the land, building fires, catching and gathering food, finding water, all while evading the enemy. 

Evasion

The students will be tasked with a situation to travel from one safe house to another. Throughout that day and night, instructors with thick Arabic accents (formerly Russian accents) search the areas in between the houses patrolling the easy routes between areas. 

At some point, you will get caught or have to turn yourself into the instructors to start the resistance phase. Here, you are a captured prisoner of war. Treated like a prisoner, in a cell, and getting beat and interrogated like a prisoner. While captured, your goal is not to give up any information during interrogations and not be used as propaganda by the enemy. 

When possible, make all efforts to escape your prison cell and the camp. It is difficult to do, and you will get caught and beat again, but the planning of the escape will give your mind something to do. At the same time, the enemy plays horrible music, children crying, and repetitive, mind-numbing recordings on loud-speaking, making it difficult to sleep for very long periods. 

U.S. Navy’s video:

MAHARBAL5022’s video: