In films and books, there is a lot of mention of the fact that CIA operatives and special forces soldiers are trained to endure torture. How exactly is this done and what does it consist of?
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The training you’re thinking of, and that can be seen in several movies and TV shows, is called SERE: Survival, Evasion Resistance and Escape.
All US military branches train eligible personnel in SERE, as does the CIA. Several different levels of SERE exist, depending on the requirement and are of the world where the person will be operating.
In any even, the part you’re thinking of is the ‘R’ for ‘Resistance’. This is the opart where they train soldiers and operators to resists psychological and physical torture. Most of it is done by subjecting the subjects to various methods of both types of torture so as to get them somewaht ‘used to’ them.
Obviously, the law doesn’t let instructors take it too far, and it wouldn’t matter anyways, becasue in the end, everyone talks.
The purpose of SERE is to prepare people to deal with these situations and help them refrain from ‘talking’ for as long as they can. This is designed to allow US forces, covert or otherwise, to either get their guy back, or make sure he doesn’t talk if no rescue option is viable.
There are good examples of xhat happens in SERE training, both from a military perspective in ‘SEAL Team’ (season 1) and how they do it in the CIA in ‘Lioness’.
Neither form of training is for the faint of heart, and the higher level you are (the more exposed to classified info you are), the tougher the training.
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