Director's Dialogue September 2014

It has been busy since my last Directors Dialogue. We had the large countywide callout to Needles and mutual aid call outs to Mt. Whitney and San Diego County. The Annual Training Facility clean up was held, the first BSAR class from Heart Bar graduated and the Camp No Limits project in Big Bear (Chairman Dennis McWhinney of the Big Bear Posse) was conducted for our amputee kids. The AMET program is up and running thanks to Dr. Debbie Bervel and Marie Podboy and the new SAR Standards had their annual review by our SAR Standards Committee.

To top all of this off, we had the very long lasting search in 29 Palms that started in July. For days and weeks of braving the heat and flash floods our SAR folks searched for our missing subject. Finally after numerous callouts our subject was found. It was a huge success for the department and showed the dedication of our SAR Volunteers to complete the tasks put before them. The ICS Team was at its best considering some very difficult conditions and my hat goes off to those members of that team. I am still amazed by the teamwork and dedication of our SAR Volunteers when it comes to finding our lost subjects in San Bernardino County.

The Sheriff, John McMahon, to show his appreciation for all of your hard work with this callout has scheduled a SAR Appreciation Picnic that is to be held tomorrow… Sept 13th. You have been notified by your Unit Commanders and Coordinators and have received flyers from Volunteer Forces. We are now hoping for a tremendous turn out by our SAR members and their families. The Department, Volunteer Forces and the SAR Council Board of Directors are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at Covington Park in Morongo Valley.
On a personal note, I would like to thank all of our Unit Commanders for their quick responses to a number of events that we are having this month. Headcounts were imperative for the 29 Palms Debrief, the Sheriffs Picnic and for the upcoming SAR Council Meeting. Each Commander supplied that information in a very timely manner and it was deeply appreciated. Thank you!

UPCOMING EVENTS AND TRAININGS

SHERIFF’S SAR APPRECIATION PICNIC: As mentioned above, this event hosted by Sheriff McMahon, will be tomorrow. Activities will start at 10 a.m. and food and drinks will be provided to all who attend. Hope to see you all there.

SAR COUNCIL MEETING: The next meeting will be on September 17th at Headquarters. The meeting will be called to order at 7 p.m. Please plan on attending and sending at least two members from your unit…..if not more. Please attend. The Sheriff and the entire Executive Staff will be attending this meeting. Volunteer Forces, and the SAR Council would appreciate a good turnout by your SAR Members. Refreshments will be provided.

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Director's Dialogue January 2014

Reflecting back on 2013, it was a great year for all of us in SAR. The new SAR Standards were finished, printed and handed out. Funding was made available for the AEMT program for the necessary equipment with no cost to the participating units. The new Heart Bar Training Facility was opened for trainings and events. This is a facility that we all should be proud of. Funds were raised to purchase an arena and corrals for the training facility and were installed. The Hiplink Callout System was uploaded and is being worked on to provide a better system for our callouts. The PR Trailer was completed and used on many occasions during the last part of the year. BSAR was moved successfully from the old site at Glen Helen and was opened for the fall class with great reviews. Funds were also raised to purchase GPS’s and Compasses to be used on loan by the BSAR students.

Director's Dialogue March 2013

There will be a Helitac Training on April 6^th for members who can not make their unit training's. The SAR Council will be hosting it, if you would like to attend please let me know. Dnicolet@sbsar.org or contact Dep. John Woods of VF at dwoods@sbcsd.org. There are currently 9 slots still open.

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BSAR

is returning to Glen Helen for the May/June school. This is due to a few logistical problems at the Heart Bar Training Facility, so it was determined Glen Helen would be the best choice for this class. The September/October academy site has yet to be determined. Make sure your reserve your members with Stella at Volunteer Forces prior to the class who wish and need to attend. Only members who have received their I.D.’s and Orders are eligible to participate.

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Director's Dialogue May 2012

On behalf of our entire Board of Directors of the Inland Empire SAR Council we would like to thank all of the units for their gracious hospitality during our unit visits during the months of January, February and March. It was great to get out to see all of you and for the first time in Council history all of our board members were out and around visiting the units at the same time. All of us had a great time and we will be doing that once again before years end.

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Director's Dialogue February 2012

I would like to start off by thanking everyone for their time and dedication during the months of December and January. There were a number of searches in and around our county as well as the mutual aid callout to Kern County. Victor Valley had two in one day, Rim SAR had a couple, West Valley SAR, Central and the Cave Team were busy as well. The Morongo Teams had a bone search training, Barstow had a few searches along with a mine training just last week with the Cave Team and San G had a search or two. A number of our units responded to the Kern County search with responders from just about every unit in our county. Thanks to all who participated.

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