SERE A Flyg is a Swedish practical SERE course for flying personnel, including pilots and crew members such as navigators. It prepares them for the situation after an aircraft accident or emergency landing: surviving with limited equipment, remaining concealed under enemy threat and preparing for pickup by recovery forces. In this course, SERE stands for Survive, Evade, Resist, Extract.
Swedish aircrew training
The training is delivered by MIFS, Människan i flygsystemet, at Luftstridsskolan. This department addresses the human within the aviation system. After an emergency landing, the crew's task shifts from the aircraft to the surrounding environment: the individual must use their physical abilities and remaining emergency equipment to maintain shelter and supplies and reach a pickup point.
One example of the sequence is a survival week that starts with a simulated aircraft accident or emergency landing. The first night in tents is followed by natural-material bivouacs and a gradual reduction in equipment. Less food and sleep add to the strain. A foot march to an endpoint and subsequent pickup conclude the sequence. The field phase therefore connects sustainment, staying in place and movement; after several days, participants must still be able to walk and operate their signalling equipment.
Sustainment and navigation with limited resources
Practical subjects include water purification, identifying edible and inedible plants, hunting and fishing. Drinking water receives particular priority. For an isolated individual, the remaining resources and the effort needed to replenish them matter: reaching a known water source may require movement; searching for food costs time and energy and may require leaving a hiding site. Plant knowledge or fishing can supplement limited supplies when suitable food is present and the person has the required knowledge and means.
Gradually reducing equipment during training shows which functions carried equipment normally performs. A tent or other shelter material limits immediate exposure to the weather; without it, establishing a suitable place to stay takes additional work. In an actual isolation situation, usable emergency equipment therefore remains a resource. The person takes it with them when they have to leave the aircraft and checks what is actually available for shelter, water, movement and signals.
Navigation practice includes pace counting and GPS with and without interference. Pace counting estimates distance along a chosen direction: the counted steps are related to a previously known stride length or number of steps per unit of distance. Slopes, difficult ground and fatigue change those steps and therefore the estimate. Recognisable terrain features help reveal discrepancies. This gives the individual a way to keep track of movement when satellite navigation is disrupted, without treating a step count alone as an exact position fix.
Remaining concealed and preparing the next move
The aircrew training addresses both rapid pickup in a peaceful environment and a threat that requires concealed waiting, a delay or another pickup point. The difference changes the individual's work: a conspicuous distress signal may help a search, while also revealing the location to an enemy. Whether the person becomes visible or initially remains hidden therefore depends on the threat and the agreed recovery procedure.
Within the Swedish SERE framework, the person stays with the vehicle only when it is safe to do so. If they have to leave, they take their emergency equipment to a protected hiding site. Observation, camouflage, tending to injuries, drinking and determining position belong together there. The equipment inventory and the person's condition determine which distance is still feasible and which supplies are needed first. The prepared route plan and agreed procedures help connect further movement with a possible pickup.
For concealed movement, Swedish SERE preparation uses the mnemonic SOLO: Stanna, Observera, Lyssna, Ofta – stop, observe, listen, often. Short moves between cover and concealment are interrupted by halts. The individual checks the terrain and listens for sounds before starting the next leg. These pauses create an opportunity to recognise a hazard or an unfavourable crossing before further movement exposes the person. The escape route from a hiding site and the route to a possible pickup point must also match the individual's ability to move.
Signals, identification and pickup
SERE A Flyg includes communication using radio, lamps and other distress signals, in both concealed and more conspicuous forms. These means perform different tasks: a signal can attract attention and indicate location; a radio link can convey position, the individual's condition and ability to move. This requires retained, operable means and, for radio, a usable connection. The choice of signal, timing and location also affects who can receive the message.
Preparing for pickup includes keeping equipment organised, having signalling means ready and being able to establish identity. The Swedish link-up procedure uses prepared personal information such as ISOPREP or agreed PR codes for this purpose. Recovery forces need to identify the person they are collecting. The individual also prepares the route from the hiding site to the meeting point so that they can reach it after making contact.
If recovery forces reach the area without radio contact being possible, the Swedish procedure requires safe recognition of friendly forces before agreed PR signals are used. The individual then follows their instructions, adopts a nonthreatening posture, holsters a carried weapon and remains ready to identify themselves. This reduces the risk of the approach being mistaken for an attack and enables an orderly pickup.