HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii -- When jumping out of a plane, just having a parachute is one thing, but knowing how to use it is another. That's when Tech Sgt. Sherwood Brown of Muscatine, Iowa, and Staff Sgt. Anthony Bittman of Long Beach, Calif., come in. They are Survival Evasion Resistance Escape instructors for the 15th Airlift Wing at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and emergency parachute training is one of the classes they teach.

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- A pilot doesn't want to have to eject from his plane, but he needs to be prepared to do so. Training equipment here allows pilots to practice ejection jumps, without actually having to abandon the jet. In recent months, Misawa began training with a high-tech parachute simulator - one of the best ones available. The new system allows jumpers to simulate everything from the second the parachute opens up to hitting the ground. It is used for getting pilots or any other parachutist, proficient on parachute procedures.

MAXWELL AFB, Ala. -- Most would say that Joel Howell life was full. In his civilian life, the former Air Force enlisted man was a firefighter, rescue specialist, emergency medical technician and fulltime father of three. But in his heart Howell longed for something more. He craved excitement. His adrenaline deficit led him to an Air Force Reserve recruiter who figured he had the perfect job for the fit firefighter – survival, evasion, resistance, escape specialist. The SERE specialty combined the skills Howell already possessed...

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga -- When you are plunging toward earth at speeds as fast as 20 feet per second there is not a lot of time to think about your next course of action. Dave Dawson makes sure his students don’t have to.