If you would like to join the Graham County Search and Rescue Squad you must:
- be a resident of Graham County
- pass a background check
- be able to attend weekly meeting and training
- be willing to respond to call outs all times of the day
For more information, please come by the squad building Thursday nights at 6:30 pm
630 S Dusty Trail
Thatcher, Az 85552
or contact Thomas Snodderley at (928) 651-4032 or tsnodderley@gmail.com
More Than a Callout or Is This About Me, or Them?
“I’ve always wanted to do Search and Rescue.” Around Southeast Arizona, we hear those words often. Most people who say it mean well, and they have a generous heart. But they may not understand what that sentence really asks of you. They don’t always see the commitment behind it—the long hours, the training, the money spent out of your own pocket, and the reality of being tired, sun-beaten, cold, dusty, and worn down, only to hear another call come in.
I’ve always wanted to do Search and Rescue—until you realize every spare minute of your life can be dedicated to it. That family vacation you planned might become a training seminar. Your evenings may be spent writing training logs, checking gear, studying maps, or preparing for the next callout. Extra money goes toward boots, packs, radios, fuel, medical supplies, and the kind of gear that can handle desert heat, rough canyons, monsoon storms, rocky trails, and cold nights in the high country. You put miles on your vehicle driving across Graham County—from the Gila Box, Mount Graham, the Pinaleños, and remote stretches of desert and mountain country where help is not close by. You search in wash bottoms, mesquite, cactus, mine country, steep slopes, and terrain that can turn unforgiving fast. You deal with wet socks after a storm, dust in everything, worn-out boots, dead flashlight batteries, no cell service to load your map, and a radio that may not reach base. You sit with the weight of families waiting for answers. You work old cases hoping today is the day someone finally comes home. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you still ask yourself, “Did I do enough?” So, if you’re thinking about joining Search and Rescue, ask yourself one question: Is this about me, or is it about them?
Paraphrase from a West Virginia Search and Rescue