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Photo caption: Recruits spent Week 20 in the woods, learning valuable search and rescue skills, such as using a compass, wilderness first aid, creating makeshift shelters and how to track missing people.
We reported to the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center at 1800 hours Sunday and settled into our barracks for the week. That evening we practiced using onX Maps and CalTopo – apps conservation officers use to identify property owners, property lines and tracking distances, but most importantly, to help with search and rescue emergencies. We finished the night prepping for what would be a long week of search and rescue, or SAR.
Monday started with a 2-mile run and then a series of squats, pushups and burpees. We ended physical training with a game of two-hand touch football. After breakfast, Lt. Jeremy Payne with the DNR Law Enforcement Division led our introduction to SAR. He taught us the proper way to begin the initial response to a missing person. Additionally, we discussed and learned about the timber hitch knot, sheet bend knot and trucker knot, each of which can be useful in hauling or securing loads or equipment or in connecting ropes of different sizes. We also dug into the methods of land navigation and became familiar with using our compasses.
Tuesday morning physical training consisted of a circuit workout split into teams. We started by running up a hill and back to a station where we did farmer carries with sand-filled burlap bags. After the carry, we did 20 pushups and repeated the circuit. At 0800, we reported to the classroom and continued using our compasses with our SAR instructors. We learned how to find a bearing on a map (direction from one point to another), how to cast an azimuth (the horizontal angle or direction of a compass bearing) and how to follow that bearing by setting our pace to 100 meters. After lunch, we applied what we learned on a land navigation course, or LNC, in which we split into teams and were given a bearing and distance to follow to find our objective. I found this exposure and experience very beneficial.
Photo caption: Recruits used a compass to find their way on land navigation courses, which will help prepare them for future search and rescue operations.
Wednesday began with another circuit workout. In the classroom, we discussed tactical tracking and reviewed what we had learned during the week. After lunch, we reported to the LNC and practiced conducting grid searches, engaged in a clue-finding course and practiced tracking. These courses challenged us to find intricate details that enabled us to track an individual’s path and find items that could lead us to a missing person.
Photo caption: Recruits built makeshift shelters using minimal supplies.
Physical training Thursday consisted of a 2-mile run followed by a series of stretches. We started in the classroom at 0800 with a quick introduction on wilderness first aid before heading back out to the LNC. There, we learned how to start fires using cotton, Vaseline and a ferro rod (a small fire-starting tool). Then, we were given several examples of how to build shelter. After lunch, we put those shelter-building skills to the test, and then immediately responded to a mock missing person call. It was a great experience, and I am happy to have gained exposure to these situations.
Due to the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, we were at the academy for an extra day. Friday morning, we reported back to the LNC and split into new teams. Each team received instruction from a mock incident command about where they needed to conduct a grid search. This information replicated a missing child scenario. We used this scenario information to begin looking for a training-doll that was strategically hidden in the woods. Each team successfully found the training-doll and conducted wilderness first aid before exiting the woods. This experience highlighted the eye-opening reality of finding a missing person. Personally, I think this week’s training was the best of the academy so far. I am very grateful to have been a part of such a great training opportunity.
Read more academy blogs.
