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- [00:08]
A
Welcome to Christ in Prophecy. In the spring of 2026, America held its breath as we learned that two airmen had been shot down over Iran when their F15E was struck by enemy fire. The pilot was quickly rescued in a daring search and rescue operation, but the wizzo, or weapons system officer, was stranded in Iran, leading to a frantic search by both American rescue teams and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. You can imagine the propaganda coup that Iran would have capitalized on had they captured an American colonel. Christians will note that the Colonel was downed on Good Friday, and as time went by, many began to fear that he was either dead or in the hands of a desperate foe. But then, on Resurrection Sunday, word came that he had been rescued by a combined team of Special forces from the Air Force, Navy and Army. The sun, feared dead, was alive and well and headed home once again. In this episode of Christ in Prophecy, I want to focus on the training that every American military pilot and aircrew member undergoes. It is called SERI or SER training and stands for survival, evasion, resistance and escape. I first underwent SERI training when I was a cadet at the Air Force Academy. Our training took place for a number of days on campus and then culminated with a survival and evasion phase in the forest of the Rocky Mountains, followed by a period of simulated POW training, including indoctrination and interrogation, as well as resistance and escape planning. Later, as an upper class cadet, I became a Siri cadre, working the program three different times, including a session as a training interrogator. The SERI or CERE acronym has great application to our role as Christians living behind enemy lines in the world today. But instead of merely sharing my own experiences and insights, I thought I'd bring on another expert who has also undergone SERE training and placed himself in harm's way in defense of the United States. Caleb Moore is an Air Force pilot who flew the F15E for many years with multiple combat hours in hostile locations. He has been an instructor on that advanced fighter and brings a keen sense of Christian perspective and to his own training and experience. And on top of all that, he is my own son. Caleb. Welcome to Christ in Prophecy.
- [02:26]
B
Hey, it's an absolute privilege to be here be part of your show. And I'm excited because I get to do one more thing in your footsteps. Only a little bit better, a little bit faster, and probably slightly funnier. So I will say, yeah, definitely. And better looking as well.
- [02:40]
A
Yeah, better looking as well as they might say at the Air Force Academy. Fast, need. Average, friendly, Good, good, maybe Fast I don't know about neat or average, but hopefully friend and both of us. Good, good. By the way, how do you like my cadet athletic jacket? The A jacket with my squadron patch, class of 88 class. That's great. And of course, my Serie cadre patch.
- [03:01]
B
It looks like it fit just like the day you got it.
- [03:04]
A
Yeah, just like the day I got it. Well, folks, let's be very clear up front. We're not going to get into any of Caleb's training in a way that might stray into classified systems or tactics. Instead, Caleb, I want to explore your own experience with Siri, both the training you received and. And the potential that you had to put it into use. And obviously, I want to discuss its relevance to us as followers of Christ and in the increasingly hostile world.
- [03:29]
B
Yep. And just like my testimony reflects my own beliefs and my own repentance that I have needed and accepted, so also the things I'm going to say today are part of my own Christian salvation. Obviously, they don't reflect the Department of War's beliefs, and that's a privilege that I get to share my beliefs in the same way that I would testimony at the front of a. Of a church today. And I'm going to stay. Stay within that circle, if you will, obviously.
- [03:54]
A
Well, Caleb, where did you receive your Siri training? Did you still call it Siri or was already transitioning to the pronunciation of seer? And what stands out from your memory or in your memory from that experience?
- [04:05]
B
Yeah, they transitioned it to seer. I don't know where they dropped that e at the end, but at some point it went away in order to streamline it, I guess. And then I got to do that out at Fairchild Air Force Base in the state of Washington. So things that I remember about my experience, I remember it being kind of fun in a way, because about half of it is the survival part where you're evading out in the woods. And to me, it was just like camping. Being raised in Kentucky and doing some accidental survival of my own in my youth. And so that was a fun time. We also. I did it right before the winter, so we got extra food despite the fact that the snow had not landed yet. And then I also remember very specifically getting in a little bit of trouble during the. Sorry, the resistance portion. Cause I thought it was kind of a fun thing that we got to pretend like we were POWs. And so I was having a good time and they needed me to take a. Take a step back and stop acting so happy about being there and act A little more pow like. So that's my biggest memories from Sierra.
- [05:08]
A
Yeah, the SERE or serie instructors like to beat it into you if you were having too much fun during their training because really they were giving us a taste of what it would be like in an actual combat situation. Well, Caleb, when you personally were flying combat missions in support of US objectives overseas, how often did you think I might actually have to use my own seer training on a given sortie?
- [05:29]
B
I think it was every single combat mission. You step out with the possibility of needing that because first of all you have your ISO prep. In other words, you are prepared and ready every single day for if you do have to eject over enemy territory, basically where you're going to go, what you're going to say, what you're going to do. And you flew with survival gear every single day, including a weapon and maps and water, all in a combat vest. So all 20 to 30 pounds of that were a constant reminder that today might be the day that you have to do some surviving out in the desert. So every single day I'd say, yeah.
- [06:06]
A
Was there actually ever a moment when you thought, all right, we have a problem and I might be taking a silk liquid, in other words, a parachute drop into the unknown?
- [06:15]
B
I did not really, I never got shot at personally, but I saw some surface to air fire on a couple occasions towards someone else and I thought they might have a bad day. But you did, you had one of those, right?
- [06:26]
A
Yeah, actually, my C130 crew were flying combat support missions over enemy territory in a time when we were told that there was no more surface to air threat. And yet flying out of Baghdad one night, climbing through about 5,000ft, all of our missile warning systems went off and we knew that there was a missile inbound. We immediately responded with the training we'd been given. Miraculously, we were not hit, although we actually felt the concussion of the missile explosion as it got close to the aircraft. My crew, let's just say, had a moment of great chaos and I told everybody to be quiet, make sure they were okay, make sure the aircraft was okay. And indeed we were able to fly on down to Kuwait. But for a moment, I know everyone reflected on how close we had come to being a statistic or at least potentially being shot down. Of course you mentioned all the survival gear. We actually carried a bloodshed. I'm sure you do as well. That was a piece of paper written in whatever language the enemy territory was saying, hey, if I get downed as an American air crew, if you will help me. My country will be very well disposed. In other words, we'll pay you a lot of money. The one mission we had where we carried $250 million of cash, we thought, we don't need any blood chits, we'll just carry a bundle of cash if we get shot down. But thank the Lord that didn't happen. And so we were safe, not only that day, but all the other times. You know, Caleb, by all indications, the full bird colonel who was shot down in Iran recently was a committed Christian. So as you and I, brothers in Christ, have reflected on our faith even as we have served in the military, how important do you think that faith is in helping someone maintain hope in a challenging and threatening situation?
- [08:16]
B
I think it's quintessential and I think there's a distinct parallel between SEER training and what we train to by being based in Scripture and by fellowshipping with other Christians. And so out of the straight Air Force SEER guide, it says the will to survive is defined as the desire to live despite seemingly insurmountable mental and or physical obstacles. And so as long as we have that will to live in a survival situation, we'll be able to make it out. And that parallels with, for example, something that POW Louis Zamperini said. He said, where there's still life, there's still hope. What happens is up to God. It was all in his hands now, as it always has been. And so we as Christians place our faith in something much bigger even than ourselves. And that goes beyond even just surviving and holding on to our life, our leading life here on earth, but looking towards heaven, looking towards our time there and looking towards our ascent there, if you will, and our faith in Him. And that's a much bigger hope than just being able to come back to the good old US of A. And get the Chick Fil a that's going to be waiting for us here. And so if we can put our faith in that, then it's going to be able to get us through that challenging, threatening situation.
- [09:30]
A
Yeah, I always think of the American Forces Code of conduct, which came about several years ago when there were some POW situations where people didn't always know how to cling to hope and reassurance that they would come home with honor. And so they came up with this code of conduct. And one of the statements is that we will always keep faith with the country and trust essentially that the government, the armed forces of the United States, have our best interest at heart. And yet we know as Christians that all entities, including the military, even the United States, will fail at some point, but only the Lord himself is always faithful. I tell that to my marine friends. Yeah, Semper Fidelis is a good motto, but really the only one who is truly always faithful is the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let's get into sort of the true focus of this episode. And that is the application of every element of seer training, survival, evasion, resistance, and escape to our situation as Christians in a very hostile world. So when it comes to survival, we know we live behind enemy lines, so to speak. The hostility of the world is becoming more pronounced every day, and the first thing we got to do is just simply survive. So unlike yours and my experience of foraging for food and sustenance in the wilderness of Colorado or Washington State, we have spiritual food that is readily available to sustain us throughout our natural life. What do you have to say about that?
- [10:58]
B
So the first thing I'd say is, as far as the food that we have is, it's definitely interesting. Something I was thinking about recently is the number of times that we're tempted or people were tempted in the Bible based on food. Whether it's Adam and Eve, whether it's an inheritance that's tempted away with food. And then finally you have Jesus Christ who is tempted with food during his days in the wilderness. And he's able to overcome that. And so that is definitely one of those things that can be tempting in a survival situation. We have to, like you're saying, base our needs in something greater than just our daily bread.
- [11:37]
A
Yeah. Obviously Jesus Christ, even when the disciples said, you have no food, he says, I have food you don't even, not even aware of. He was talking about the spiritual sustenance of his communion with the Father, obviously the Holy Spirit providing for him. And so whether it's 40 days in the wilderness or just going about his ministry, he was constantly being sustained. And I think too often we as Christians fail to take a daily dose of the sustenance that God's word will provide in giving us that very same spiritual sustenance. And like, we're on the cruise to heaven and the Lord said, hey, you've got all you can eat. And yet some people just subsist on the mere rations that they think they got to carry for themselves instead of feasting on his word.
- [12:25]
B
Yep, totally agree.
- [12:26]
A
Well, here's another thing that is emphasized in the Air Force training manual when it comes to survival, and that's to engage not only in self care. If you have to treat your own wounds or something, but but also in buddy care, the Air Force came up with the term of having a wingman. And so when I talk about self care, I don't mean self absorbed care. I mean staying grounded in the word of God from a spiritual perspective, as we've already said, and being intentional about nurturing our relationship with him and helping the ones around us to be nurtured in their relationship with him.
- [13:01]
B
Yeah, so I kind of have two thoughts on that. The first is that much like flying in the airlines when the oxygen masks drop, they always say to take care of yourself before others. So you have to be able to have a relationship yourself and have a depth of Faith yourself. Matthew 7:3 says, why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? In other words, you have to yourself do some introspection and ensure that your own sins are not strain you from Christ. So that is one thing is to make sure that you are grounded in faith. But also if your training is unequally yoked, then you're not going to be able to take care of your buddy. So if you didn't go through the self aid buddy care course and take it seriously and think about how you're going to act in a certain situation, have the right training, you're not going to be able to take care of your friend when you are in that situation and he does have a wound or blood loss in the leg or something like that, and you're just freaking out because you don't have the training or you didn't internalize it. And so the same thing is true with Christianity. If we don't take care of ourselves, if we don't take serious the training that we're being given through scripture, through a relationship with a church body, then we're not going to be ready to take care and hold up and mutually support our brother or sister in need when they are in that time of need.
- [14:20]
A
Well, as Caleb and I have been talking about some of our experiences in the Air Force, I can tell you that I have written down many of my own experiences in the Air Force and aspects of life in a new devotional book entitled High Flight on Wings of Eagles. We'd be glad to send you a copy. Just call the number on the screen or visit our online store and ask for High Flight on Wings of Eagles. I think it will be a blessing to you. Well, let's move on to the word evasion during this life and until we receive our glorified bodies, minds and hearts, we have to proactively evade the wily tricks of the enemy. And Satan would love to ensnare us in the concerns of this world. He, he would love to deceive, distract, discourage, and even destroy us if possible. So how do we effectively evade his nefarious attacks?
- [15:04]
B
So I think the biggest thing that again we, when I go to Scripture and I look at a time when someone evaded Satan's nefarious attacks directly, the time I think about is Christ in his time in the wilderness. Again, he's tempted multiple times. Temptation of hunger, temptation to test God, temptation to power. And every single time he responds with a scriptural basis when Satan had twisted scripture in order to try to ensnare him. So he's quoting Deuteronomy 8, 3, man shall not live by bread alone. Deuteronomy 6:16, you shall not put the Lord God here to test. Deuteronomy 6:13, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. So each time he responds by quoting Scripture and, and I think that that is being scripturally based is our best defense as Christians against attacks that certainly will happen. And sometimes attacks are a little bit more subliminal than, than others. And we always have to go back to Scripture because that is the source document for the way that we're supposed to live our lives. And again, Christ gave this great example of how to do those things. So I think that that is. Do you have a different opinion on that?
- [16:17]
A
No, I think you are exactly right. Another example. I mean Jesus is the ultimate example. But you think, well, who of us can be like Christ? But yet even in the Old Testament, in the book of Genesis, chapter 39, you think of Joseph, who is sold off into slavery, finds himself serving in the house of Potiphar. And Potiphar's wife makes designs on this good looking young man, Joseph. And yet Joseph shunned her advances. As a matter of fact, he evaded or resisted her advances because he said, not only would this be an offense to Potiphar my master, but it would be a sin against God. That's exactly what he said in verse nine of chapter 39. So he effectively resisted even that temptation. And whether it's food today, whether it's sexual temptation or any other thing, we have to flee from temptation. I think that one of Satan's most effective strategies is, is to lull people into thinking that they are not even engaged in a battle. And that's a classic tactic of every Propagandist.
- [17:17]
B
That's right. And I think that, that you probably experienced this sincere where they try to get your guard down at some point, try to make you think that, oh, we're actually, we're buddies. In fact, In World War II, some of the most effective interrogators were affected because they were, they would kind of become best friends, you know, bringing, bringing some good food, good drinks, pack of cigarettes, whatever you need. We're just buddies. We're just talking. And that's how they would get the most information out of the people that they were interrogating. It wasn't the guys who were doing extreme torture. It was these very sly, friendly guys that were able to pull information out and get their POWs to act at the, the way that they wanted to. So I think exactly what you're saying is true. It is to lull people into a false sense of security and then from there to be able to pull out information and change behavior.
- [18:07]
A
Yeah, it's funny you say that. Even when I was a training interrogator, that was one of our most successful tactics. We would offer people food or we'd offer them some kind of special favor, something that's addressed in the code of conduct. But people in a moment of weakness or in a sleep deprived moment, because even in training we would not let people go to sleep for about two to three days. And you start to have your defenses worn down. And without the ability to resist oftentimes or to evade those wiles and those sly tactics, oftentimes they failed in resisting. That brings us to the R, which is resistance. And we know that in spite of our best efforts, Satan does hurl fiery darts at us. And quite frankly, sometimes they come from unexpected quarters and even friendly fire. And sometimes our own nature tends to lead us astray. You know, one of my favorite songs has the words prone to wonder Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the Lord I love. So, Caleb, how can a Christian heighten their resistance and recognize the fiery darts and our own inclination to wonder and ensure that we as Christians, as followers of Christ overcome these threats?
- [19:22]
B
So I kind of think of it, the reason that survive and evade are first is because the whole goal is to never put yourself into a resistance situation. As you know, you never want to be caught by the enemy. And so just like you're talking about with Joseph, what does he do? He doesn't stay around and try to try to argue with Potiphar's wife. He literally flees from the situation. Right. And so the same thing is true In a survival combat situation, you don't want to put yourself in that bad situation. You don't want to put yourself into a place where you're going to get shot down if you get shot down. You want to not put yourself into the hands of the enemy. And the same thing is true with Christian resistance. And when we know that the enemy is going to tempt us in extreme ways, we're going to not put ourselves there. Right. We're not going to put ourselves in a place where we know that we're going to be tempted beyond our own capabilities. And then, and I'll let you talk to that in a minute with kind of the ways that you've done that in your life. Not putting yourself in situations where you're going to be tempted beyond your abilities or just in bad temptational situations. However, we live in the world and we cannot just lock ourselves in a room or our kids in a room. And so we are given a prescription for how we're supposed to act. And that's Ephesians 6:13, which says, Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil does come, because it will, you'll be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything to stand, and then it goes on to say truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, with all these different armor pieces. And then the final thing is the sword of the Spirit, the one offensive weapon that we're given to be able to fight back as Christ did in his resistance. So yeah, you've had some like situations or maybe some different rules for life that you've not tried to put yourself into a resistance scenario, if you will.
- [21:11]
A
Yeah. So even here, serving at Lamb and Lion and when I was in the legislature, I had a rule that I would not be alone with any woman other than my wife. But because I didn't even want the appearance that I could enter into some kind of relationship that would be improper. I've been very careful just in the words I use. I watch and guard my mouth. I had to learn that as a cadet because I used to have a very bad temper as a teenager. Let's just say that as a fourth class cadet I learned to keep my mouth shut and to not let even my anger get the best of me. You know, I think another reality in recognizing how to evade is to realize that Satan likes to convince people, just as you indicated, that there is not a spiritual battle raging, but on the other side of that spiritual tactic, he would try to convince us that resistance is futile at least in terms of holding back the tide of wickedness all around us. And so I am determined to keep my eyes on Christ and to be hope filled. I want to make sure I pass that on to my grandchildren. Not my worries or frustrations with politics or government or anything else, but my hope and my absolute blessed hope that Jesus Christ is my Savior and He's coming soon. That brings us to the last Word escape. And I got to tell you, as a ministry that proclaims a soon return to Jesus Christ, I look forward to the moment when Jesus says come up here. And whether that happens at the Rapture, when all the church age saints, living and dead, rise to meet him or my personal homegoing, I am assured. All of us who have trusted in him have been assured of a place that he is preparing for us and, and that he will rescue us from the wrath to come. Yep.
- [22:47]
B
And again with Cyr, the hope at the end, the light at the end of the tunnel is always to return to, like I said, good old US of A. With the great things that we have here, the freedoms that we have, the amenities that we have, whether it's that 120 pump Buc Ees down the road or the chicken sandwich at Chick Fil A. And the things of heaven are just so much, unthinkably greater to be able to look forward to than returning to the United States. So it's definitely something that we can put our, put our hope in and fix our eyes upon.
- [23:19]
A
So you're a young man with a beautiful family and much of life ahead of you. How does the hope of heaven motivate you day by day in a practical sense?
- [23:28]
B
So just like we've talked about a little bit or alluded to, the big theme of Seer is to return with honor. So always thinking about coming back home and doing so with honor, without giving up all the secrets and information and without speaking against the country that you came from. And in The Bible, in second Timothy 4, 7, 8, kind of alludes to this about heaven. I fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me one on that day, and not only to me, but also those who have longed for his appearing. So it's the same theme here. Keeping the faith, finishing the race, fighting the good fight to the very end, and then inheriting the crown of righteousness. And I think that that is an enormous motivation, whether you're going through the resistance of in my life right now, three kids under 4 years old. That's, that's here. That's a form of seer. Or whether you're going through combat, whether you're spending a long time away from your spouse, whether you're, whatever you're going through in life, there's difficulties. And the locality of our difficulties are different for each person, but we experience those in a similar way of stress. And so that's always what we've got to look forward to. No matter where we are in our lives, no matter what country we're from, we always have the ability to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith and keep our eyes
- [24:55]
A
on Christ and the promise of his coming. You know, Caleb, it's proven fact that we were trained on this in Syria, that anyone living in traumatic situation, if they lose hope, their chances of survival plummet. And so we were taught again never to doubt that American forces would rescue us. And we've seen that in practice and taken comfort in the assurance that we will not be forgotten or abandoned behind enemy lines. As the saying goes, America will never leave a man behind. But for Christians, God has promised not to leave us behind. And he really does not wish for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance and salvation through faith and his son, Jesus Christ. Any last thoughts about how survival, evasion, resistance and escape applies to Christians in the world today?
- [25:39]
B
To wrap it up, to conclude and go back to the introduction. For this one individual who was stuck in Iran for three days, we dedicated hundreds of assets in the Middle east in order to go and pick him up. Thousands of people working round the clock in order to get this one guy, one guy. And that was impressive, eye watering and made you proud to be an American because that's what we're willing to do for one person. Because we value our troops so much. Even just one guy and Christ at the same time would have died on the cross, would have gone through the horrible torture and death that he did for one person. And that is God, you know, fully God, fully man coming to earth in order to die for you, for one individual. And so it is quite a parallel there that what we are doing seer for has a much bigger meaning and the, the ends and the people fighting for us. In other words, Christ fighting for us on this side or when people are in combat here doing seer, the people fighting for us are willing to sacrifice everything in order to get us across the finish line and return us home. So that's something that we got to keep our.
- [26:49]
A
Yeah. God the Father gave his absolute best, his own Son for each and every one of us. And even if it had been just for me, Christ went to the cross. Well, folks, there you have it. Whether you know it or not, we are engaged in a desperate struggle throughout this life. The stakes couldn't be higher. And while you may have secured your own eternal destination, Satan would like to minimize your impact in the spiritual war that is raging. If you want to survive, evade and resist before you escape. Put on the full armor of God and go on the offensive. Join the battle and fight for lost souls of people all around you. Support ministries that have an impact in the Kingdom of God. Ensure the glorious good news that our great God and Savior is coming. Soon we will escape the wrath to come. Well, Caleb, I want to thank you for being with us on Christ in Prophecy today. Always a pleasure. I look forward to next time we are together in person. But I appreciate you not only as my son, but as my brother in Christ and friend.
- [27:46]
B
Thanks so much for having me on. It's an absolute honor and it's a privilege to be able to do something like this with you as my dad and be able to show you up once again both in my humor and in my hairline.
- [28:00]
A
You will the hairline for sure. As one happy warrior to another. Godspeed. Christ in Prophecy is made possible through the faithful and generous support of viewers like you. Please consider making a donation to Lamb and Lion Ministries so that we can continue broadcasting the message of Jesus soon return. Thank you and God bless you.