An Cosantóir

13 launched. The three main elements of Personnel Recovery are SERE, Rescue Forces and PR Staff (Planners and controllers). SERE training (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Extraction) is the foundation of any PR capability and it's during this training that troops are trained in how to survive the threat and the environmental challenges, evade and prepare for rescue. Knowing what to do and when to do it will significantly speed up the rescue and make it safer for everyone involved. While for some people the term SERE stirs up images of going feral in the wild with a sharp knife between their teeth, the most important elements of SERE training are how to activate the Route Plan/Evasion Plan of Action to get to the Designated Area of Recovery, correctly authenticating with the rescue forces and performing the extraction procedures as taught, so your actions will be predictable, which increases the safety and speed of your own rescue. The entire purpose of SERE training is knowing how to communicate and facilitate your own rescue. The quicker you can make that happen, the less you need to know about surviving, evading and resisting interrogation. SERE training and Personnel Recovery may not seem important when the threat level is perceived as low or it has been a while since an incident has occurred, but in medical terms it is the equivalent of CPR training. It is vital to know what to do when the scenario occurs, regardless of how infrequently it may appear to happen. Knowing where to go, how to authenticate and execute the extraction drills could be the difference in being rescued in a couple of hours or the rescue taking days and committing more and more personnel and assets to the risk involved in a PR mission. For this reason, we create a Route Plan/ Evasion Plan of Action, which details all of the mission's waypoints, the crew manifest, the SERE Signal equipment they are carrying and the initial evasion intentions in the event that anyone is isolated or must move under duress. This Route Plan also details what signal equipment is to be used and when it is to be activated during the rescue, so any potential decoy signals from enemy forces can be identified and dismissed. Once the personnel are onboard, the process of reintegration begins. On our current overseas missions it is our QRF/ SMR who are tasked with providing the Personnel Recovery capability. For an effective PR capability, our troops must be SERE trained and rescue forces exercised, with a specific focus on authenticating and executing the extraction procedures. This is conducted in Mission Readiness Exercises prior to deployment. In this series of articles in the coming months, on SERE and Personnel Recovery, I will explain some of the planning, training and procedures in establishing a Personnel Recovery capability For any information on SERE and Personnel Recovery, contact the Military Training School, Air Corps College. THE ROLE OF SERE IN JOINT PERSONNEL RECOVERY (JPR) German troops in EUTM Mali conducting SERE extraction training for the JPR Capability SERE Instructor Sgt Massimo Caschera in EUTM Mali briefing German troops on a SERE exercise Isolated Personnel being recovered as per extraction procedures on a recent SERE course

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