Photo By Airman 1st Class Savannah Carpenter | A U.S. Air Force Airman assigned to the 820th Base Defense Group develops a plan during a survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) exercise at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, April 7, 2026. The training demonstrated how military working dogs enhanced survival capabilities during SERE scenarios. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Savannah Carpenter) see less
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Training to survive: Moody Airmen sharpen personnel recovery skills
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, GA.-- The moment an aircrew member becomes isolated in hostile territory, the fight changes instantly. Stripped of the aircraft, communication and familiar support systems that once defined the mission, survival depends on the ability to think clearly, move deliberately and evade capture under extreme pressure.
Through survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) training alongside opposition forces and military working dog teams, Moody Air Force Base Airmen are challenged to apply those skills in realistic isolation scenarios designed to prepare them for modern personnel recovery operations.
“When an aircrew member becomes isolated, there is no pause button,” said Col. Brian Desautels, 347th Rescue Group commander. “Their survival depends on the training, discipline and instincts developed long before that moment ever happens. Exercises like this prepare our Airmen to think clearly under pressure, evade capture, affect their own rescue and make it home.”
SERE training is conducted through a progressive, scenario-based program that blends classroom instruction with hands-on field exercises. Students first complete an academic phase where instructors assess and reinforce survival knowledge before transitioning into woodland training focused on camouflage, navigation, shelter construction, and recovery signaling techniques. The course culminates in a realistic evasion exercise across challenging terrain, where students must avoid capture by opposing forces and tracking assets while using survival communication equipment and fieldcraft skills under simulated combat conditions. SERE specialists design and oversee the training, ensuring aircrew are challenged in realistic isolation scenarios that test decision-making under stress.
“The primary objective of combat survival preparation (CSP) is to reinforce and sustain the critical knowledge base of high-risk isolation (HRI) personnel,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Ferraro, 347th Operations Support Squadron SERE specialist. “This continuation of training builds upon the foundational skills established during initial SERE training, ensuring that aircrew and other HRI personnel maintain a high level of readiness. The curriculum centers on the practical application of five basic survival needs: communication, navigation, sustenance, health and welfare, and personnel protection. By revisiting these core principles, the program ensures that survivors can effectively implement life-saving strategies if they find themselves isolated in a contested environment.”
While survival core competencies form the foundation of the course, being in a realistic scenario is what transforms the training into instinct. As the scenarios happen, aircrew are forced to apply the learned techniques while avoiding Airmen acting as opposing forces. This realism is amplified once the K-9 teams enter the exercise, shifting the dynamic from survival to active pursuit.
“The objective for the training overall was focused toward the pilots being taught the different ways to avoid the various methods that any enemies could use to find them should they end up behind enemy lines,” said Staff Sgt. Jordan Utter, 824th Base Defense Squadron military working dog trainer. “Our role was to act as the enemy force that could be utilizing dogs to find them. I am the bridge between my dog giving me the signs that someone has come through the area in ways that I can’t see and use my human perception to assign value to the things my dog can’t comprehend that make the whole picture come together. If a handler is able to work with their dog in this way, it makes for a very difficult adversity for the pilots to overcome and supplements the conventional methods that regular forces may not be able to detect or capitalize on.”
The integration of the military working dog teams adds another layer of real-world conditions, forcing the aircrew to adapt against tracking techniques designed to capture movement and signs of the simulated down pilot.
“We act firstly as SME’s for trying to think of how the enemy would bring harm to our forces or protectees,” Utter said. “Whatever substance your dog is trained for is the main interest for you to find so the pros can deal with it and keep everyone safe. It’s very difficult to try to sneak anything past a K9 team so we keep the mission on track by ensuring the nonconventional ways enemies could disrupt a mission are rendered useless or ultimately deter any threat before it starts.”
The goal of this training overall is to build beyond the survivor instincts and help Airmen to develop effective techniques and decision making when under pressure. As the exercise unfolds, aircrew move through unfamiliar terrain, avoiding detection from adversaries who are actively searching for them. Every decision they make, technique or route they choose can determine whether or not they are discovered. The addition of opposing forces and the K-9 teams compresses that decision-making timeline, forcing the Airmen to adapt quickly, balancing risk and survivability under pressure.
“The exercise concludes with a coordinated recovery operation alongside the 41st Rescue Squadron, where survivors are extracted using alternate insertion and extraction (AIE) devices and the same hoist systems employed during real-world rescue missions,” Ferraro said. “This training is designed to familiarize students with the physical and technical demands of recovery operations before they encounter an actual contingency. Ultimately, the program aims to condition personnel to operate effectively under the stress of isolation and recovery, turning critical survival skills into instinctive responses.”
While these scenarios are simulated, the aspects do reflect the reality of personnel recovery operations. Recent recovery efforts involving isolated aircrew have underscored the importance of making sure Airmen are physically fit and able to survive independently in contested environments until rescue forces can respond.
“Readiness is not a single event or a box to check – it is a sustained condition built every day through disciplined training, professional development and a constant commitment to improving how we fight and survive,” Desautels said. “That includes how we train in the field, how we execute under pressure, and how we maintain the physical fitness required to operate in any environment we are tasked to enter. Our Airmen must be ready not only to fly and fight, but to endure, adapt and become a valuable part of the greater rescue effort so they can be recovered in environments that will not be forgiving.”
For isolated aircrew, survival does not begin when recovery forces arrive, it begins long before, in the training, discipline and preparation that shape how they respond when everything else is stripped away.
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