My squadron hosted a ground team training exercise this last weekend (17-18 May 08). We were conducting a missing team search when one of the teams found a 55 gallon drum in the area. Inside the drum was a fresh backpack with several pieces of equipment and supplies used in the manufacturing of methamphetamines. While the team did not go through the entire contents of the pack (didn't know if there would be any needles inside or anything), it was pretty obvious to several of the senior members what we had found. We contacted the local rangers who in turn notified the local sheriff's department.
The reason for this note is to point out that we need to be very careful in the conduct of our missions, especially on the ground teams. Considering that we are hitting the spring and summer months, we may have more opportunity for these kinds of finds during the course of our normal operations. I would also expand this warning into forested areas where your local street pharmacist might be growing his local crop of choice. Having friends in the DEA and law enforcement, I have heard stories about improvised mines and other booby traps which could easily injure or kill the unwary. While not a task in the SQTR's for ground teams, I make it a personal requirement for ground team members to explain these types of hazards. Please be careful and report everything you find up the chain.
My nightmare...
We had one situation in Mississippi where we thought we might have come across a "bad place" and high-tailed it out of there.
We had another situation more recently during a compass training situation - thought we might have found a field.
If you walk into a growing operation, be careful, they are routinely boobie-trapped
I think it was 1996, a bunch of us from MI Wing went to the MD Wing Conference in Ocean City, MD. A rather erstwhile Captain, I think, GTL gave a short but informative briefing at the General Assembly about what to do in the event you encounter a grow operation while on some sort of ES mission. It was strictly in the realm of "You're out in a line search and suddenly see a trip wire or some kind of booby trap.."
The National Commander was sitting at the head table, not really paying attention, but suddenly he lurched to his feet and loudly shouted "I hear of any CAP member participating in counter drug ground operations, and I'll make sure you're thrown out of CAP myself!!"
The whole room was like "Yeah, uh, General, that's not what he was talking about.."
I have been in (on purpose and accident) several meth labs. Make sure someone does some type of official notification up the chain in CAP. And get the copy of the Sheriff's case number.
Meth labs contain many odorless gasses that are deadly and can make you extremely sick days later.
we have conducted clandestine lab/grow awareness training.
Overall great program that I think ALL ground searchers (especially in the midwest) should go through.
Mark the spot with your GPS, have everyone retrace their footsteps in the opposite direction, and let the LEOs handle it. The fact that you guys touched it at all is kind of a bad thing, since it is more or less a crime scene.
HAZ-MAT
Also be on the look out for booby traps and such.
Some Pot fields are known to have a lot of traps to guard against other dealers trying to steal from them. It would not be too unusual for someone to leave "active" defenses for their meth gear.
A while back I was talking to a former member. He was out on an actual beacon search and the team came upon the source. Much to their surprise, a drug dealer had hid his stash in the middle of the woods and marked it with an ELT. They high tailed it out of there and reported it to LE. - Now, whether or not that's true or BS, I can't be sure. I like to think its true, because it does make a neat story.
Let's not forget another hazard either. It's entirely possible for a team to stumble across a field that is being guarded by armed men who don't take too kindly to a group of uniformed individuals suddenly showing up.
Watch yourselves out there.
SAR Kid your story is correct I have heard it from RCC controllers.
there was a motion several years ago to allow orange kevlar for GT's for just these types of events.
CAP ground teams, and aircraft have even taken fire before.
I think that events like this might just be one of the things that would make me re-consider taking cadets out on GT missions. Don't get me wrong - cadets are awesome, but I don't know how I'd be able to explain to the parent why their child was killed by some rogue pot farmer or an IED.
For those of you not familiar with Meth, or Meth production here are a few references
http://www.portlandonline.com/police/index.cfm?c=38594 (http://www.portlandonline.com/police/index.cfm?c=38594)
Quote from: jimmydeanno on May 20, 2008, 12:38:08 PM
I think that events like this might just be one of the things that would make me re-consider taking cadets out on GT missions. Don't get me wrong - cadets are awesome, but I don't know how I'd be able to explain to the parent why their child was killed by some rogue pot farmer or an IED.
It doesn't have to be a GT mission, in ILWG its not uncommon for these yahoos to be growing in city forest preserves - throw your Frisbee too far and yoy have a bad afternoon.
Just one more thing to be aware of and prepared for, especially if you're in an area that has that potential.
I have to agree with an above comment that you were foolish to let your people go through any of it. Also when you found an abandoned bag in a drum that you know wasn't planted as part of your training, why did you go through it? That goes along the same lines as going on someones boat.
Quote from: Orion Pax on May 20, 2008, 01:57:20 PM
I have to agree with an above comment that you were foolish to let your people go through any of it. Also when you found an abandoned bag in a drum that you know wasn't planted as part of your training, why did you go through it? That goes along the same lines as going on someones boat.
QuoteWe were conducting a missing team search when one of the teams found a 55 gallon drum in the area. Inside the drum was a fresh backpack...
And how would you know it was not part of the training? A backpack seems to be in line with a missing team clue.
Quote from: cnitas on May 20, 2008, 02:18:19 PM
Quote from: Orion Pax on May 20, 2008, 01:57:20 PM
I have to agree with an above comment that you were foolish to let your people go through any of it. Also when you found an abandoned bag in a drum that you know wasn't planted as part of your training, why did you go through it? That goes along the same lines as going on someones boat.
QuoteWe were conducting a missing team search when one of the teams found a 55 gallon drum in the area. Inside the drum was a fresh backpack...
And how would you know it was not part of the training? A backpack seems to be in line with a missing team clue.
Except for the fact that most hikers and other likely lost persons don't generally discard their belongings in 55 gallon drums. Buku bad idea to go anywhere near the thing. There are two groups that should approach such items: HAZMAT and the Bomb Squad and last time I checked, CAP didnt have either.
Quote from: SARMedTech on May 20, 2008, 02:31:41 PM
Quote from: cnitas on May 20, 2008, 02:18:19 PM
Quote from: Orion Pax on May 20, 2008, 01:57:20 PM
I have to agree with an above comment that you were foolish to let your people go through any of it. Also when you found an abandoned bag in a drum that you know wasn't planted as part of your training, why did you go through it? That goes along the same lines as going on someones boat.
QuoteWe were conducting a missing team search when one of the teams found a 55 gallon drum in the area. Inside the drum was a fresh backpack...
And how would you know it was not part of the training? A backpack seems to be in line with a missing team clue.
Except for the fact that most hikers and other likely lost persons don't generally discard their belongings in 55 gallon drums. Buku bad idea to go anywhere near the thing. There are two groups that should approach such items: HAZMAT and the Bomb Squad and last time I checked, CAP didnt have either.
I think you guys are playing Monday morning QB with this.
In the woods in MD, we have lots of old junk in the woods, including 55 gallon drums that somone might toss a clue into. If I saw a 'new' backpack while on a
simulated search for a missing team, I would investigate it as a potential clue, and not call out HAZMAT or the bomb squad. I would imagine anyone here who has been a leader for more than 10 minutes would do the same.
As soon as it was clear the bag was not part of the exercise and was something else, he put it down and called the authorites, as was appropriate.
Just to clarify a few items here:
I was the ground branch director for the exercise and as such was at the base camp when the training simulation occurred. I had sent a senior and two cadets out to simulate the missing team and instructed them to drop clues for the other teams to use to find them. They had dropped one of their spare orange vests and something else. One of the teams was actively tracking them when they came across the backpack. When I got the message that they had found a backpack, I believed that it was one that one of the missing team members had taken with them (they were all equipped with 24 hour gear.) The ground team leader trainee in this case was an ex-LEO and he was the one that went through the bag for possible clues. The first thing he pulled out was the lighter fluid. At that point, he did not go any further into the bag. The cadets on the team had set a perimeter around the clue so he was the only one exposed. This was in a lightly wooded area with grass valley pretty much all around on land controlled by the local water district.
Right after he found the bag, he contacted me. I told them to get out of the area and they moved away while I contacted the local ranger. The ranger came out, got our information and then called the sheriff who came out and they looked through the area. The area in question was about 300 meters from our base camp so it was well within the search boundary that I had set for this exercise.
The point that I was bringing up is that we need to take extreme caution in regards to this type of stuff. If I were so inclined, I would push for this type of training to be added to the GTM-3 curriculum at national. I don't fault the team as they did everything correctly in this type of situation. I was just trying to raise awareness as I know that this was not a localized event and probably happens fairly commonly.
QuoteIf I were so inclined, I would push for this type of training to be added to the GTM-3 curriculum at national.
Being so inclined would be a good thing. After all, the latest FEMA credentialing only wants land SAR team members to have OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120(Q)(6)(i), HazMat Awareness Training or equivalent basic instruction on responding to and operating in a CBRNE incident.
Mike
Imagine going to a crash site with a bunch of 17-19 year old cadets with buzz cuts in BDU's, loking like adult LE Officers. You get here and the occupants are knocked out. You look over and see white powder laying near the crash site. Then you look around and see weapons. what do you do?
I think I would pick up a weapon and secure the knocked out passengers until the LE agency arrives. Then my team gets a few awards from the Governor, and we get like another 100,000 bucks in state appropriations the next year. So ya.....I plan on being a hero.
But then again........ I may just run away with my cadets and let the drug runners die. I can't make life or death choices like this.
Take REALLY fast pics
Run.
Try to remember how far away and in what direction the site is, and make sure I have pretty accurate directions to where it is.
Well, thats a very valid question flyguy presents. It has happened before. Not with CAP walking up, but there have been many plan crashes of dope planes.
Me, if Im tromping around on a DF and I come across a load plane, with guns, and occupants I am securing and disabling the weapons first off. Primarily, since I know how. Taking pics, then hightailing it out to let someone know. My biggest concern would be that the owner might be coming to look for his plane, and Im not leaving the guns there.
But thats me. For a civilian type, If I saw it, I would do an immediate about face and head out.
my 2 cents I would walk up , take away the weapons, tell my team to possibly drop any unneeded gear and run like the devil went down to Indiana.
You know I'm no LE type
What happened to all the McGyver CAP MOLLE wearing, bling requesting types out there??
GPS the point, Call your favorite local 911 types, and hopefully nobody notices you with all the camo on which, by the way, could invite some nasty repercussions, and GET OUT
Maybe you could enlist a LE type or is there one on the team already?? Why do suppose there a large amount of LE lead searches nowadays that quite possbily LE may not want to involve CAP in these type of ops??
These situations a really quite plausible AND are NOT addressed in one of the SQTR tasks, that I am aware of. I'm just too concerned on why it takes so long to get a Form 5 done , so I personally am not upon GT SQTR's
That's why some of wildland firefighters (at times) have LE with us on assignments to assist with known and unknown areas of possible problems like this
That's why CAP should have better relations with LE than always worrying about why we never get the "missions." There could be a very good reason CAP is not always "on the case" with searches
Quote from: SJFedor on May 20, 2008, 02:55:16 AM
Mark the spot with your GPS, have everyone retrace their footsteps in the opposite direction, and let the LEOs handle it. The fact that you guys touched it at all is kind of a bad thing, since it is more or less a crime scene.
Exactly! Make note of what you saw and get the heck out of there! Contact 911 first then worry about the CAP chain.
Contact should be avoided with any suspect items found for both investigatory and safety reasons.
If there is an LE type of the team, he will know what to do... which would include getting CAP members out of the area.
CAP doesn't just need helicopters CAP needs armed helicopters. >:D >:D >:D