Photo By Master Sgt. Wendy Kuhn | Members of Team Rubicon muck out a water-damaged structure at the Oatland Island...... read more read more
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CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. -- Of the many groups participating in PATRIOT South 19, from National Guard units and civilian and volunteer entities, Team Rubicon has a pretty unique story.
An international nonprofit organization, Team Rubicon utilizes the skills and experiences of veterans and first responders to provide disaster relief for affected communities. They also seek to provide veterans with things they sometimes lose after leaving the service: a purpose, an identity and a sense of community. About 70% of Team Rubicon members are veterans.
“I've been retired from the Navy for 11 years,” said Donna Burdett, logistics section chief for Team Rubicon. “After getting out of the military, I was missing my mission and purpose in life. Team Rubicon gives you those things. I've responded to 55 named operations with Team Rubicon.”
During PATRIOT South 19, about 70 Team Rubicon members participated between the command and control location at the Savannah Air National Guard Base and the Oatland Island Wildlife Center, located near Savannah. Work at the wildlife reserve consisted of mucking out a water-damaged building and using chainsaws and heavy equipment to clear out brush and storm-damaged trees in a wooded area to create a maintenance access road and a walking trail.
“We started participating in PATRIOT North about three years ago, but this time we started looking off base to see what kind of community impact we could have within the exercise and we happened to drive by the wildlife reserve and noticed a signed that said 'closed due to storm damage',” said Michael Watkins, director of regional operations for Team Rubicon. “We talked to one of the directors and they helped provide us with an opportunity to do all of our core capabilities: chainsaw work, a muck-out of a structure and the chance to work with heavy equipment.”
Members go through relevant classroom training for their jobs and then receive hands-on training in the field under supervision to gain the experience necessary to perform during a real-world disaster.
“For the muck-out, our goal is to provide teaching for Team Rubicon 'gray shirts' of the basic core operations level. What that means is they're going to learn to go into a home and how to safely muck the home out, tarp the roof, secure the home if needed… anything that's going to protect it from further damage,” said John Petty, core operations instructor for Team Rubicon.
Likewise for chainsaw work and heavy equipment operations, members first receive classroom training and then work in the field to gain the experience necessary to increase their level of skill.
The PATRIOT exercise also allows Team Rubicon to train its members as well as interact with other entities that they may have to coordinate with during large-scale disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods.
“It gives participants a chance to integrate and work together in the exercise environment, so that when they get out there for the next Katrina or Maria or Harvey, they're used to working together,” said Watkins.
During PATRIOT South 19, Team Rubicon volunteered an estimated 1,296 man hours valued at almost $44,000 for the work they did at the Oatland Island Wildlife Center. They cleared approximately 3,550 cubic feet of vegetation, mucked out 1,400 cubic feet in expedient home repair and removed about 7,200 cubic feet of debris with heavy equipment. In addition, they assisted Information Awareness and Assessment (IAA) personnel in analyzing damage assessment data.
“Team Rubicon worked closely with National Guard members and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) Incident Management Team (IMT),” said Senior Master Sgt. Matt Davies, controller team chief. “This is so important because it helps them learn each others capabilities and establish a relationship so that when a real world disaster occurs, they can hit the ground running.”
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 03.07.2019 18:51 |
| Story ID: | 313441 |
| Location: | CHATHAM COUNTY, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 221 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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