SERE School

Cougar tracks in the snow-covered logging road were fresh. A few hundred feet away in the evergreen forest was a winter camp for the Fairchild Air Force Base Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) School.

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Fri., April 2, 2021

Todd Foster a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor stands in one of the School's training camps on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, outside Chewelah, Wash. During the SERE course students learn survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) skills, which includes constructing and maintaining shelters like this one.

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Rick Hall, an Air Force liaison with the Colville National Forest, checks out one of the schools’ training camps on March 9 outside Chewelah, Wash.

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Keith Schmidt technical sergeant and SERE Specialist walks through one of the SERE school’s training camps on March 9 near Chewelah, Wash.

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Rick Hall, left, an Air Force liaison with the Colville National Forest and Todd Foster a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor point study a map on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash.

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The Air Force SERE insignia catches the sunlight on Technical Sergeant Keith Schmidt’s shoulder at one of the SERE school’s training camps on March 9 outside Chewelah, Wash.

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Rick Hall, left, an Air Force liaison with the Colville National Forest and Master Sgt. Brian Youngberg check out some of the school’s tracked vehicles on March 9 at one of the SERE school’s training camps outside Chewelah, Wash. In addition to enhanced winter off road capabilities, the tracked vehicles are gentler on Forest Service roads in the winter.

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Tracks where a cougar followed a road are visible on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash. The school often informs biologists on wildlife conditions noted by cadre and students during their time in the woods.

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Master Sgt. Brian Youngberg, left, and Todd Foster with the Air Force Civilian Service, at an Air Force SERE training camp outside Chewelah on March 9.

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Master Sergeant Brian Youngberg, stands in one of the School's training camps on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, outside Chewelah, Wash. During the SERE course students learn survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) skills, which includes constructing and maintaining shelters like this one.

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SERE students are trained to mark their fire pits with poles like this one, which incldue info including the student who made the fire on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, outside Chewelah, Wash. During the SERE course students learn survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) skills, which includes constructing and maintaining shelters like this one.

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A parachute is used as a canopy in one of the SERE school's survival shelters on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash.

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Todd Foster a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor holds up a scrap from a food wrapper on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash. Foster's job duties include working with the school and the Forest Service to minimize and manage the SERE school's impact on public lands.

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Todd Foster a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor stands in one of the School's training camps on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, outside Chewelah, Wash. During the SERE course students learn survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) skills, which includes constructing and maintaining shelters like this one. Foster's job duties include working with the school and the Forest Service to minimize and manage the SERE school's impact on public lands.

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Rick Hall, right, an Air Force liaison with the Colville National Forest chats with Todd Foster, a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash. The pair work closely together to manage the SERE school's impact on public lands.

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Rick Hall, left, an Air Force liaison with the Colville National Forest chats with Todd Foster, a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash. The pair work closely together to manage the SERE school's impact on public lands.

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Keith Schmidt, a SERE Technical Sergeant, chats with Todd Foster a Training Area Manager with the Air Force Civilian Service and retired SERE instructor on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at one of the SERE school's training camps outside Chewelah, Wash.

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