Ready for anything: the life-saving role of a SERE Specialist

Survive, Evade, Resist, and Escape instructors from Scott Air Force Base and Lt. Col. Brandon Dow, 54th Airlift Squadron, stands in the dust kicked up by a UH-60 Blackhawk during Scott's first-ever water extraction training with the 6-101st Aviation Regiment of Fort Campbell, Ky., Lake Carlyle, Ill., June 7, 2017. Dow, Lt. Col. Brooke Matson, 375th Operations Support Squadron, and Maj. Madison Basil Jr., Headquarters Air Mobility Command, received hoist, water survival, and flare training to learn how to survive in aquatic situations long enough to be rescued. The 101st Combat Aviation Brigade has served in almost every single military operation since the Vietnam War, including combat, peacekeeping, and humanitarian. By partnering with Air Mobility Command’s SERE instructors, this training allows for joint-service coordination while preparing aerial crew members to survive in austere locations after being displaced from their aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jodi Martinez) (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jodi Martinez)