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Arizona SAR 2009

Arizona SAR 2009 Registration

Commander's Corner

A couple of weeks of quiet, then 4 missions in one weekend!

Just a reminder for the AZ SAR 2009 Conference in Heber on Sept 18, 19, 20. Make sure you get your registration in, and make plans to attend. There are a lot of good courses available.

Recent Mission Summaries:

08/04/09 – Fossil Springs – Dad and son got off trail on the way out and lost their way in the dense brush. DPS Ranger assisted us in locating them and guiding them back to the trail where our team met them. They were re-hydrated and hiked out.

08/09/09 – Christopher Mountain – Mom, Dad, and 2 children, 2 and 4 yrs old got their vehicle stuck at the end of the road on Christopher Mountain. During efforts to free the vehicle, it caught fire and started the forest on fire. They called it in, then hiked part way out. We were called early in the morning to send jeeps in to meet them and drive them out.

08/16/09 – Christopher Mountain – Almost a repeat of the prior weekend, except they didn’t burn their vehicle and the forest.

08/29/09 – Box Canyon – This was a very difficult rescue. I received the call as some of us were returning to town from swiftwater training around noon. The initial call reported two injuries in Box Canyon, at what sounded like the normal place. Fire Dept personnel arrived ahead of us, and while we were setting up, determined that the injured people were maybe ½ mile down canyon. We picked up our gear and went to the landfill to try to get in from there. After team members hiked an intervening ridge and located the injured subjects, the rest of the team started the difficult task of getting rope gear and litter to the subject. This required setting up a haul system to haul gear up to the top of the ridge above the subject, then lower the litter and attendants into the bottom of the canyon. We let out 500 ft of rope from our haul point to the bottom of the canyon. One of the injured subjects determined that he could hike out with assistance from the rope and from some of the team members, so he did that while we were getting the other subject packaged and secured into the litter. We then rope hauled the subject and attendants to the top of the ridge. It took several lowering setups to lower the subject off the other side of the ridge, then a short haul back up to the command post.

The overall mission took 8 hours of extremely difficult work on a hot day. It took 2.5 hours to extract the subject from the canyon once we had her packaged. The rest of the 5.5 hours was response time from initial callout (45 minutes), the time it took to locate the subjects (about 2 hours), then time to carry gear in and set up for the extraction (another 2 hours). All water that was carried in was used up – by either the team or members of the party we were rescuing. The terrain is very steep, choked with thick brush, and loose rock. And then, it turned dark before we got back to the command post.

Through it all, everyone executed flawlessly, with no wasted motions, and with great focus to get the mission done as efficiently as possible. Sufficient water was carried in to keep everyone hydrated throughout the mission. Even though the mission started well before dark, there were enough lights carried in by team members to go around when it got dark.

All in all, an extremely well executed mission. My hat is off to this team!


…and while the above was going on…
08/29/09 – Fossil Springs – Boy Scout injured by falling rock at the bottom of Fossil Springs. I dispatched any remaining team members not involved with the Box Canyon mission to Fossil Springs. Sgt Hudgens was able to get DPS Ranger in, and Ranger was able to land in the bottom and effect a rescue.

…and yet again…
08/29/09 – Fossil Springs – Dehydration/heat stress at the bottom of the Fossil Springs trail. Once again dispatched any remaining team members to Fossil. They went down the trail, re-hydrated the subject, and hiked out with him.

08/30/09 – Water Wheel Fire – TRSAR was dispatched to assist with pre-evacuation notices. We initially staged near Shoofly Ruins. When the fire started making a move west, a number of the team were dispatched to Geronimo Estates to make pre-evacuation notifications. The rest remained staged in case assistance was required for evacuations.


Stay safe and stay prepared.
Bill Pitterle – Commander, #500
 

Don’t forget; the meetings this month are September 8th for the Board and September 10th for the General Meeting.

Latest news from Rod Cronk
 

 UNCLASSIFIED

Please pass on to all friends and families.

Greetings from Kuwait! August has been the most miserable month so far for heat and humidity with temperatures above 115 and 40%+ humidity. Soldiers try and hide from it after lunch when it is the worst, but sometimes it is unavoidable with convoys arriving or preparing to leave. In an effort to combat the heat, 90% of the company has shifted their schedule to late night/early morning start times when it is below 100 degrees and there is less wind and dust. Despite these conditions, Soldiers remain motivated.

Missions have taken Soldiers of the 1404th (both AZ and NV) all over Iraq. One mission as far North as Marez. The Soldiers have shown their ability to adapt to and successfully navigate the challenges of working with the HET systems. Narrow checkpoints, bridges, and base entries and exits continue to be among these challenges. I have been out on two convoys so far and our Soldiers are taking their responsibilities seriously. It is also good to see so many Iraqi Army Soldiers and Iraqi Police Officers manning checkpoints and patrolling. When convoys return, the Soldiers ask for missions right away in order to get back out on the road. The time goes faster when they are engaged in their missions. However, there still is a lot of work on Camp Arifjan maintaining and preparing trucks and trailers for mission, keeping up with training requirements, attending schools like WLC (warrior leader course) and CLS (combat lifesaver), as well as physical training. There are also multiple events that Soldiers can engage in like body building competitions, soccer,
volleyball, karaoke, and talent shows. Our own SSG James Eddings, 2nd Platoon, was a strong contender for winning the Camp Arifjan Karaoke competition but unfortunately his mission ended one day after the final competition, which brought great disappointment to many fans!

Maintenance continues to be the backbone of what happens, or doesn't happen, on missions. They work long hours and have really put their hearts into what they do. They have taken pride in their work and it shows as this worn fleet continues to complete missions. Mr. Don Lintel, our maintenance Tech, estimated that these vehicles have close to 400,000 miles on them! They will continue to be a challenge throughout the deployment.

There are other jobs and assignments that come with being part of the Battalion (some more glamorous than others), but all necessary. At one point SPC Stephan Atkin (2nd PLT) and PFC Steven Sauceda (1st PLT) were escorting MRAP vehicles to Afganistan via airplane. Currently SSG Jonathan
Snyder and SPC Robert Warner, both out of Headquarters PLT, are trying out their sea-legs and cooking abilities aboard an Army Vessel that runs missions up and down the Persian Gulf. No complaints from either of them!

Thank you for your continued support. I will try and send updates more regularly as we continue to push through this deployment. SPC Matthew Greggerson has been given the task to compile pictures and help with the 1404th monthly news letter. We should see the first publication in September.

Regards, - CPT Judd

September 2009 Training & Events Schedule 

Planned Training Sessions ( Coming this Year)

 If you would like to volunteer to run a training session, or if you have a training session request contact any Board Member or Don Johnson
 

Italics = Sign-up required to attend this training                                          

See following notes:

To reserve use of squad ATV, contact Don Johnson at 928-474-5335. Jacket, gloves, boots, helmet, and eye protection required to operate Squad ATV

Active: Members wishing to remain on active status must attend at least three official Squad functions per quarter of the calendar year, as well as two training exercises per six months of the calendar year.

Reserve: Members who wish to remain on reserve status must attend at least one official Squad function per quarter of the calendar year as well as one training exercise per six months of the calendar year.

Laws that are still on the books

You cannot drive a car in Tennessee while you are asleep.
It is illegal in Macomb, Illinois for an auto to impersonate a wolf.
Blind men are forbidden to drive automobiles in New York.

Business Cards for Active Members

All active members are permitted to have business cards with your SAR info on them. If you do not have them yet, or if you have used up the ones you had, contact Mike Taylor to place your order. They are nice to have when you are doing any Squad activities, and the best part is they are free. A common use for them is to hand out to family members of the search/rescue subject.

Email miket@trsar.org or call 978-8009.

Website

Tonto Rim SAR Members can now have your very own email address through our site. Just contact our Webmaster at jack@jackswebs.com  to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.

 Other SAR News

Buying Blaze Orange Shirts

Suggestions from various members of the squad.

Buying blaze orange shirts can be challenging. For missions a long sleeve polyester shirt is best. Outdoor stores like Bass Pro Shops and Sportsmans Warehouse and Cabelas in Phoenix will typically carry blaze orange long sleeve shirts during hunting season.

Well, the all-time favorite store is The Hiking Shack in Phoenix where we get a discount with our SAR ID. You can get pretty much anything related to what we do there - outdoor gear, rescue gear, rope gear, etc. The "dress" blaze orange shirt is made by Remington, but it is kind of hit or miss where to find that. Cabelas has it occasionally around hunting season.

One of my favorites for missions for its toughness is made from "ten mile" cloth. Not sure where I got it, but it has warded of miles of thorns and brush with very little wear to show for it. I think you can still find it by searching for "ten mile".

You can also purchase on line. One website I have found is: http://adirondack-books.com/sargear/teamshirt.htm
This is a an Adirondacks Search and Rescue site where they are passing on their prices to other SAR teams. Also available at the Remington web site