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Subject: Mounted search and rescue
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- From: "IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>
- To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [MSAR] Back to Basics
- Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:13:59 -0400
First, there are two
kinds of stupid in the world. The first is caused by ignorance and is
curable with knowledge. The second is a medically diagnosed condition
known as idiocy and
relates to a pathology of the brain that does not allow learning. The
first we can work on, the second is not as yet curable.
For over 30 years it
has been advocated by SAR groups that a task team of at least 3 persons be
used in the field. One person was a skilled SAR person, one handled radio
and navigation, and the third was a local who knew the terrain. This
allowed the team to track or work a dog or row the boat or whatever at maximum
efficiency.
This was
particularly true in the parks and forests of the Mid-Atlantic areas where
government topo maps often dated back to 1929. Now we have satellite
photos that are more recent but still can be
misleading.
We are also seeing a
difference in the SAR subject. We used to get calls for hunters, campers,
walk aways. Now the calls tend to be for kidnappings, dead bodies, and
mysterious disappearances. The primary difference is that lost people
usually want to be found, even if mentally stressed by being lost. Dead bodies
rarely walk into containment teams.
Your organization's
skill set, whether dogs, trackers, mounted, motorized, or 4x4, must be
demonstrated to every incident commander every time. Each incident is
a
possibility to show
off or screw up. And the screw up usually is remembered
forever.
Tracking, or more
properly scouting, from horseback dates back to the beginnings of cavalry.
It has been replaced in the current military with scouting from
vehicles,
or drones, but there
are still mounted units in Afghanistan, working the mountains. It should
be noted that through the Indian Wars the US Army hired civilians to scout and
track. These were usually Native Americans or traders who knew the area
intimately. During the Second WW this practice was continued by the Office
of Strategic Services and the Australian Coast Watchers who infiltrated
behind enemy lines to observe and report. Even today the US tries to
recruit and assign personnel
who know the area,
culture, and language to overseas locations for intelligence and reconnaissance
duties.
For the most part we
don't track people from horseback. We track other horses, bicycles, ATV's,
vehicles. We may mount ground lights on a van and load up with
Border Patrol
officers to chase illegal's down a dirt road. The point is, the underlying skill
is practical, demons ratable, and understanderable to a local incident
commander.
Nobody can come into
an area without an understanding of the terrain, local skills, and the
circumstances of the "missing person" and be successful. Additionally, it is
often illegal to practice some techniques in public spaces. Access by
wheeled vehicles of any kind is often prohibited. Dog training is
controlled and off leash work totally prohibited. Fortunately, by federal
and often state law, horses are allowed most places people are so we get to play
more.
Irv Lichtenstein
- [MSAR] Back to Basics, IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN, 04/20/2011
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