Director's Dialogue November 2010

What a month October was!  Call-outs everywhere!  Congratulations to all of our SAR Units and to our personnel for a job well done.  Victor Valley…two rescues in one night, the Joshua Tree Miracle, the find by West Valley and the Dog team and then the assistance in helping one of our own.  Thank you to Barstow, San G, the Morongo Units, Valley of the Falls, Cave Team, Central, West Valley Posse, East Valley Posse, Rim, Bear Valley, Wrightwood and Apple Valley for supplying manpower and conducting their own indiviudual missions during this busy month.

Our training paid off and the teamwork with mixed search teams was the key to all of our successes.  We would like to offer a big thanks to Aviation for their tireless and professional work and to Volunteer Forces for their support.  It was amazing to see all of our SAR resources coming together to perform at the levels that we did.  OHVSAR, Rope Teams, Ground Pounders, Equestrians, Canines and Air Support all doing their very best and working together.  It was amazing to see that we are ALL in-fact members of…. ONE TEAM!!!!!

Along with these searches we also had a number of other activities going on around the county. BSAR was conducted and we graduated 21 new students.  Congratulations to each and every one of them and we hope that they have a long and rewarding SAR career. Once again Wes Podboy and his staff put on an outstanding three-weekend course.

SAR City took place, hosted by the Barstow Desert Rescue Squad and was a success. Thanks to all of our personnel who attended.  The Barstow members once again put on an outstanding event.

The SAR Council, for the fourth year in a row, hosted a SAR Booth at the Sheriffs Rodeo. Thanks to all who came to help out and thank you to chairperson Christine Stuehrmann for her outstanding efforts.

San G SAR hosted their Scott and Phil Memorial Golf Tournament.  What a fun day and a class event!  Thanks San G for letting us all take part in this worthwhile golf tournament. Personally I had the opportunity to join a foursome that consisted of Capt. Tiger Rose, Lt. Wham Bam Paterson and Deputy Grip’em and Rip’em Brown.  We didn’t win, but we sure had fun!

All of us also would like to welcome Dep. Marylee Brown to Volunteer Forces.  She was the Coordinator of the Morongo Basin SAR unit for a number of years and will be a great addition to that division.  We all are looking forward to working with her in the future.

Speaking of Deputy’s with the last name of Brown or Browne, Dep. Marion Browne as you know was promoted and has left Volunteer Forces.  She is now a Corporal and has been reassigned as a detective in Barstow. The rumors have it that she might still be involved in SAR by possibly being a coordinator with the Barstow unit. We sure hope so and we wish her the best of luck with her new assignment.

Please remember that all of our Units, Volunteer Forces asked me to remind you, must have their members certified for the BASIC SAR SKILLS CERTIFICATION by October 31st.  Please send in all Blue Cards and paperwork by November 1st.

The Sheriffs Jamboree Ride is taking place on November 7th.  It will be held at the Los Flores Ranch and all of our volunteer members and their families are invited to attend.  Don’t have a horse? No problem you can rent one…go to the www.sbsar.org website for further details.

December 14th is the date that we will be adding two of our SAR personnel to the Citizens Volunteer Memorial.  This will take place at Headquarters with a reception at 2 p.m. and the ceremonies beginning at 3 p.m.  Walt Peterson of Wrightwood SAR and Gary Card of the Morongo Basin SAR unit names will be placed on the memorial at this time.  We sincerely hope that most of you can make it to this dedication to honor our fallen SAR heros.

The BMC Class (classroom portion) will be conducted on November 20th and 21st.  If you want to get involved in Alpine SAR this is the class to attend.  Details again are on our website, www.sbsar.org

BSAR PATCHES for our BSAR graduates are now available and will be handed out at the November SAR Council Meeting.  Extra patches will also be on sale for $3 per patch.

You can now pre-order the California State SAR Memorial Coin. The SAR Council is currently accepting orders.  The coin is $15.00 with deliveries scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.  Send checks to:  Inland Empire SAR Council, c/o SBDO County Sheriff’s Department, Volunteer Forces Unit, 655 East Third Street, San Bernardino, Ca. 92415.

The 3rd Annual Directors Breakfast for all Unit Commanders will be held on Saturday, January 8, 2011.  This event will be held at Headquarters with check-in at 8 a.m. and the breakfast meeting starting at 9:00.  All SAR Unit Commanders are requested to attend.

The SAR Council at this time is purchasing new GPSs for our SAR units. Five Garmin Etrex Model H’s and one computer download cable will be distributed to each of the units.  We are hoping to have these at the November SAR Council Meeting, but if not they will be available for the January 2011 meeting.

And last but not least, we have the last SAR Council Meeting of the year on November 17th.  It will be Elections Night!  Members will be voting for an Assistant Director, Treasurer and Secretary.  Nominations will be taken from the floor and the vote will be taken for these positions once nominations are closed.  Each position is for a two year term beginning January 1, 2011.

My appointed position as Director will be ending on December 31st of this year.  Please remember that the Director's position is not a voted-on position. This is an appointment made by the Sheriff. The announcement of who will fill this position will be made public and official upon the Sheriff’s approval. This announcement should come no later than the January’s SAR Council Meeting if not before.

Listed above are just some of the projects and programs that are underway.  The SAR Council and Volunteer Forces are working hand and hand on a variety of issues and topics.  More on these subjects will be announced at our next meeting.

In the meantime, the entire Board of Directors of the SAR Council, Frank, Christine, Dave, Mike and I would like to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Please remember that during the holiday season that is coming up that we all need to…

Be Safe
Dave Nicolet, Director
San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department
Inland Empire Search and Rescue Council
davenicolet@sbsar.or