We are looking for individuals who are committed to the mission of finding the lost or missing. We welcome dedicated individuals who wish to be a part of a growing, vibrant volunteer organization. If you have a positive mental attitude, a willingness to learn, a love for the outdoors in all kinds of weather, and a desire to make a difference, we are looking for you.
Basecamp Support |
Flankers |
Dog Handlers |
Training Helper |
Our Basecamp support personnel are a critical part of both day-to-day training as well as operations on a search. They are our communications and logistics experts. If you want to participate in search and rescue, but prefer technology over briars, ravines, and swamps—then Basecamp Support may be the role for you. The individuals in this group operate the radios and ensure the safety of our field units by maintaining contact throughout a deployment or training. This team also works with search managers to brief/debrief field teams, upload/download tracks from GPS units, and sometimes assist with managing a search. Basecamp support personnel maintain our equipment: not only by ensuring operability, but also by managing upgrades so they are seamlessly integrated into our search operations. These are the folks who understand technology and how it can improve the efficiency of our work. They are our techno-geeks, and we cannot function without them.
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Flankers are highly-trained individuals who deploy alongside handlers and their canines. In addition to actively searching for missing persons, these individuals assist with navigation, maintain communications with base, and offer our handlers assistance when needed. From navigation to searching for clues, flankers provide an invaluable service for handlers. As a matter of fact, all dog handlers on our team must first become flankers. Training involves learning how to navigate through the woods with a map and compass, how to utilize clue awareness, and how to use GPS. Flankers also must educate themselves in scent theory and its effect on a handler’s search strategy. Finally, flankers—as well as K9 handlers—must meet several first aid requirements, including the more comprehensive wilderness first aid certification. It takes approximately one year to achieve our flanker certification.
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Dog handlers on our team spend an average of 10-15 hours a week working outside of official training hours with their dogs to ensure search-ready partners. This is not a job for the faint of heart. It takes a SIGNIFICANT time commitment and focus. On our team, the average dog spends 18-24 months training before becoming operational. Once a dog and handler have achieved all required in-house and national certifications, weekly training must continue. In addition to maintaining their skills, it is incumbent on handlers to be available to help teammates achieve operational status. While we love what we do and enjoy the work, it is not a game. Lives depend on our ability to trust in the training of our handlers and their partners.
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Want to hide in the woods for our dogs with no time commitment? Come out and volunteer as a subject for our dogs to find. We will walk you out to a spot in the woods and leave you there for a short time to be found by one of our dogs. Then, it’s time to play with the dog as a reward for finding you. What could be better? In addition to official training days, we periodically need subjects for the assessments and evaluations our K9 teams must complete. You can take part in the process that helps create deployable search dogs!
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