Back From My 3rd Arizona SAR Conference

Once again, it was a fun and informative long weekend. At this year's Arizona SAR Conference, held every 18 months in Heber, I helped teach the GPS courses. I also had time to attend a class.

AZ DPS Helicopter Class

In addition to the two all-day GPS classes, courses offered at this year's conference included Alternative Navigation, Map & Compass, Tracking, Basic and Advanced ATV and UTV Operation classes, New Search & Rescue Technology, Swiftwater Awareness, PLB/ELT Direction Finding, Amateur Ham Radio, Wilderness First Aid, Search Area Segmentation, and a class about the AZ DPS helicopter. There was also a demonstration by the USAF 305th Rescue Squadron and a schedule of classes for those in Mounted Search & Rescue. (The 2011 Arizona K-9 SAR Conference will be held here in Flagstaff from April 29 - May 1st.)

Among the awards given out at the conference were the Arizona SAR Team of the Year award, which went to Verde SAR from Yavapai County. And congratulations to my teammate, Art Pundt, for receiving SAR Volunteer of the Year!







Here are some more photos from the conference....

Art was the lead instructor for one of the GPS classes.

Marty helps a student during the GPS class field exercise.

Students plot waypoints on their maps, then enter them in their GPSes.

Art helps a student during a GPS class.

Our SAR Coordinator for Coconino County presents Art with his award.

Verde SAR accepts their SAR Team of the Year Award.

Many different county SAR teams were represented at the conference.

The Mounted SAR area, with all their horse trailers.

USAF 305th Rescue Squadron