The creator of SERE training was one of 34 POWs to escape from the Viet Cong

James N. Rowe was just three years out of West Point when he was sent to the Republic of Vietnam in 1963. There, he was assigned to serve as executive officer Det. A-23 of the 5th Special Forces group. His mission was advising and training the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He would spend more time in Vietnam as a prisoner of the enemy than operating as an advisor. While that fact is tragic, it also served to help entire future generations of soldiers and aircrews. Lessons Rowe picked up during his five years in captivity would help form the foundation of the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training he would help develop in the years after the war.