Hurricane Helene Response Part 1: Interview with Tacticon Armament

Two weeks ago my team and I decided to travel to Western NC to assist with the relief efforts for Hurricane Helene. After two days of conducting an area study, we left our homes in Coastal NC and spent 5 days in Yancey and Mitchell Counties doing what we could. We supported the relief effort by conducting reconnaissance and logistics support, working with local churches and another training group called the 118th. In that time, we accomplished the following:

• Recon Patrols: 2
• Neighborhoods scouted: 3
• Convoys run: 6
• Loads delivered to Distribution centers: 9
• Loads delivered to homes: 9
• Helicopters unloaded: 1
• Wellness checks: 39

Last Tuesday I had the great pleasure of being interviewed by the gentlemen over at Tacticon Armament for their podcast, the 2A Procast. During this podcast I discussed how my team operated, what we were doing and how the situation developed on the ground, and how others can replicate what we did. The episode went live on Saturday, and is embedded below. A special thank-you to Nolan, Jake, and Tackett for having me on. I’m glad that I could share my experience with others who can learn from how my team managed to be so effective during the short time that we were in the AO.

Over the next few days I’ll be posting my team’s AAR points to share lessons learned about what worked, what didn’t, and how we intend to improve for future operations. This operations was a bit of a paradigm shift for us, as we’ve never planned to operate this far away from our local area before. Much learning occurred, and therefore much learning shall be shared. Stay tuned for the AARs!