Ask me anything about going through SERE

[DeadMoney_J]

[ QUOTE ]
what part of the military were you in when you went through SERE?
did you do the training along with any other branches/groups?

[/ QUOTE ]

I was in the Air Force.

Yes I have done training with other services. I have been through both AF and Army survival training as well as some training hosted by government agencies.

[DeadMoney_J]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This has the potential to be one of the coolest Ask Me threads.

Can you outline some of the things you were taught to survive interrogation?

[/ QUOTE ]

specifically, what techniques do you use when faced with torture?

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe, for the most part, I covered that in my answer to Skunkworks. You just basically attempt to "control" the situation for lack of a better term. You want to do whatever you have to in order to manipulate their decision cycle into your favor. Whether that be brining attention to medical issues, having them adhere to aspects of the Geneva Convention or just rambling about something that has absolutely no pertinence.

[ItalianFX]

What kind of "intelligence operations" were you part of? I don't mean specifically what you had to do, but, in general, what did you do that you needed to have SERE training?

[thirddan]

how accurate was the sere training in GI jane? thats the only place i can remember it being discussed or depicted...

[StukOnStupid]

How effective is "waterboarding"? Have you ever experienced it?

Do you consider it torture? or of such a horrible nature that it should never be used as an interrogation method?

The reason I ask is that the media make it out to be some technique that is beyond debate re: torture. Yet, I hear that it's mostly psychological and VERY effective.

Thanks for doing this!

Stuk

[thirddan]

what is "waterboarding" ?

[DeadMoney_J]

[ QUOTE ]
how accurate was the sere training in GI jane? thats the only place i can remember it being discussed or depicted...

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't remeber exact details of that movie or that scene but I remember thinking that it wasn't very realistic.

[DeadMoney_J]

[ QUOTE ]
what is "waterboarding" ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Waterboarding is where one is typically bound on a board with their feet elevated (there are other variations). Celephane or other material is placed over the individual's face (preferably non-transparent) and water is poured over the material. This induces a "gag" reaction and the person who it is being done to will feel like they are drowning.

[DeadMoney_J]

[ QUOTE ]
How effective is "waterboarding"? Have you ever experienced it?

Do you consider it torture? or of such a horrible nature that it should never be used as an interrogation method?

The reason I ask is that the media make it out to be some technique that is beyond debate re: torture. Yet, I hear that it's mostly psychological and VERY effective.

Thanks for doing this!

Stuk

[/ QUOTE ]

It is very effective as a general rule. Yes I have experienced it and it is not pleasant. It is even worse when you are already physically and emotionally drained.

It does constitute a form of torture. The severity of which depends on how it is carried out. I'm not going to say that this exact practice should be used but that does not mean that I'm opposed to all water methods. For instance, as officials have pointed out, "dunking" is different than water boarding.

While it is mostly psychological, if the individuals performing the interrogation aren't disciplined enough, it can easily spiral out of control and lead to physical harm as well.

[d10]

I was thinking about doing a thread on this topic but I don't remember what all was classified information and what wasn't. It's a very good school though, even if you're never in a situation where you'd need to use it, you learn a lot about yourself.