Former A-10 pilot struck by missile over Baghdad details training to be a 'good survivor'
A former A-10 pilot shed light Tuesday on how U.S. airmen are trained to survive behind enemy lines, describing the mindset and skills needed to become what the military calls a "good survivor" in life-or-death situations.
"We all go through the training. It's survival, evasion, resistance and escape. We call it SERE, and it gives us the skills to go out and do something like that," said former A-10 pilot Kim "KC" Campbell, referring to the evasive maneuvers a downed U.S. airman used to avoid Iranian capture over the weekend.
"The other side of that is when you find yourself on the ground, it's a whole different environment," she added.
"And yes, you fall back on your training, but I think you also have to have the will to survive."
Campbell joined "America's Newsroom" after the daring rescue in Iran, drawing on her own experience after her aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile over Baghdad more than two decades ago, a moment that forced her to rely on that very training.
"My airplane was hit with a surface-to-air missile. [It was a] life-changing moment for sure, and it definitely, over the last few days, a lot of memories have come back in watching everything play out," she said.
At the time of the incident, Campbell said ejecting from the plane was the last thing she wanted to do, so she relied on her training to regain control of the damaged aircraft, avoid ejecting over enemy territory and ultimately land safely in Kuwait.
"Thankfully, the A-10 was built to take hits," she said.
An emergency backup system ultimately afforded Campbell the opportunity to regain control and land safely in Kuwait.
"We have a saying in the rescue community... ‘affect your own rescue,’" Campbell said.
"That means when you're on the ground, you do everything you can to be a good survivor so that the rescue forces can come and get you."
Campbell said that while training is critical, survival also comes down to mindset, including knowing that, in the worst-case scenario, other U.S. forces will have your back.
"I think there's no greater mission to be able to do combat search and rescue to bring everyone home, and I think as a pilot, I mean, that day for me over Baghdad, I knew that if I had to eject that that rescue crew was coming for me, I knew they would have my back," she said.
"And I think when we know that, when we understand that promise, that allows us to do our job and do it well."