Info requested

[invertedflyer]

Ever read his book(s)? Good stuff if you ask me. One of our Docs down at the unit went to SERE, gave me some good tips about going when and if I go.

 

[DocT]

Yes I have. The best of them is actually "Good To Go", the story of the rescue told through interviews with those who participated in it. I highly recommend it.

Capt. O'Grady does pretty well for himself as a speaker these days.

 

[Gatordev]

Kind of bugging me on this thread... Isn't he now Mr. Scott O'Grady? I know he got out, but wasn't sure if he went into the reserves, in which case he should be a Major at least by now.

 

[nocal80]

I never figured out why Marines are not required to go. It's very valuable training and boot camp/OCS is not going to provide THAT kind of training, despite how tough you think you are. Does the Marine Corps just prioritize it differently?

It is a requirement, the USMC just doesn't seem to have its sh!t together with regards to sending guys there immediately after winging like the Navy does. It then becomes an issue of the FRS/fleet making it a priority or not. I don't think OCS/SERE can really be compared, the challenges presented by each are completely different in my opinion. "toughness" isn't really the issue, the physical part of SERE wasn't difficult, we didn't have anyone that had a hard time hiking around, and lets face it, anyone that does is terribly out of shape. SERE was more of a mental challenge, i.e. dealing with sh!t like the cold, lack of food, the fun stuff, and if in charge making sure everyone else was dealing ok.

 

[skidkid]

I dont think it is at all a case of "we got all that at TBS/OCS" : entirely different training, apples and oranges. I honestly think that the best place to get SERE is while waiting in the various pools in flight school, nice how bad do you want to fly guy check perhaps. Once you are out of the training pipeline there are numerous conflicting priorities, just the way it is everywhere lots to do and not enough guys to do it. This is something that is definitely needed, there were some problems on the Green side at the Hanoi Hilton.

 

[DocT]

Kind of bugging me on this thread... Isn't he now Mr. Scott O'Grady? I know he got out, but wasn't sure if he went into the reserves, in which case he should be a Major at least by now.

Corrected. He's not in the reserves. It's technically Mister.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Ok, this is enough about SERE. Done

 

[Gatordev]

I know it's closed, but Skid's and Nocal's posts are good stuff. Independent of the land nav (which I hear Marines complain about, and rightfully so), it really is some of the best training, even if it's mostly mental.