SERE Level B is the practical intermediate level of preparation for military isolation. In the NATO framework, it is intended for personnel at medium risk of isolation or exploitation and combines basic instruction with practical survival and evasion training and classroom resistance training. The isolated person practises maintaining the ability to act, avoiding capture and using personal means to contribute to recovery.
Risk and national use
Risk categorisation considers the unit, occupation, mission and operating procedures, together with the individual's knowledge and responsibilities. Separation from friendly forces can therefore have very different consequences: alongside the danger to the person lies the possible exploitation of their knowledge in captivity. Rank alone does not determine the level. German artillery examples include fire-support teams operating alongside combat troops and gun or reconnaissance personnel deployed well forward. If these forces are overrun or cut off, they must be able to sustain themselves and avoid capture.
The French level model associates B with medium risk and regularly anticipated operations in an environment with that degree of exposure. It includes instruction, demonstrations, practical workshops and field exercises with personal equipment. In the British system, B is delivered at unit level. German B training includes shelter construction, fire, water and food preparation, conduct during pickup by recovery forces and an evasion exercise. In this field element, sustainment, navigation and evasion must work together: a rest site may provide protection while making onward movement harder; a supply activity may preserve strength while revealing the person's presence.
Protection and sustainment under threat
French B subjects include immediate responses to isolation, protection, location, water, food and combat first aid adapted to the environment and threat. The person assesses immediate danger, physical condition, location and the means still available. This determines whether to seek cover, carry out a necessary sustainment task or continue evading. A usable water container, protection from the weather and a navigation aid affect the distance the person can actually cover.
Protection against wind and rain and insulation from cold or damp ground serve different purposes. Clothing, carried equipment and suitable local materials are used to provide the protection and rest needed, with only the necessary preparation. A site needs observable approaches and a way out. A hollow may conceal the person but collect water during heavy rain; elaborate construction consumes strength and visibly alters the surroundings.
Water procurement, treatment and transport form one task. The person must use the treatment means available and preserve the treated water in a clean, closed container for the next movement phase. Fire can provide warmth and enable food preparation, but requires fuel, time and suitable equipment. Light and smoke can reveal the site. Whether a fire or a prolonged search for food is worthwhile therefore also depends on enemy activity and the need to move on. Sustainment must preserve the ability to evade without consuming it through unnecessary effort.
Observe, navigate and move
Evasion means shaping movement to reduce the chance of being detected and captured by hostile forces. It involves using natural concealment, avoiding a conspicuous silhouette and observing from a concealed halt. Before a road or another exposed stretch, the person checks visible and audible signs of people, vehicles and hostile activity. The next movement is chosen on that basis, rather than following the shortest route without observation. Rattling equipment is secured and shiny objects covered; damaged vegetation and discarded objects can reveal where the person has passed.
The French B model names maps, compass, GPS and personal electronic navigation equipment. Their common purpose is to establish the person's position and an attainable destination. Terrain is compared with the map, and direction and distance travelled are checked repeatedly. A route to an intended evasion or recovery area must be compatible with physical condition, supplies and obstacles. A destination on the map does not justify movement across observed open ground. Rest and sustainment are planned into the movement so that exhaustion or lack of water does not immobilise the person in an unfavourable place.
The person's contribution to recovery
French B preparation connects navigation aids, position signals and personal communications with the PR procedures applicable to the operation. PR means Personnel Recovery, the recovery of isolated personnel. Before deployment, the person and the forces involved must understand the same agreed procedures. An Evasion Plan of Action describes intended actions during evasion; an ISOPREP contains prepared identification and authentication data. These allow recovery forces to interpret an expected movement and check identity. During isolation, the person must establish their actual location and, where possible, communicate it.
With a usable radio, telephone or data connection, the person reports location, the number and condition of people, observed threats, obstacles and available signal devices. A mirror, signal panel, light or smoke makes the position recognisable to a receiver with a line of sight to the signal and, where needed, suitable detection equipment. French preparation includes strobe and infrared lights, flares and smoke signals; the German account also names a panel and mirror. The person keeps suitable means ready and uses them according to the agreed procedure or instructions from confirmed friendly forces. Visible signals may also reveal the position to an enemy; repeated equipment use consumes energy needed for later contact.
A position signal answers the question of location. Authentication also establishes whether the person making contact is the one being sought. Recovery forces may be particularly vulnerable during pickup; an enemy could use a known position or intercepted information to deceive them. The person therefore protects authentication data and responds through the prepared procedure. When recovery is actually imminent, they help identify their location, pack and secure equipment and follow the receiving force's instructions. A non-threatening posture, a secured weapon and the avoidance of sudden movement help the contact proceed. The person approaches a vehicle only when instructed. The recovery method that can be used depends on available forces, local threats and the person's condition.
Resistance and the difference from A and C
In the NATO framework, B addresses resistance in the classroom. The French model covers prisoner treatment, psychological and legal aspects of captivity, state and non-state detention and the stages of captivity. The person must be able to understand hostile exploitation after capture: information protection and conduct in captivity become two parts of preparation alongside the earlier effort to avoid capture.
The US Air Force also uses B for Evasion and Conduct After Capture, or ECAC. This programme addresses wartime, peacetime and hostage captivity through instruction and practical academic role-play environments. Instruction in evasion, PR and associated procedures is supplemented by an Evasion Laboratory with hands-on application. It concludes with a Hostage Resistance Training Laboratory, a practical training environment for resistance in a hostage situation. The person therefore also practises conduct after capture in simulated scenarios. This national B programme can include practical resistance elements even though the NATO description specifies classroom resistance for B.
The NATO distinction between levels concerns risk and content: A provides the foundations for low risk and may add basic survival practice in a controlled environment. B adds basic practical survival and evasion tasks for medium risk. C addresses high risk and includes extensive practical survival, evasion and resistance training in a controlled, realistic environment. The operational role determines the preparation required; this does not establish a fixed sequence of three courses.