Military Training Exercise in San Francisco
For three days, San Francisco transformed into a mock battlefield. U.S. Air Force personnel teamed up with various military and civilian law enforcement agencies, acting as foes to sharpen the airmen’s survival skills behind enemy lines during the Corps’ most extensive urban evasion training exercise.
In total, over 150 team members participated in what was referred to as the ‘sourdough exercise.’
Between December 8 and December 11, airmen stealthily navigated the city’s streets using limited resources while being pursued by a mix of insurgents, including members from the sheriff’s office, the U.S. Coast Guard, and multiple SWAT teams, among others involved in the training.
About 40 aviators divided into 11 teams were deployed into downtown San Francisco with the objective to dodge enemy forces for a full 72 hours.
“This exercise aims to enhance Airmen’s survival, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE) skills in a realistic and high-stress urban setting,” stated Lt. Col. Mary Lee Bordelon, the squadron’s commander, in a military news release.
The scenario created allowed soldiers to practice avoiding capture in a foreign urban environment while awaiting a military plan to extract them.
Participants followed instructions inspired by actual communication scenarios. Bordelon elaborated, saying, “For instance, you might go to a particular location where a black car is parked, and once you get nearby, the headlights flash once. You approach from behind, retrieve an overnight bag from the trunk, and leave without speaking to anyone.”
“If you happen to get caught, you end up at the sheriff’s office being interrogated,” she added.
“I think five of the 11 teams were caught. It definitely felt real for the sheriff’s office, as they aimed to apprehend all the teams, but they fell short,” Bordelon remarked.
At the end of the exercise, the entire Air Force team was extracted via helicopter and boat by various California agencies and taken to Moffett Federal Airfield. From there, they boarded a C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft for their return to Travis Air Force Base.
“The scale of this training is quite rare within the Army, so its value is hard to overstate,” commented Staff Sgt. Jeremy Campbell.
