AFRCC Basic Inland SAR Course (BISC)

Started by PhoenixRisen, March 23, 2018, 05:37:55 PM

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PhoenixRisen

Hi all,

For those of you here who have attended this course -- I'd love to hear your input on it!

How has it served you in your capacity in CAP?

Is there any worth in it for someone still on the junior-side of the Ops world (MS, AP, soon-to-be MO and GT3)?

I've always been interested in Incident Command and - whether or not I actually end up serving in such a capacity - would like to begin working my way up that qualification ladder (AOBD, PSC, OSC, IC)... even if it just ends up being for personal knowledge and fulfillment.  I'm going to be attending an ICS-300 course soon, and this (BISC) is another one I see mentioned around... Even from my time in the CGAux years back, I remember hearing of Auxies attending this if they were working on their AUXSC&E course.

Thanks everyone!

sarmed1

BISC is a intro course.  It is a good starter for those looking to have a better overview of the search management process.  If moving to the command side of operations is part of your end goal, it is a place to start.  Hold off on the Inland SAR planning course (5 day) until later in the game.

Also agree, that getting ICS 300 and 400 out of the way is never a bad plan

MK
Capt.  Mark "K12" Kleibscheidel

PhoenixRisen


CAP9907

I'd suggest getting ICS-300 done first then think about it. It looks like you are just entering the ground side of SAR, so my suggestion would be to wait a bit... BISC is an intro course, but they will assume that you have some experience in SAR ops. Perhaps get to GTM for ground ops and MSA for ICP experience and then the course would be more relevant to you. The SAR planners course is wayyy more and really for section chiefs and IC's. I've done both, so this is just my personal experiences, YMMV.
21 yrs of service

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PhoenixRisen

Quote from: CAP9907 on March 23, 2018, 07:09:32 PM
I'd suggest getting ICS-300 done first then think about it. It looks like you are just entering the ground side of SAR, so my suggestion would be to wait a bit... BISC is an intro course, but they will assume that you have some experience in SAR ops. Perhaps get to GTM for ground ops and MSA for ICP experience and then the course would be more relevant to you. The SAR planners course is wayyy more and really for section chiefs and IC's. I've done both, so this is just my personal experiences, YMMV.

Thanks for the input!

ICS 300 will certainly come first (next few months)... this is more of just a curiosity than anything else right now.  The closest BISC course to me is almost 1,000 miles away! :o

Eclipse

#5
If it's that far, it may be academic, but I would not delay participating if one becomes available.

The USAF is on a 2-year cycle for hosting (or at least was the last time I was a POC), which means
a given wing won't generally see one more then once every two years, and even that may be
on the low side. My wing has had two in the last five years and we consider ourselves lucky.

Day 1 is an overview of the CAP-USAF-NOC working relationship and procedures, including
history of SARSAT / COPAS and discussion of more recent technologies like cell forensics
and NTAP.  If you've spent any time in CAP ES ops, a lot of it will be a little dry and a little
repetitive, but the presenters have enough real-world examples to keep things interesting.

Day 2 is the heart of things, where you will work in groups to solve one or more search problems,
clues will be given occasionally, or sometimes based on your team's progress, and you'll leverage
everything you or others on your team know about SAR, including a lot of intel gathering and
conjecture of the headspace of those you are looking for (this is where it can get really interesting).

The BISC will either wet your appetite for the Planning Section, or lead you to believe you prefer the field.

The 5-day class is basically multiple days of the same with many more problems and a lot more detail.

While I found ICS-300 & 400 useful in a general sense, their relevent value to CAP members is somewhat subjective
as they are focused on evolving multi-agency responses, which CAP is usually a part of, but
rarely if ever the head of.  You'll meet interesting people from all areas of ES from operators to managers,
and a lot of FD and LEOs.

If anything, CAP is usually ahead of the curve and the crowd in regards to air operations as
rarely do local agencies have their own.  You'll get to pick first from the donut box when they
find out CAP can light up TFRs over search areas.

Every cop in the room thinks he's the onscene commander, every fireman wants to talk about what size hose line
to pull when they should be planning SMART objectives, while in a lot cases the CAP people in the room
are more experienced with ICS as a concept because they don't know anything else, and never roll up
as the "first" to an incident without ICS already being activated.

If nothing else all of these will broaden your scope, and also probably frighten you about how ES actually works.

You haven't lived until you've seen your own house on a fallout map downwind of a power plant or started to do the math on
an evacuation vs. roadway capacity.  Fun. Fun. Fun.

"That Others May Zoom"

PhoenixRisen

Quote from: Eclipse on March 24, 2018, 01:09:20 AM
If it's that far, it may be academic, but I would not delay participating if one becomes available.

The USAF is on a 2-year cycle for hosting (or at least was the last time I was a POC), which means
a given wing won't generally see one more then once every two years, and even that may be
on the low side. My wing has had two in the last five years and we consider ourselves lucky.

Thanks for the info!  The last one I remember seeing in my area (at Fort Bragg) was a few years back, so hopefully another comes around to my wing soon!

QuoteThe BISC will either wet your appetite for the Planning Section, or lead you to believe you prefer the field.

Good to know!

QuoteYou haven't lived until you've seen your own house on a fallout map downwind of a power plant....

If they localize the curriculum per course location, I'll have that to look forward to!  LOL!  I live within the 10-mile EPZ of a nuclear plant.

Thanks for the input!

Holding Pattern

#7
Where are the courses listed and are these something people can request to be held in one's area (beyond just the state level?)

EDIT: Just stumbled on the right google search result:
http://www.forcecom.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/FORCECOM-UNITS/TraCen-Yorktown/Training/Maritime-Search-Rescue/Inland-SAR/BISC-Course/

Eclipse

#8
Quote from: Mordecai on March 24, 2018, 03:18:47 AM
Where are the courses listed and are these something people can request to be held in one's area (beyond just the state level?)

http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/Units/AFRCC.aspx

http://www.1af.acc.af.mil/Portals/93/documents/afrcc/FY18%20BISC%20Schedule.pdf?ver=2017-10-03-091604-430

FYI - to host it you generally have to coordinate with the AFRCC leadership at least a year in advance if not more, and
then decisions are made based on geographic locations and proximity to commercial transportation.  You also have to
commit to actively inviting about 1/3rd or more from non-CAP agencies.

They have to get their budgets and travel expenses approved in advance of a respective fiscal year, and
then, as with all things Guv'mint the class might wind up being canceled at the last minute due to funding issues
or manpower availability.

When I hosted one I had several members from different Regions attend.


"That Others May Zoom"

CAPLTC

Agree with all of your comments & thoughts.
Yes - DO take ICS 300 and 400. Should be a pre-req for BISC.
Understand NIMS and how your own state's emergency service apparatus actually works.
Know how to read a topo map and know how to read aero charts.

Quote from: Eclipse on March 24, 2018, 01:09:20 AM
If it's that far, it may be academic, but I would not delay participating if one becomes available.

The USAF is on a 2-year cycle for hosting (or at least was the last time I was a POC), which means
a given wing won't generally see one more then once every two years, and even that may be
on the low side. My wing has had two in the last five years and we consider ourselves lucky.

Day 1 is an overview of the CAP-USAF-NOC working relationship and procedures, including
history of SARSAT / COPAS and discussion of more recent technologies like cell forensics
and NTAP.  If you've spent any time in CAP ES ops, a lot of it will be a little dry and a little
repetitive, but the presenters have enough real-world examples to keep things interesting.

Day 2 is the heart of things, where you will work in groups to solve one or more search problems,
clues will be given occasionally, or sometimes based on your team's progress, and you'll leverage
everything you or others on your team know about SAR, including a lot of intel gathering and
conjecture of the headspace of those you are looking for (this is where it can get really interesting).

The BISC will either wet your appetite for the Planning Section, or lead you to believe you prefer the field.

The 5-day class is basically multiple days of the same with many more problems and a lot more detail.

While I found ICS-300 & 400 useful in a general sense, their relevent value to CAP members is somewhat subjective
as they are focused on evolving multi-agency responses, which CAP is usually a part of, but
rarely if ever the head of.  You'll meet interesting people from all areas of ES from operators to managers,
and a lot of FD and LEOs.

If anything, CAP is usually ahead of the curve and the crowd in regards to air operations as
rarely do local agencies have their own.  You'll get to pick first from the donut box when they
find out CAP can light up TFRs over search areas.

Every cop in the room thinks he's the onscene commander, every fireman wants to talk about what size hose line
to pull when they should be planning SMART objectives, while in a lot cases the CAP people in the room
are more experienced with ICS as a concept because they don't know anything else, and never roll up
as the "first" to an incident without ICS already being activated.

If nothing else all of these will broaden your scope, and also probably frighten you about how ES actually works.

You haven't lived until you've seen your own house on a fallout map downwind of a power plant or started to do the math on
an evacuation vs. roadway capacity.  Fun. Fun. Fun.
"Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they're so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact." -- SECDEF Mattis