Texas Task Force 1

Book excerpt: Trained for ground, water, and air missions throughout Texas and the nation, Texas Task Force 1 serves as the state’s primary search and rescue team and as one of twenty-eight federal teams in the national urban search and rescue system. Founded in 1997, this elite team has been dispatched for state and national emergencies, probing the devastation at Ground Zero and saving lives on the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Texas Task Force 1’s more than four hundred highly trained members come from sixty organizations throughout Texas and include firefighters, canine handlers, medical specialists and doctors, heavy equipment operators, structural engineers, and others. Photographer Bud Force gives us an intimate picture of Texas Task Force 1 at work as he follows the team on their major deployments and documents their specialized equipment and training, including time spent at the unique facility known as Disaster City. The result is a lively mix of history, interviews, and photographs that paints a fascinating portrait of these courageous people—and their canine partners—who place themselves in danger in order to save others. “There’s a feeling in the room when I walk in and I see the faces of the other responders I work with. My stress level drops because I know that whatever happens, we’ll figure it out and do what we need to do to get the job done. I know that because I know the people in that room can do it.”--Susann Brown, Responder “The principle of helping others is as fundamental to the search and rescue members I know as is breathing.”--Matthew Minson, Responder