Long Island Air Guardsman Is One of First Graduates from New Military Class for Reserve Instructors

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Airman 1st Class Brian Alfano( right) and Staff Sgt. Andrew Dunn recently graduated from survival, evasion, resistance and escape instructor school.

LATHAM, NY (12/21/2010)(readMedia)-- A New York Air National Guardsman from Holtsville was one of two graduates from a new survival, evasion, resistance and escape class being taught to members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve who will serve as instructors.

Airman 1st Class Brian Alfano, a 28-year old member of the 106th Rescue Wing's 103rd Rescue Squadron, was one of the first two Airmen to finish the course which is being taught a Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington. He will now teach these skills to members of his unit as well as other units. Alfano enlisted in the New York Air National Guard in 2009.

The special survival and escape course is designed to give reservists and Air Guardsman the basics of the Active Duty training program in a shorter period of time. The reserve version of the course takes three months to finish as opposed to six months for Active Duty Airmen.

This is important to their home units because it enables them to return faster and begin teaching Airmen in need of survival training, while minimizing the impact on their civilian employers.

Alfano and Staff Sgt. Andrew Dunn from the 514th Air Mobility Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit, finished the training course on Dec. 2.

The Air National Guard and Reserve employ 16 Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape ( SERE) specialists, and because Dunn and Alfano are the only ones to complete the course thus far, they will travel to teach SERE techniques to fellow Airmen at other installations, as well as members of other services.

Alfano will be returning to the 106th Rescue Wing and said he couldn't be happier with his decision to become a SERE specialist. He is currently working full time for the wing but is interested in becoming a police officer.

"This is something that is a home run," he said. "Teaching any portion of this career field is exciting because it helps others."

Though these Airmen will be certified to teach, they aren't able to deploy, as SV-95 is specially designed to provide skills needed to function at a local level. After 56 weeks of additional training at their home stations, however, the Airmen will have the appropriate skills and experience for deployments.

"I really feel like I would be an incomplete SERE specialist if I didn't go through this course," Alfano said. "It made me realize the nature of my job, and it's nice to know I have a SERE brotherhood to fall back on."