Texas A&M Task Force 1, abbreviated TX-TF1, is a
FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force
Members of FEMA US&R Task Force at World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks.
A FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force (US&R Task Force) is a team of individuals specializing in urban search and rescue, disaster recovery, and emergency triage a ...
, one of 28 teams that form the FEMA National Urban Search and Rescue System, and as such it is in rotation for deploying to national disasters and incidents of national significance. It is sponsored by the
Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and headquartered in
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-n ...
.
History
Complete HistoryTexas Task Force 1 was organized in 1997, and officially joined the FEMA National US&R System as a full, non-probationary member in June 2001. Starting in 2005, TX-TF1 expanded their search and rescue capability to include water rescue, with the purchase of additional equipment, boats, and a logistical support trailer. In 2009, the Helicopter Search and Rescue Technician (HSART) program was officially created within TX-TF1. This new program allowed for a quick response time of trained inland helicopter based search and rescue, along with partner agencies
Texas Military Forces
The Texas Military Forces (TXMF) are the principal instrument through which the Texas Military Department (TMD) executes security policy for Texas, which has the second-largest List of states and territories of the United States by population, po ...
and the
Texas Department of Public Safety
The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, commonly known as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the state government of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and driver license admini ...
. The TX-TF1 HSART program gives the state of Texas the ability to deploy trained personnel, aircrews, airframes during large state-wide disasters.
At the November 15th
Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is a state university system in Texas and is one of the state's six independent university systems.
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States, with a bu ...
(TAMUS) Board of Regents Meeting, TAMUS Chancellor
John Sharp submitted a resolution to the TAMUS Board of Regents for their approval and adoption, which was approved, changing Texas Task Force 1's name to
Texas A&M Task Force 1, effective December 1, 2018.
Deployments
Complete list of deployments
Texas A&M Task Force 1 personnel have responded to incidents such as
9/11 and
Hurricane Katrina. Texas Task Force 1 was dispatched to the April 17, 2013
West fertilizer plant explosion
On April 17, 2013, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred at the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, United States ( north of Waco), while emergency services personnel were responding to a fire at the facil ...
and were dispatched to assist in the wake of the
2013 Moore tornado
On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, a large and extremely violent EF5 tornado ravaged through Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, with peak winds estimated at , killing 24 people (plus two indirect fatalities) and injuring 212 others. The to ...
. In 2014 they were dispatched to an area outside of
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
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, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
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, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
to assist after a number of tornadoes hit the area. TX-TF1 had a record number of deployments in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 as the team responded such natural disasters as the catastrophic 2015
Blanco River (Texas)
The Blanco River is a river in the Hill Country of Texas in the United States.
Course
The primary source for the river is a series of springs in northern Kendall County. The river flows generally eastward for through Kendall County, Blanco Co ...
flooding, the damaging
May 2016 North American storm complex
The May 2016 United States storm complex was a storm system that triggered a flood in the United States on May 31, 2016, affecting the states of Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. The inundation set precipitation World record, ...
, the historic
2017 Atlantic hurricane season, to include
Hurricane Harvey and
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...
, and the very busy
2018 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season was the third in a consecutive series of above-average and damaging Atlantic hurricane seasons, featuring 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes, which caused a total of over $50 billion (2 ...
responding to
Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...
and
Hurricane Michael
Hurricane Michael was a very powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to m ...
.
Composition
Texas A&M Task Force One has the capability to deploy as a Type-1, Type-2, Type-3, or Type-4 Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) task force, as well as a water rescue resources, and helicopter based rescue resources.
It is made up of responders from over 60 jurisdictions across Texas and has over 650 active members, all of whom must reside within a three-hour radius of College Station. Firefighters, paramedics, doctors, nurses, structural engineers, and canine handlers are among those making up the Task Force teams. Each month, one team is on stand-up, one team is on stand-by, and one team is on stand-down; the stand-up team must be ready 24 hours a day to be mobilized and deployed within four hours.
Texas A&M Task Force 1 members are trained as specialists as well as cross-trained in other jobs on the task force. Members are required to complete over 90 hours of training per year, attend regional training, position specific training, and attend an annual full-scale exercise in
Disaster City. Texas Task Force 1 members bring a variety of full-time job skills to the task force. Designed to be logistically self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of operation, the task force is able to function for up to 14 days under remote and austere conditions.
Texas A&M Task Force 1 maintains a $7 million equipment cache of more than 70,000 items weighing in excess of 100,000 pounds.
See also
*
Texas Task Force 2 Urban Search & Rescue Texas Task Force 2, abbreviated TX-TF2, functions as one of two state urban search and rescue (US&R) teams in the State of Texas. It is managed by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
History
In 2004, ...
References
External links
*
{{United States fire departments
Texas 1
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...
Government of Texas