Pine Mountain SAR Training
PINE MOUNTAIN, Georgia, March 13, 2015 – On March 8, 2015, members of the Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF) Headquarters, 4th Battalion, 5th Brigade conducted Search and Rescue Training in Pine Mountain, Georgia.
Through rough and sometimes arduous terrain and elevations, GSDF soldiers recently conducted Search and Rescue training. A lost camper scenario was the basis of the operation. The team hiked several miles to the last known place the “missing campers” were seen and began their search from that point going off trail into the wilderness area of Pine Mountain. Various search techniques were used in locating clues and direction of travel of the targets of the search.
When the team broke for lunch, Team leader 2LT Burzynski incorporated primitive survival skills training into the days search and rescue training a by having the unit construct a simulated overnight bivouac area using only primitive techniques of shelter building and fire starting.
When the team encountered a large debris field left behind from the 2011 tornados, much time was spent scouting various avenues of approach to the simulated “rescue target” on the other side of the tornado damage. There was no easy way around, it would either be an extra 800 meters around one side or crawling and climbing through “jungle” thick ground cover, vines and downed trees. The latter was chosen and the team met with success.
Photo by: SSG Dennis Bell
