Vice-Commander’s Corner

Professionals – Most folks think of highly paid, highly skilled people doing jobs that most people can’t do. Other than the high pay, that describes our job in Search and Rescue. We are professionals and we should take our job and our training seriously. The pay comes when a mission goes well, or as I heard 2nd hand a few days ago, unsolicited comments from the folks at AZ Hiking Shack that we are a well respected organization.

We are professionals when we can take on a mission with a minimum of fumbling around, false starts, poor planning, etc. and just get the job done – whether that job is the first assignment on a mission, or the 21st assignment on a multi-day mission. Every assignment is unique and requires under-the-gun planning, but the more we work through training “assignments” the easier it is to relate the real assignment to something we already know how to do.

Training is what helps us keep that professional edge and makes us different from just a group of people assembled to search for or rescue someone. Every single training session, regardless of the type of training or whether you already know everything there is to know about that subject, will yield something useful that will make your next mission more successful, more professional. It may be something simple like a new piece of equipment that is available, or someone’s anecdote about a piece of gear that really ought to be one of your 10 (11? 12?) essentials.


Speaking of professionals, we had a tough mission Saturday and all who responded worked VERY hard with no wasted effort. Thank You! I apologize to anyone who was not called and could have responded, though we did our best to try to get the word out via pager and callouts. I’m sure I’ll hear about pagers that didn’t work, and that is unfortunately a chronic problem in this area due to the terrain.

We wound up short-handed hauling out 2 injured subjects from the bottom of Box Canyon. One of these guys was over 200 lbs – I believe we may have left a little bit of titanium on the rocks hauling this guy out.

This is a good time to emphasize that missions sometimes don’t start and end with the first callout. If you can’t respond immediately, it may not hurt to check in later when you can to see if help is still required.

Thanks for all the hard work!
Bill Pitterle


Don’t forget; the meetings this month are September 6th for the Board and September 8th for the General Meeting.

Guest Article

Labor Day SEPTEMBER 4, 1971

In Alaska in the past, the Air Force was in charge of large search and rescue missions, due mainly to the vast and rough terrain involved. The Coast Guard worked along the coastal inlets and the open navigable waters.

On September 4, 1971, a crisp clear day in Anchorage, Alaska, 111 people boarded an Alaska Airlines flight bound for Seattle but making what is commonly called the “milk run” stopping along the route at smaller towns, Cordova, Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan before reaching its destination. This was a special day in Sitka for many BLM and BIA employees were returning home after weeks in the north country, school teachers and kids coming back home after vacation. One man was looking forward to being the best man at the wedding of his son and a deer hunt among the island hills with him and his new wife.

While a clear day in Anchorage, a storm was brewing in Southeast Alaska along the coastal shores. The plane disappeared from the radar shortly before entering the infamous “dogleg” in the channel into Juneau. With Coast Guard stationed in Juneau, response time to the area was not long, even though the fog was very thick. Mountains along Icy Strait and Chatham Straits and on into Stevens Passage, the incoming channel to Juneau, while beautiful when the sun shines, create a tricky course in the fog and storms making the pilots totally dependent on the navigation equipment placed along the way. Navigation aids and radar tapes pinpointed the plane off course, just before it entered Chatham Strait with a large peak directly in its path. The next day cleared enough to find the wreckage nearly at the top of this peak. All signs looked as though the crew realized they were off course just before the plane struck, as it hit far up the mountainside at an upward angle as though they tried their best to pull it up and over the top. The only way to the wreckage was by Coast Guard helicopter with a lot of rope work and climbing. Many of the Coast Guard members were personal friends of ours. Investigation discovered that one of the navigational aids on the water was malfunctioning. Even with the combined efforts of the Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Game and Fish, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and local volunteers with fishing boats, it took 10 days for the bodies to be recovered and families to be notified. Ironically the lake they crashed near was called Teardrop Lake.

The wedding at the local Lutheran church was conducted that night, with the town pulling together to get us married. The local Police chief stepped in to relieve the dispatcher so she could witness the wedding. The jail sent over cookies and coffee to the church, which the ladies group served to the saddened crowd. The townspeople came to embrace us. Later the pastor turned up at the door with a fifth of whiskey. He said “I don’t normally do this on someone’s wedding night, but tonight I think it is in order.” The grief counseling session began. The Chief again stepped in and got room on the crowded plane the next morning to get us to Anchorage to be with our family. John William Boyles, age 66, never made it to his son’s wedding. He would have been proud of the number of people working to Search, Recover, and to care for his family and all the other grief stricken families that week, all volunteering their time and expertise to help where they could, many risking their lives to bring closure to our loss.

No matter how prepared a person is, without volunteer professionals and friends, one cannot make it through a tragedy. Janie and I have been truly blessed by the friends we have.

J Boyles 510L

SEARCH News from all over.

Project Home Again to help find missing children
8/30/2005 6:00 PM

You're used to seeing the pictures of missing children on the sides of milk cartons, but now you'll see them on the sides of contractor's trucks and vans.

It is called Project Home Again. It costs local contractors ten dollars apiece for the posters, which includes a photo of a missing child, biographical info, and a contact phone number.

The hope is to increase the chances of spotting a missing child since the vehicles travel extensively.

Endangered Missing: Ricky Holland Vanished Without A Trace

Americas Amber Alert News Center -- Where have all the children gone? They are vanishing one by one.

As the amber alerts dwindle, fade and the posters fade what, who, where and when will this child and millions of others be found. IF Ricky "ran away" to whom and where is he now?

The searchers faced heat exhaustion and found little evidence that Ricky was in his favorite woods. A woman's body was found. As yet no connections have been made to Ricky's vanishing.

More searches will follow when credible leads are tendered to the Sheriff's Office. It is believed that Ricky may have relatives that could know where he is.

If anyone knows please contact the church, fire department or other third party to release him please. Further efforts to secret or to hide this child is wrong and is criminal.

Hospital emergency rooms are also safe places to bring Ricky to. Please leave a note as to who he is and where he lives.

Someone out there knows where Ricky is ... Now is the time to tell someone. A child who is missing should not be forgotten. If you are the parent of a missing child. Please consider placing your story here to assist in keeping the public informed.

It is time to change the laws in every state. This change is for every child and every parent. Those who refuse to help should be called out.

Law enforcement needs help from the media to continue asking for leads and presenting the image and name of Ricky[ and other children].

The General Media has offered little or no updates in the past week. We are noting those media outlets and following the practices of several media groups as it pertains to missing children.

We are hoping and looking for greater coverage for all children. Less than one tenth of 1% of all missing kids are presented to the media by Press Information Officers.

Send your local school officials a copy of this story. Send your local PIO an invitation to send you missing media alerts. Tell them Team Amber Alert sent you.

Do not start endless forward forever email chain letters. This only hurts the cause of seeking children.

Reference source.MASON The Ingham County Sheriff's Office sent a letter to schools in Ingham County, Perry and Fowlerville asking officials to be on the lookout for anyone trying to enroll 7-year-old Ricky Holland.

Each school also was sent a missing poster with Ricky's picture and other information. Ricky missing since July 1 is about 3-foot-5 and weighs 55 pounds.

He has blond hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a gray shirt and red pajama-style pants.

The letter also asked schools to watch for Ricky trying to get on a school bus, Ingham County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Joy said. Bus drivers have been instructed to allow Ricky on a bus if he tries to board, then take him to school, where police should be notified.

Joy said Monday that there were no new leads in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call (517)676-8211.


Missing Girl: Richmond Police Report 8-Year-Old Girl Missing


RICHMOND California -- Richmond police are searching for an 8-year-old local girl who's been missing since noon Thursday.
Zoe Angeles, who's described as a Latina, 4 feet tall, 70 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, was last seen getting on a school bus leaving St. Cornelius School at noon today, police report.
The school is located in the 2700 block of MacDonald Avenue in Richmond, just one block from the Richmond police station, according to police.

Angeles has been in foster care for the last two weeks because her mother is in jail.
"We believe she may have run away to be with her mother's boyfriend. He's a person of interest in this," police Sgt. Mark Gagan said today.
We're attempting to make contact with him. He has an extensive criminal history, Gagan said.
Angeles was reported missing at 12:30 p.m. by the foster family, police report.
She was last seen wearing the school's uniform that consists of navy blue pants, a white button-down shirt and a blue sweater, Gagan said.
Richmond police are working with the FBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Richmond police have photographs of the girl available by request.

For Sale

Grandpa's Jeep Wrangler 1989 4 cyl. soft top, $3200.
17 foot aluminum Smokercraft canoe, $300
Johnny 510 476 3247




Website

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We are promoted and you’ll also find our newsletter on the Rim Country Volunteer site;
http://www.inpayson.com/TRSAR-Payson-Rim-Country-Area.htm

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September 2005 Training Schedule