SAR School

**Beo** · 07-21-2013, 08:33 PM

Well I'm going to SAR school, I'm pretty confident in the wilderness, a pretty good tracker, pretty good roughing it out in the wilderness. Thursday I tracked a wanted felon through the woods, as we served a warrant at a mobile home the subject went through a door in the floor of a back bedroom, he hit the woods and took off. 3 hours later I had tracked him to a deep creek where he was holding up. My Lieutenant and Sergeant were impressed (although he left more sign than an elephant herd) and we talked with the Marshals (we work with SOFAST here it's ran by the Marshal's) and although I'm the most competent in the woods tracking, I'm not not certified as a SAR tracker. So my department is sending me to school. I'm excited because I'm sure it'll enhance my tracking skills and I'll be certified. It's a 9 day course in PA.

**Beo** · 07-21-2013, 08:46 PM

Oh the school is Wilderness Emergency Response Institute, LLC. Sorry I left that out.

**welderguy** · 07-21-2013, 08:47 PM

Awesome.. Good luck and have fun!

**hunter63** · 07-21-2013, 08:57 PM

Sounds like a great opportunity ....congrats, man.

**JPGreco** · 07-21-2013, 09:15 PM

That's awesome! Sounds like fun for sure.

**Winter** · 07-21-2013, 10:53 PM

Learning is good. We will need a pretty exhaustive AAR.

**SARKY** · 07-22-2013, 01:30 AM

SAR school is a lot of fun. I did my tracking course with the Maine Game Wardens and the took a class in tracking with Tom Brown.

**gryffynklm** · 07-22-2013, 08:00 AM

Excellent, sounds like a good opportunity.

**BENESSE** · 07-22-2013, 08:22 AM

Congrats, Beo!
Any skill for which you can get a certification is a huge asset in your already extensive arsenal. You are working for a good place that is forward thinking enough to offer you this opportunity.

**Highhawk1948** · 07-22-2013, 07:55 PM

I attended the Sea/Air/Land SAR years ago. Very interesting and enjoyable. Used the info many times over the years. I am sure you will too.

**Beo** · 08-28-2013, 06:41 PM

The SAR Course was awesome, I learned so much, tracking I learned more than I thought I would and the first aid was great, land navigation was OK I struggled some because nowadays I use a GPS, my compass is old too. The FEMA portion was OK but I think they suck anyway. Fire starting, and other wilderness skills were easy, search patterns such as grid, fan, line, etc. were good as were track and evidence identification and preservation. The tracking log was interesting and I got a ton of cool gear. Great feeling of accomplishment to be nationally certified.

**Beo** · 08-28-2013, 06:46 PM

Thinking of doing a blog and posting my SAR Tracking notes, what'dya think.

**Sourdough** · 08-28-2013, 06:50 PM

Congratulations............

Originally Posted by Beo

The SAR Course was awesome, I learned so much, tracking I learned more than I thought I would and the first aid was great, land navigation was OK I struggled some because nowadays I use a GPS, my compass is old too. The FEMA portion was OK but I think they suck anyway. Fire starting, and other wilderness skills were easy, search patterns such as grid, fan, line, etc. were good as were track and evidence identification and preservation. The tracking log was interesting and I got a ton of cool gear. Great feeling of accomplishment to be nationally certified.