2014 was busy year for Alpha Search and Recovery (SAR).  Alpha SAR’s dedicated team members supported 153 activities, 8 of which were actual incidents, for a total of 7,042 man-hours!  Included in these activities were several large training events: hosted the North American Search Dog Network Spring Seminar in March, hosted the Fundamentals of Search and Rescue (FUNSAR) in April, hosted the Alpha SAR Fall Seminar in September, and co-hosted a National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR) SAR Technician II examination in November. 2014 in review was a busy year and 2015 is already scheduled to be busier.

To put things into perspective using Texas’ estimated value of a volunteer ($23.40/hour), the hours provided by Alpha SAR equated to $164,781.80.  Our dedicated team members provided these hours, along with associated equipment costs, with the sole purpose of training ourselves to find missing persons.

Alpha SAR would like to congratulate all team members that achieved a level in 2014.  Alpha SAR utilizes a typing scheme that aligns with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), with Level IV as the basic level through Level I as the highest typing level.  In 2014, Alpha SAR welcomed the following team members.

If you see any Alpha SAR member, or other SAR personnel for that matter, thank them for all the time, money, and effort they put into this community service.