Members of Team Rubicon fill sandbags. Courtesy Photo
Home » Government » Retired military veterans with Team Rubicon will offer to build sandbag walls for residents.

Retired military veterans with Team Rubicon will offer to build sandbag walls for residents.

By Paul Wolterbeck/ Gila County

You may not have heard of Team Rubicon ‘til today – but the ‘Grayshirts’ are going to be well-known around Globe-Miami as they begin knocking on doors this week. They’re already visiting flood-zone neighborhoods, and offering to build sandbag walls to prevent flooding that’s likely in Mackey’s Camp, Bloody Tanks, Russell Gulch – and other places imperiled by the aftermath of the Telegraph Fire. 

Who are the members of Team Rubicon? Retired military veterans are the core of this volunteer organization, which unites their skills and experience with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams.

“We’re honored that Team Rubicon has our back,” said Carl Melford, Gila County’s Emergency Manager. “With 130,000 volunteers able to deploy throughout the United States and internationally, Team Rubicon stands ready to help when a community is facing its darkest hour — they were in Winkelman helping residents clean up debris after the Margo Fire, and will be stationed here in Globe during June-July.”

Their motto is “Disasters are our business. Veterans are our passion,” and you can donate to this excellent organization and read more at teamrubiconusa.org.

And we should donate: Team Rubicon services are provided free of charge. In 2016, 62 percent of all homes Team Rubicon serviced did not have home insurance. An American Progress report noted that the most extreme weather events typically harmed counties with household incomes below the U.S. median annual income of $51,941. Wildfires, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms devastated areas with households that earned on average three percent less than the U.S. median income. Just imagine the positive, long-term impact Team Rubicon’s free assistance provided these families.

Donors can also give through Facebook; like-and-follow, and donate at facebook.com/teamrubicon

Service is the driving principal operations and members. Team Rubicon focuses on serving vulnerable and at-risk populations affected by disaster. While the initial damage and trauma of natural disasters will impact any population regardless of socio-economic factors, the financial burden of recovery and rebuilding has dramatic and long-lasting repercussions on many rural and urban populations lacking proper insurance and public and private resources.

Team Rubicon focuses on serving vulnerable and at-risk populations affected by disaster. While the initial damage and trauma of natural disasters will impact any population regardless of socio-economic factors, the financial burden of recovery and rebuilding has dramatic and long-lasting repercussions on many rural and urban populations lacking proper insurance and public and private resources.

Team Rubicon has responded to numerous natural disasters across the United States. Organizational flexibility allows them to operate in as a Tactical Branch, Single Resource Unit, or Task Force. Team Rubicon can work under the direction of a governmental entity or agency (based on requested function) and integrate fully into an existing Incident Command System structure to perform disaster response functions.

Key services they can provide include debris management, hazard mitigation, expedient home repair; incident management, site surveys, disaster mapping and work order management, volunteer management, emergency medicine and primary care. Team Rubicon deploys equipped with all the resources required to provide the capabilities above including: personal protective equipment, hand tools, solar-powered electrical suites, data analysis and mapping suites (mobile and static platforms); heavy equipment, sawyer teams.

All incident management personnel are trained in the application of Incident Command System (ICS) in compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Volunteers are trained in the basics of ICS. Team Rubicon deploys as a self-sustaining unit.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *