Photo By John Drew Hamilton | Survival Instructor Eddie Emory starts a fire using a striker and a small pile of...... read more read more
Fort Rucker children learned the basics of surviving in the wilderness from the instructors at the Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) school July 23.
Staff of the Center Library on Fort Rucker wanted to make this year’s summer reading program a little more hands-on. As the program is themed on the natural world, leveraging Fort Rucker resources to give the children something interesting seemed like the best way forward.
“The theme for this year is ‘Plant a seed, read!’ and I thought a nature excursion would be kinda nice, get them to learn a little bit more about the area they are living in,” said Michael Resmondo Center Library children’s programmer
So reaching out to the SERE school, the library was able to set up an afternoon for children to learn a few survival skills and what to do in a survival situation.
The SERE school is based at Fort Rucker and is part of the Army’s flight school curriculum. The normal block of instruction is a comprehensive course covering what a Soldier should do if their aircraft is forced down behind enemy lines including how to stay alive while evade capture by enemy forces. For the summer reading program event, the SERE instructors had to edit things down.
“We’ve been working with (the library staff) about three months paring it down to what the kids can participate in and find interesting,” said Mike Roberts, a survival instruction manager with Navigator Development Group, which is contracted to provide instruction for the SERE school. “Just explaining what the key points of survival are, and they get to touch everything like a show and tell.”
For the Library’s event, the SERE instructors spent the afternoon instructing the children on what to do if they were to get lost in the wilderness. Instruction started with tips like remaining in one location and how to make yourself easier for rescue workers to find. It also covered simple items you can put in your backpack that make survival easier, like a plastic tarp which can be used to keep dry, or a small whistle which can create a sound that will travel farther than a shout.
“Critical skills for survival transfers into any medium. Whether it be a child (or an adult). We just have to pick out the specific traits that we’re looking for… we have to pick a specific scenario that fits the children, like being lost in a state park,” said Roberts.
Following the introduction, the children were split into smaller groups and taken to various stations to learn specific techniques and make tools.
The first station got the children hands-on time building a small fishing kit that can be easily stored in a backpack or pocket and taken out when needed. While not as nice as a proper rod and reel, the small kit that fits inside a tiny plastic bottle, contains everything you need to catch a small fish.
The second station taught about the skill of making a fire. In a survival situation lighting a fire can be easy if you have access to a lighter or matches. However that’s not always the case, so the instructors demonstrated how to light a fire through other methods. Using a bow and drill method to “rub two sticks together” Survival Instructor Ayrton Leiser was able to create a small burning coal he could apply to some dry vegetation and make a fire. Survival Instructor Eddie Emory made a more pyrotechnic show, demonstrating to the children how to use gunpowder along with a knife and ferro-rod striker to create a quick flame.
The final station provided the materials for the children to build a simple slingshot. Looking like that classic Y-shape stick with some elastic you see in old comics, safely handling the slingshots required both skill and technique.
“This is a pretty simple tool, as a survivor you could probably craft (a slingshot) very easily,” said Survival Instructor Randy Greeson.
The instructors then demonstrated the correct way to aim and shoot a slingshot, before letting the kids try shooting some small orange targets.
The event was an unexpected success, with around 80 children participating. This partnering with the SERE school, the Center Library offered the children more than just a lesson in survival; they provided a memorable experience and a deeper connection to the natural world.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.29.2026 15:20 |
| Story ID: | 571035 |
| Location: | ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Rucker Children Learn Wilderness Survival from the Experts, by John Drew Hamilton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
