Commander’s Corner
What a difference in the weather as we
enter November, going from 10–15 degrees above normal
temperatures to as much below! As I recall, it was about this
time last year when we spent the night sleeping outside on a
search near Fossil Springs and some of our members were
insufficiently prepared! My advice is to check your packs and
make sure have at least a bivvy, space blanket or sleeping bag
and prepare now!
I’d like to take this opportunity to
mention a recent mission, the body recovery off the Rim. This
was a multi-agency mission including Blue Ridge FD, Pine
Strawberry FD and TRSAR. The tragedy and sorrow for the family
we all experienced aside, I want to address the effort put
forth by the recovery team, Tonto Rim SAR in particular. While
I work topside on most missions, on this one I was asked to go
over the edge to take photos for Sgt. Hudgens and take the
litter down to be an attendant along with Harris Scott of
PSFD. The descent was difficult due to the cliff face, which
was never flat, subsequently always wanting to swing us into
ravines either to the right or left and there were several
small shelves and vegetation to negotiate. Prior to the
set-up, it was agreed that TRSAR ropes and equipment be used,
that Dave Pirtle would serve as TSO and that Tonto Rim would
rig and operate the haul and belay systems. The communications
and cooperation between the attendants and the topside
personnel was excellent. The resetting of the mechanical
systems was done at the convenience of both ends and the speed
of haul was regulated perfectly for the attendants. The
feeling of security that I felt, knowing the abilities of
those on top, was comforting. This did not happen by accident,
but from hours of practice and working together. I am proud to
be a member of a rope team that operates like a fine-tuned
machine. To all who participated, you have my sincere thanks
and congratulations!
The elections committee has done an
excellent job of nominations for the upcoming elections. The
candidates selected are all capable as are others from the
Squad. Don’t forget that nominations will also be open at the
November meeting after which the ballots will be prepared and
mailed. These are the folks that will determine the future of
Tonto Rim Search and Rescue!
See you on the trail!
Jim 504
Don’t forget;
the meetings this month are Nov 11th for the
Boardand Nov 13th for the General Meeting.
A Senior Moment
By Jane Boyles
ILLEGAL DRUGS AND
SAR TEAMS
The recent news story about the marijuana
plantation found south of Young brought back memories of other
searches in the lower desert where we have stumbled on “pot”
growing.
There are always classes at Barstow that
deal with illegal drug labs, marijuana gardens and other drug
substance production out in the public domain. A few
years ago we would laugh here in Gila County and say we didn’t
have this problem. Talk to any of the police officers up
here in the Rim Country now and you will hear a different
story. I’m not just talking about use, but the creation of the
product. The profits from illegal drug sales are so big that
some people will take a lot of risk and build a clandestine
drug lab most anywhere. Marijuana is easily grown with a
little sun and water. It does not require continuous
maintenance, just a booby-trap line around it .Often times it
will be growing in a tree covered wash. Harder drugs
require a few chemicals, some of which are deadly poisonous,
but easily purchased at the country feed store or drug store.
There has been more then one drug bust in a motel room in Gila
County. These motel drug labs are often one night stands
done by someone from another area. Often they are
discovered by a strange odor coming from a room where someone
should be sleeping. Smelling this odor could be a
prescription for the Pine Box. When you go to
SARCITY the deputies love to show you slides of the abandoned
trailers out in the desert with chemicals strewn all around
and as dangerous to walk through as any mine field in Iraq.
A friend was canoeing down the Verde
River one summer day and put ashore at Sheep’s Crossing.
A man with a gun stepped out of the brush and told him if he
wanted to finish his trip, he best keep on paddling down
river. Soon after, a plane landed and bales of the
obvious were loaded aboard. The rest of the story is not
public knowledge, but I know that patch is no longer growing.
. What should you do when out in the field?
BE ALERT!! If it smells strange, looks different then
the surrounding area, has a wire running around it(usually
electrically charged)or a black plastic water pipe running
through the woods that you know is not residential land, stop,
back up, survey the scene and call for a deputy to come check
it out. Don’t take the risk of coming upon an outlaw of the
New West—the drug dealer/manufacturer.
S.A.F.E. PROGRAM
On Oct 25th at the Sr. Center
in Pine, five of our members presented the adult safety
program to the Solitude Trails Homeowners Assoc. Roger
Miotto, who also belongs to the Association, arranged for it
and Commander Martin, Margaret Bullard, Bill Daily, Les Hulse
and Mike Taylor took part. There were about 30 association
members present and they were very well satisfied with it. The
pictures accompanying this email are of two TRSAR members and
the STHA members.
We can present this program to any
organization to which you may belong. If interested, contact
Mike Taylor, by responding to this email or call 476-4947.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
By Dave Pirtle—507
Jim Duffy 520
James was born in New York City, June 11th
1934. He attended high school at De Salle Institute.
Jim joined the Marines in 1951 and spent almost two months in
Korea. It was in the winter and Jim was doing patrol in
two-hour shifts. Snow was almost waist deep and bitter
cold. They lived in a bunker that had a potbelly stove
for heat. Troops hung their wet clothes around the
stove. While Jim was sleeping the clothes and bunker
caught fire. He suffered 1st 2nd
and 3rd degree burns on back and arms. Jim
was sent to a hospital at Yukuska, Japan for treatment and
skin grafts. The later years of his tour of duty he
spent time as an MP at Opahochi near Miami Florida. When
his marine duty was over in ’54 he went to a trade school in
N. Y. to become an electrician. Jim worked as an
electrician for many companies before starting his own
business in Scottsdale AZ called Jamison’s Electric.
In 1988 he decided to travel for a few
years. He spent most of his time in the Northwest.
Jim was an avid exercise person and
learned quite a bit about the subject. He was working in
Cardiac Rehab at Scottsdale Memorial hospital when he met
current wife Barbara. Barbara’s husband was suffering
from cancer and she had hurt her back lifting him. She
met Jim at physical therapy for her back. He had
scheduled a second appointment but never showed up. Jim
learned the reason she missed the second appointment was that
her husband had died. Jim suggested she see a friend
that he knew for counseling. Barbara swears he had
ulterior motives, as they were married three years later.
Jim has four boys by a previous marriage,
Michael 47, James Jr. 46, Chris 39 and Colin 37.
Jim does a lot of construction type work.
He is currently remodeling his home. He enjoys hiking
and is a member of the Payson Packers. James completed
the First Responder class at Pima College. Recently he
hiked the Grand Canyon where he took a Back Country Medical
class. One day of the class was on top and the remaining
two days were at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Ira Gibel got him involved with Tonto Rim
Search and Rescue. Jim loves the outdoors and being with
TRSAR gets him outdoors and helping others. It is a
win-win situation. And TRSAR is the big winner.
TRSAR DATABASE
Les Hulse has announced that the mapping
system update is now complete.
All current and new users will be able to pick up their CD at
the November general meeting.
I’m sure no one fully realizes the
tremendous amount of hours Les has put into this system. We
owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his talent and
dedication. It seems so inadequate to say, “Thanks Les.” But
what else would he ask for? Nothing, so tell him, already.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
It is
election time again and we have three positions to be
filled: Commander, Secretary and one
of two Board positions. Since Jim Martin has
declined to be nominated, he automatically takes one Board
position ([Art. III.1.a.] Squad By-Laws). The Nominating
Committee has met and will announce their candidates at the
Nov. 13th General Meeting. At that time any member
can nominate any Active member to any of the three positions
(Art.IV.1.b), or any Active member can volunteer
himself/herself to be placed on the ballot.
The
Committee will then create the ballot and mail it out to all
Active members prior to Nov. 21st. (Art. IV.1.c.)
Rules
1. Only active members may vote.
2. Vote for one or two candidates (as designated)
for each office.
3. Write-ins may be placed on the lines
designated.
4. Ballots must be brought in person to Dec. 11,
2003 meeting to be counted, or mailed in absentee.
5. If voting absentee, enclose marked ballot in
sealed envelope with your name on the outside of the
envelope. Then, either mail ballot to TRSAR, P.O. Box 357,
Strawberry, AZ 85544, or make sure ballot is delivered to
meeting prior to vote count.
This is an important aspect of our
organization and should be seriously considered by all
members, whether or not you have the right to vote or hold
office. Our Officers donate many extra hours each month to the
Squad and they need your total support. They also become your
spokesperson to make decisions and guide the Squad. Please
consider each one prior to voting and then stand behind them
after they take office.
WEBSITES
Check out our site at:
www.trsar.org
Thanks to Bill Pitterle for doing this.
LOCAL WEATHER
Courtesy of Bill Pitterle 541
http://wjpitterle.mystarband.net/weather/wx.htm
Condolences
We are sad
to announce that Tom Zeisberger lost his mother last week. Our
thoughts and prayers are with you and your family Tom.
For Sale
1998 Honda
Foreman 450ES 4x4 Camo color, street legal. $3000.00
1999 Honda
Foreman 450ES 4x4 Red color, street legal $3500.00
Call
472-8359, if no answer, leave a message. Larry Varney
TRAINING SCHEDULE
Scheduled Training Sessions (current)
29-Oct (Wed) Man Tracking Field
Exercises – Houston Mesa, Corrals, @ 1500 hrs. (in charge: Les
Hulse)
15-Nov (Sat) Rope
Training Location TBA, 0900 (in charge: Rope Team
Instructors)
22-Nov (Sat) Man Tracking –
Classroom – time TBA – squad building (in charge: Les Hulse)
27-Nov (Thu)
Radio Communications –Squad Bldg. 1900 (in charge Bill Daily)
19-Nov (Wed)ATV/Trail-bike Ride,
Sierra Ancha Exercise, Staging will be at 0900,Punkin Center
(John Avery in charge)
Planned Training Sessions (after next general meeting)
Planned
Navigation Training – TBA – (in charge: Jim Olerich)
December * Man
Tracking Field Exercises – time and location TBA (in charge:
TBA)
Certification testing will be available
* Dates will be determined.
Requested Training Sessions
If you would like to volunteer to run a training
session, or if you have a training session request,
Contact Les
Hulse or John Boyles
Sign-up
required to attend this training
* See following notes:
To reserve use
of squad ATV or trail bike, contact John Avery at 928-476-2106
or 480-892-4424
To use trail bikes: gloves, boots, helmet, and eye protection
required. Denim jacket on ATV required.
A SENIOR MOMENT
Jane Boyles
LOS TRES VIEJOS!!
Fifteen years is a long time. How
many of you have held a single paying job for fifteen year?
When we first joined Tonto Rim fifteen years ago, it was
really a rag-tag outfit. The Commander, who was retired
from the phone company had to bootleg a phone line to his own
home, just to keep in touch with the Sheriff’s Department.
Three men who joined within the same
year’s time span are still involved in Tonto Rim. They
have seen the squad grow to over fifty members. In the
beginning of those 15 years, money was raised by cooking the
Famous Cowboy breakfasts. We thought we were doing OK,
until we got our first real “treasurer”. Well, we were
stretching the shoestring pretty thin to fit a large shoe.
Training was not real organized and I’m not sure there were
any mission numbers issued to protect us. We often went
down to the desert to train with Maricopa. In the past
fifteen years, tremendous strides forward have been made in
all area of both Search and Rescue. The training is
equal to any done anywhere in the state. The rope team
is certified and now the man trackers are being taught and
certified locally. In the past, the Border Patrol was
the answer to man tracking training and dog handling.
There is a schedule of training and it is adhered to by the
leaders. The overall respect and confidence shown by the
Gila County Deputies, the Sheriff’s Office, the other counties
and the State Emergency Services Department has increased a
thousand percent. The leadership shown by the long time
members has helped to create the backbone of the fine
respected organization we now all hear about. These men
have given their time, support and effort to help make Tonto
Rim the BEST THAT IT CAN BE. The path to the successes that
Tonto Rim now enjoys was not one of smooth pavement.
Cooperation and understanding smoothed out many of the bumps
and filled in the ruts. These three men happened to stay in
this area by choice and were able to continue the dedicated
work of the squad. Others equally as competent,
qualified and dedicated, either moved on because of their jobs
and families or because uncontrollable circumstances took them
from us before their time.
You all know the histories of these three
men so a lengthy dissertation on their skills and
qualifications is not necessary.
J. Mike Taylor:—Commander
Emeritus—Commander for nearly all the years he has been a
member and an extremely competent man tracker. He led
with sincerity and dedication, created the SAFE and YES
programs, fantastic photographer, and great coordinator and
editor of the newsletter. Mike has spent a lot of his own time
and money to get the squad to a professional level of
operation. He is a superb instructor.
Rick Heffernon:—Past Treasurer and Board
Member-- Rick brought the financial status of TRSAR into the
21st century with real checks and balances and
financial sheets, a most stabilizing factor on the board.
Rick is an avid hiker and extremely professional tracker.
Rick is the man you always know you can count on to do the
right thing in any given situation. One member has always
said, he “would follow Rick to the gates of Hell, because he
could count on Rick to get him back!”
John E. Boyles:—Past Vice Commander,
Equipment Officer, Training Coordinator and Board Member-- Old
Reliable. With over 30 years in Search and Rescue, he
can track a man down the pavement or over the roughest
terrain. John wants to see the Squad carry on it’s
successes at the level it has now attained. Dedication
to training and participation at missions will contribute to
those successes.
Fifteen years of volunteer work—Los Tres
Viejos—All three dedicated to the same cause—THAT OTHERS MAY
LIVE.
Why Search and Rescue?
By
Jim Martin
I reflect often on why I joined and continue to be a part of Tonto Rim
Search and Rescue. I also sometimes think of why others joined
the Squad. I have participated in many member-applicant
interviews where that question is asked and the universal
answer is “to help others” and there is virtually no other
answer! This is, without a doubt, a noble cause and is the
answer we most like to hear! I don’t doubt the validity or the
conscious motive of most candidates however I believe that
some people have underlying and even subconscious motives for
joining our group, which become evident after a while.
The following is a list of motives of some both ulterior and unconscious
that I’ve formulated (until now, not put on paper). I’m sure
there are more:
1.
To be a law enforcement officer
2.
To be a hero
3.
A chance to get out and exercise
4.
To lessen boredom
5.
To be part of a well recognized group
6.
A stepping-stone to a career (law enforcement, fire,
medical)
7.
A resume’ or personal business enhancement
8.
To be the leader
Cop wannabes are very disappointed if they join Tonto Rim Search and
Rescue. We make this very clear in our member-applicant
interviews, if not before. We assist the Sheriff by being in
many places at one time while he cannot and through our
training, providing the reliable, safe assistance he needs.
Most of us know by now that heroism has no place in SAR. We know that
team effort is what brings success to any mission and the one
who finds or rescues the subject is the one who has the
assignment to be in the right place at the right time
while exercising proper techniques and skills. “Loaners” do
not do well in the SAR work!
In order to gain exercise and reduce boredom (both good secondary
motives) one has to participate not only in occasional
missions, but rather regularly in missions as well as training
exercises. Also to keep fit, one should participate in regular
exercise beyond SAR functions.
Some folks are “joiners” and will join many organizations simultaneously
for social purposes or business enhancement and for “bragging
rites”. If they are members primarily for this reason and do
not have time to participate in training and missions or other
functions then these folks are doing little to help others.
The motives of developing a stepping-stone to a career or resume’
enhancement do not necessarily carry negative connotations if
the member takes the time to train, perform and participate.
The usual case, however, is that once that goal has been
achieved and SAR no longer serves a useful purpose, these
members move on.
Some people join organizations with the goal of becoming “President”.
These people have large egos which get stroked by ‘showing
these rubes how an organization should be run’. If they do not
achieve this goal in a relatively short time, they leave. They
generally do not participate in training exercises or other
functions, as it is mundane and considered only for the
“troops”. Meanwhile, very little has been done by them “to
help others”.
Reflecting on this list and its analysis, the underlying and common
threads are participation and training. Participation does not
mean only training sessions and search work or rescue
operations. There are many functions in which participation is
needed so that we can achieve our primary tasks; among these
are fundraising, telephone call-outs, command center support,
legal assistance, maintenance, organization, research, public
relations and many other tasks. Over time our fortunes and
interests change. We age, suffer injuries, experience health
problems, family life changes and many other factors affecting
our ability to do the strenuous work of the field. If our
motives are still ‘to help others”, we can still participate!
Searches and Rescues are disciplined and organized team functions
formed to facilitate the optimum outcome. If it were not, the
authorities (the County Sheriff in Arizona) would just call
any available citizens regardless of training, ability, or
knowledge, turn them loose to do their own thing, and hope for
the best! Most of us can visualize the chaos that would ensue.
This is the reason for Tonto Rim Search and Rescue’s
existence.
I’m submitting this article, not to question any of your motives for
belonging to TRSAR, but for you to think about your own
reasons. Ask yourself if they are the same as they were when
you joined, or has some of the luster worn. If you are
mission-worthy and healthy, ask yourself if training
participation is not important to you or better yet, not
important to the lost or injured subject! The Squad has
provided over 30 training sessions this year. A few members
have attended most of them, some have attended some and others
have attended a very few, if any. Some have participated in
other ways while some members have done little or nothing for
the Squad. I challenge you to ask yourself “Why search
and rescue?”
Thanks to those
who contributed to this issue of the newsletter.
Mike
