My son just signed with the USMC.

bkbrno said:
SERE advice. Once done, make multiple copies of graduation certificate and give it to responsible people. It is training you don't want to repeat should proof get lost. Make sure it is in his service record. Not the most fun week I ever spent in the woods. They change the training all the time so don't get wrapped up with what your buddies got.
Click to expand...

Apparently, there are different levels of SERE training. He said his is the "lite" version but it's 2 weeks long.

I enjoyed the helo dunker. Kinda fun. But I was an active scuba diver at the time, so very comfortable in the water. My advice to my son for the helo dunker: 1. Relax and stay calm. 2. Don't get in a hurry to get out, especially if there is someone in front of you. A boot to the face is not fun.
 
Last edited:
Only one SERE when I did it. The full course meal.

There was one E-5 Marine in my group. He bitched about everything during the class portion. As soon as we got in the field, he was a machine. Marines don't respond well to 4 walls and a roof. Once they get a little dirt on them, it's game time.
 
My boy leaves to SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) School tomorrow!

His buddies who have done it say, "It's the most fun I never want to have again!"
 
Racer88 said:
Apparently, there are different levels of SERE training. He said his is the "lite" version
Click to expand...

Turns out, he's doing "Level C" which is the most intense / highest level of SERE school. (Levels A, B, and C)
 
It was required for me. Certain DoD and DoS civilians and contractors in addition to military. I attended in Alabama. It was run by the Army. No Marines were there, so I assume they do their training someplace else? My guess is Lejune.

More than half the participants were Army pilots. It was not easy. I attended an additional course dedicated specifically to desert survival in Texas about a year later. That was a real bitch.
 
Bongo Lewi said:
No Marines were there, so I assume they do their training someplace else? My guess is Lejune.
Click to expand...

On the west coast (where he is) it's apparently San Diego (Coronado - Naval Special Warfare Center).
 
I would imagine a lot has changed. We were told Vietnam, and guerrilla warfare had a huge influence on this training. Took it to a new level. Terrorists and their methods was a new thing. Their interrogation methods, evading capture, etc was different from the previous curriculum.

A buddy of mine was captured by a rogue Iraqi faction while driving thru the green zone between Baghdad and the airport after Desert Storm had ended. Civilian contractor. He had no training and chose not to pay for a security escort. Then he got unlucky. He and two of his employees. Brutally murdered. Was he just not aware of the danger or was it a decision to roll the dice and save some money? That will never be known.

I'm inclined to think he didnt fully understand the risk and when captured had no idea what to do. Probably made no attempt to evade. Didn't have a plan for the possibility of being targeted or captured. My gut told me he casually pulled over and it didn't even occur to him they were going to kill him.

This was one of the reasons I signed up for as much training as I could. I'm convinced it saved my ass. It also helped me plan ahead, having a plan for staying alive if things went sideways. That discipline never leaves your head and helps with everyday civilian life too.
 
Last edited:
He will learn a lot about our enemies and himself. The training is ever changing but adjusted to the most likely threat he would encounter. The basics don't really change. I could say more but then I would have to kill everyone. Or, I may get whacked.


Why are Blackhawks flying around my house right now?
 
Bongo Lewi said:
I would imagine a lot has changed. We were told Vietnam, and guerrilla warfare had a huge influence on this training. Took it to a new level. Terrorists and their methods was a new thing. Their interrogation methods, evading capture, etc was different from the previous curriculum.

A buddy of mine was captured by a rogue Iraqi faction while driving thru the green zone between Baghdad and the airport after Desert Storm had ended. Civilian contractor. He had no training and chose not to pay for a security escort. Then he got unlucky. He and two of his employees. Brutally murdered. Was he just not aware of the danger or was it a decision to roll the dice and save some money? That will never be known.

I'm inclined to think he didnt fully understand the risk and when captured had no idea what to do. Probably made no attempt to evade. Didn't have a plan for the possibility of being targeted or captured. My gut told me he casually pulled over and it didn't even occur to him they were going to kill him.

This was one of the reasons I signed up for as much training as I could. I'm convinced it saved my ass. It also helped me plan ahead, having a plan for staying alive if things went sideways. That discipline never leaves your head and helps with everyday civilian life too.
Click to expand...
Some of the things you've mentioned on this forum make me think you would be a very interesting person to sit down and have a conversation with concerning your pas experiences if you were willing to open up with them. I'd be really interested in making a trip, if you were willing to openly have such a convo..
 
NavyVet83 said:
Some of the things you've mentioned on this forum make me think you would be a very interesting person to sit down and have a conversation with concerning your pas experiences if you were willing to open up with them. I'd be really interested in making a trip, if you were willing to openly have such a convo..
Click to expand...
As long as you show up in a motorhome with Greta tied up restrained in the back I'm sure he'd be fine with it... ;)
 
Bobster said:
As long as you show up in a motorhome with Greta tied up restrained in the back I'm sure he'd be fine with it... ;)
Click to expand...
It seems that Greta bondage is a fantasy shared by others... who knew? 🤔

1754220317902.png

1754220352516.png
 
NavyVet83 said:
Some of the things you've mentioned on this forum make me think you would be a very interesting person to sit down and have a conversation with concerning your pas experiences if you were willing to open up with them. I'd be really interested in making a trip, if you were willing to openly have such a convo..
Click to expand...
Well, that's flattering. If only I could get Greta to take an interest in my life story! But the story of my crooked path is probably not as interesting as it seems. On the other hand I am always happy to shoot the shit with someone over a beer. Having had my fill of travel and being a nomad, I seldom go anywhere now. I'm a hermit in training and loving it.

The adventurous side of my life sprang out of sheer boredom. I had a fancy education, a good job, and a rich Manhattan socialite wife. Until I ran away and joined the circus. That probably seems like becoming the man in the spotlight on the flying trapeze, but in reality it's more like the guy who cleans up the elephant shit with a shovel.

My inspiration started on a yacht half way between Ft Lauderdale and Bimini. WW2 was the last time the military wanted anybody 30 years old enlisting. So I found a different way to change the world. Or so I thought.

The next thing you know I'm in the North Africa Maghreb in a firefight with Algerian Islamist radicals. It would have been a lot smarter to stay put and attend cocktail parties, fundraisers, and walk past the rope at the hippest uptown clubs. Hindsight is always 20-20. But then again, I probably wouldn't be on PGB. Some say everything happens for a reason. I say we are free to choose our paths but what happens along the way is all chance.

Hunting, fishing, and fireams were a big part of my childhood. But had I not made the choices I did, today I would probably be more like the dude in the photo on the left vs. those on the right. :)

Screenshot 2025-08-03 at 7.46.48 AM.png
Screenshot 2025-08-03 at 7.51.31 AM.png


Racer and I have never met but share some similarities and have crossed paths in unusual ways. I suppose that happens on forums with regulars because the reason they are regulars is that they are birds of a feather.
 
Last edited:
Interesting and hilarious side discussion! :)

In our discussion about his upcoming SERE training (leaving today) and the potential for physical abuse during the "interrogation" phase, my son said, "My sergeant who already went through it said that getting slapped by one of his instructors felt like getting hit by a 2 by 4."

I told him that his hockey experience (taking hard hits was routine) should give him an edge. Hockey hardened him physically and mentally. I guess we'll find out!
 
Racer88 said:
Interesting and hilarious side discussion! :)

In our discussion about his upcoming SERE training (leaving today) and the potential for physical abuse during the "interrogation" phase, my son said, "My sergeant who already went through it said that getting slapped by one of his instructors felt like getting hit by a 2 by 4."

I told him that his hockey experience (taking hard hits was routine) should give him an edge. Hockey hardened him physically and mentally. I guess we'll find out!
Click to expand...
I didn't get beat, but the in your face psychological pressure is not trivial. :)


View: https://youtu.be/8pP15y3Wu7s?feature=shared

I found the physical aspect of the training harder. Being hungry and thirsty. You can't tune that out. At the end, there was a live fire exercise. Real bullets flying past you. Charges in the ground to simulate mortar or similar ordnance. No shrapnel of course - just sand and dirt flying up into the air - but it seems real.
 
Just found my SERE graduation certificate. Lock away in a fireproof box where it will stay until I die and no longer have a use for it. I'm confident the training will help me get through the pearly gates. Maybe.
 
bkbrno said:
Just found my SERE graduation certificate. Lock away in a fireproof box where it will stay until I die and no longer have a use for it. I'm confident the training will help me get through the pearly gates. Maybe.
Click to expand...
Most of my paperwork has been lost to the ages. Constantly moving for a couple of decades. I have no idea where my diplomas and certifications are. My long expired LPE license, courses taken, etc. Not that it matters. I had a commendation award signed by Secretary Clinton. Included was a medal and ribbon. I did nothing heroic.

I ceremoniously tossed that letter into my fireplace years ago - after she let those men get slaughtered in Benghazi in 2012. The medal and ribbon were issued long after and of no importance to me. I probably would have tossed that too but my son stepped in and asked if he could keep it for posterity.
 
Last edited:
Bongo Lewi said:
Not that it matters. I had a commendation award signed by Secretary Clinton. Included was a medal and ribbon. I did nothing heroic.
Click to expand...

Oh, sure... We know you gave her the "Greta treatment." ;)

meg ryan orgasm GIF


Or was it the Aunt Jemima treatment?
1754233571586.gif
 
Last edited:
Racer88 said:
Oh, sure... We know you gave her the "Greta treatment." ;)
Click to expand...
Piano legs and cottage cheese ass? I'd rather face a firing squad. There is no reward or honor that can be given to make that worthwhile.Screenshot 2025-08-03 at 11.55.06 AM.png
 
Last edited:

Share this page

Back
Top