FORT BRAGG, N.C.—Maj. Sandra Jones has been whispered about throughout the SERE—survive, evade, resist, escape—community for weeks, as one of the very few attendees ever who seemed to completely enjoy the stressful training.

“We can’t put our finger on it. We usually get the younger kids through this course, but Maj. Jones is a little older. We think that’s the secret to her high level of resiliency,” said Sgt. Maxwell Payne, a member of the SERE cadre that oversaw Jones’ training.

Jones believes her secret is motherhood.

“I got a little nostalgic when the cadre started to kick me,” Jones said. “Getting kicked in the pelvis from the outside isn’t much compared to getting kicked in the pelvis from the inside, though. So far, I’ve spent 27 months of my life getting kidney punched from internal angles, this was three weeks. Pfffffffffff.”