Historic California Posts, Camps,
Stations and Airfields
Survival, Evasion, Resistance,
and Escape Training Facility, Warner Springs
(Camp Warner Springs)
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape
[SERE] training is conducted at the U.S. Navy's Training Site
in Warner Springs, CA located in the Cleveland National Forest.
It is in a remote area near the community of Warner Springs in
the northeastern San Diego County, at an elevation of about 3200
feet. The Camp consist of a headquarters area with an administrative
building, several staff barracks building, a wastewater treatment
plant, and a training compound.
All west coast Navy/Marine Corps personnel
who risk capture during wartime (e.g. aviators) undergo SERE
training at this facility. The Warner Springs SERE Facility covers
6,100 acres and trains over 1,500 students each year. The students
gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to survive in a hostile
environment until rescued. SERE instructions covers dealing with
fatigue, fear, hunger, thirst, temperature, pain and boredom.
The students are divided into elements, and spend days practicing
map reading, navigation, fire building, water procurement and
shelter building in the Cleveland National Forest. They learn
different water procurement and purification techniques, constructed
solar stills, and setup transpiration bags for water collection.
They identify and eat edible plants. They also learn how to trap
small game and field dress a rabbit for cooking and eating. They
construct shelters with parachute material and camp out overnight
in them. Students learn how to start fires using a variety of
fire starting tools and techniques, and practice ground to air
signaling using ground panels and Navy smoke flares.