Big Horn County Search and Rescue

Retirements and structural changes mark the beginning of a new chapter The retirement and partial-retirement of two longtime Big Horn County Search and Rescue team volunteers, Dennis Woodward and Scott Allred, has prompted more consolation of squads from the north and south ends of the county.Woodward is retiring after 35 years of volunteer service to the organization, serving many of those years as an officer or in other key leadership roles.Woodward said he became interested in becoming an SAR team volunteer after getting lost while out on a hike and being rescued by an SAR team in the southern part of the state.“I got lost once and just walked in circles all day long,” said Woodward. “The SAR found me and I felt like I wanted to pay that back someday.”That opportunity presented itself years later during a conversation with Lewis Phillips in Frannie. Woodward said he was telling Phillips the story of his rescue and how he’d like to pay that back someday. Phillips was a member of the SAR serving north Big Horn County and invited him to attend a meeting.After attending the meeting, Woodward joined the team and quickly moved up the ranks, becoming an officer after only one year of service, then a captain, then a lieutenant. He and Allred, who joined the team some years later, worked side by side in subsequent years in their leadership roles with the organization.“He and I stuck it out for all those years,” said Woodward. “We weren’t necessarily planning toretire at the same time but it just worked out that way.”Woodward said he saw a lot of changes throughout those years, especially in terms of the technology available.“I don’t know how we found people back in those days,” said Woodward. “We didn’t have GPS and all that kind of stuff like we have today.[caption id="attachment_12099" align="alignright" width="300"] Scott Allred (left) was honored at the annual Search and Rescue team dinner on Jan. 12, after serving 15 years as captain of the North Big Horn Search and Rescue team, along with Dennis Woodward (right), who is retiring from the squad after 35 years of service and leadership with the organization.
Photo Courtesy Keri Wilske-Angell[/caption]“We have extraordinary ways of finding people these days; we can track people down through their cell phone. Back in the day, we just rode around until we found them. We left no bones in those hills, though, and I am grateful for that. It may have taken us a while to find people, but we always did. Every single time.”Though retired, Woodward said he plans to make himself available to share the knowledge gained from his many years of experience.“I’m still listed as a consultant, whatever that means,” said Woodward.  “I guess it means call me any time if you have a question.”AllredAllred joined the SAR team in 1995 after hearing a report on the radio on his way to work that changed his life for the next 20 years. The report mentioned that a group of search and rescue team members who were searching for a lost child needed some food brought up to a location where they were conducting their operation in the Big Horn Mountains.With the permission of his boss at work, Allred brought a bunch of ready-made sandwiches up to the crew. He was so impressed by their efforts that he decided to join the team.Allred said being a part of the North Big Horn County Search and Rescue crew provided some of the most “satisfying times” of his life. Though he isn’t completely retiring like Woodward, he decided to scale back some of his duties in order to spend more time with his family.Similar to Woodward, Allred quickly rose up through the ranks, becoming a first sergeant in less than two years. Shortly afterward he moved up to the rank of lieutenant, working under Woodward. In 2000 he was promoted yet again, becoming captain of the north end squad.Allred said he feels comfortable shedding some of his more demanding leadership responsibilities due to the confidence he has in his fellow team members.“My leadership style has always been to surround myself with talented and dedicated people and just direct them toward a goal,” said Allred. “Having those kind of people on the team made the job relatively easy for me. It helps with this transition, too.”Allred said one thing he learned through the years is that anyone can end up in a situation where they need help.“It doesn’t really matter what your skill level is, things happen, and those things can turn the tide quickly against you, even if you have wilderness skills or good snowmobile skills,” explained Allred.Allred said since he and Woodward gave about a year’s notice, the transition of their duties to others has been fairly seamless. The two received special plaques honoring their service at the annual Search and Rescue team dinner held on Jan. 12.Organizational changesWith the departure of Woodward and the scaling back of Allred’s duties, Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said he thought it would be a good time to restructure the organization. The Search and Rescue team operates under the authority of the Sheriff’s Department. In Big Horn County there has been a north and south unit for many years. Under the new structure, there is one unit that includes both the south and north ends of the county.“In changing times, especially in terms of finances, it behooves us to combine those efforts to become stronger together,” explained Blackburn. “For training purposes and for response purposes; this allows us to have volunteers fill in wherever we need them, whether it’s the north or sound end.”Blackburn said the budgets for both squads were combined around three years ago and with the retirement of Woodward and Allred it seemed like a natural time to combine the two units. Blackburn explained that there is still a north and south squad. They will continue to conduct individual trainings and meetings but will also meet at least once a year to conduct joint operations training.Under the new structure, sheriff’s deputy Ken Nelson is the captain over both squads, reporting directly to Blackburn. Blackburn felt that, as a full-time deputy, Nelson would have the time to keep track of equipment and to perform SAR related tasks in addition to his duties as deputy.Tom Irwin will act as first lieutenant under Nelson. Blackburn said Nelson is “brilliant” when it comes to operations and his knowledge of the local mountains is “phenomenal.”Wes Mangus has been assigned the duties of second lieutenant for the north end squad. Tom Newman is sergeant, Keri Angell is secretary, Jim Thomas is training officer and Mike Hendershot is equipment officer for the squad.  Jack Carpenter is medical advisor for both north and south squads.“We’ve got tremendous assets and resources even with shrinking budgets and difficult times. People can choose to have big egos or they can choose to work together for the good of the people. I’m really proud of how the north and south squads are choosing to work together for the good of the people and I think they are working together better than they ever have in the history of the organization.”Currently the north and south squads combined consist of about 40 to 50 volunteers.“This is a completely volunteer effort,” said Blackburn. “There are no stipends paid. They occasionally get reimbursed for fuel, and some meals are provided. Other than that, they supply their own clothing, a lot of their own equipment, and give up a lot of their time. A lot of times that includes using vacation time if their employer doesn’t support them while they take part in these missions.”

By Patti Carpenter