2021 started out with two similar type of missions – a person walking away from their car and not making it home. The January 16th mission is a continuation of mission 149 where Brigade members assisted in searching for an individual who had been missing since Thanksgiving. His car was found abandoned north of Abiquiu. Since mission 149 had been officially suspended Mountain Canine Corp. requested to be allowed to return to the area and search for the individual as part of a joint training exercise for Los Alamos SAR teams.
At least twelve members from the Mountain Canine Corp. and another twelve from the Brigade responded. Being officially designated as a training mission by the State is ideal as we can accomplish two goals. First, we can continue to search for a missing sole and second give members a chance to train, learn and try new things. Several newer Brigade members were teamed up with experienced members and provided support for the canine teams to start learning what is involved in canine support. Other new members were teamed up with experienced members to learn the basics of ground pounding. Experienced members who had not had a chance to lead were assigned to lead field teams or help at incident base.
Although we did not find the individual or find any clues, the mission was a success. The two teams covered significant ground and everyone learned or relearned something. Planners can now study the areas covered and determine where to search next should the mission be reactivated in the future.
