Surviving from point A to point B

by Staff Sgt. Alexandra M. Boutte
509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

7/2/2013 - WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- Flying is inherently danger--every flight and every mission carry the possibility of crashing.

To ensure all Airmen who take this risk have the best possible chance of making it through and returning home to their loved ones, survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) specialists provide combat survival training for aircrew members, including those who fly the B-2 Spirit.

"We simulate a B-2 Spirit ejection over hostile territory," said Staff Sgt. Clifton Cleveland, 509th Operations Support Squadron SERE specialist. "Our B-2 pilots are then required to evade capture with aggressors actively pursuing them, ultimately resulting in a successful rescue."

Several members of Whiteman's flying elite recently undertook this training in the woods and fields around Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

The first part of the day consisted of in-class lectures and demonstrations. The second half of the day covered survival training and evading enemies. The pilots followed an instructor from point to point to learn the process of gathering materials, seeking shelter, discarding unnecessary supplies, finding food, using maps, radios and flares, and getting to their retrieval locations.

The aircrew personnel were required to use their navigation and evasion techniques to get to a recovery point for rescue.

This training, which is required every three years, is used to strengthen the aircrew's skills and further hone the techniques and procedures previously learned in their initial survival training.

Captain Jonathon Roe, 393rd Bomb Squadron B-2 Spirit pilot, has been through this training three times.

"Each time is roughly the same," Roe said. "I have never been in a real-world situation, but I believe the survival training I receive will be instrumental in saving my life."

SERE conducts various training for aircrew here, including combat and water survival, conduct after capture and emergency parachuting techniques.

The training focused on life-saving techniques so aircrew have the highest possibility of survival in the event of an emergency.