WEBVTT 00:00.200 --> 00:02.478 My name is 2nd Lieutenant Reese Searls . 00:02.478 --> 00:05.590 I'm with the Texas IRP Alpha Company 00:06.119 --> 00:09.520 GTP1 . I'm here , been tasked to work 00:09.520 --> 00:12.039 with the Czech firefighter team and 00:12.039 --> 00:14.039 ferry them around and work as their 00:14.039 --> 00:16.206 liaison officer . I'm really glad that 00:16.206 --> 00:17.928 they're here . They're extreme 00:17.928 --> 00:17.620 professionals . They've been doing a 00:17.620 --> 00:20.309 really good job . A lot of times we , 00:20.340 --> 00:22.562 as the National Guard have been doing a 00:22.562 --> 00:24.340 lot of this , and while we have 00:24.340 --> 00:23.940 training in that , and a lot of us also 00:23.940 --> 00:26.860 have experience , these guys are much 00:26.860 --> 00:29.027 more experienced . They have much more 00:29.027 --> 00:31.819 specific and expert training . It , it 00:31.819 --> 00:34.041 feels like we're bringing elite special 00:34.041 --> 00:36.097 forces onto the job , and we've been 00:36.097 --> 00:38.097 really glad that we're able to have 00:38.097 --> 00:39.875 them . So I know that the state 00:39.875 --> 00:41.875 partnership program with Texas , we 00:41.875 --> 00:41.220 have it with 4 different countries 00:41.220 --> 00:43.387 right now . Uh , we have it with Czech 00:43.387 --> 00:45.498 Republic , we have it with Chile , we 00:45.498 --> 00:47.664 have it with Egypt , and then recently 00:47.664 --> 00:49.887 in 2025 , we got a partnership with the 00:49.887 --> 00:52.069 UAE . Um , and that is because of a 00:52.069 --> 00:54.291 surplus population from those different 00:54.291 --> 00:56.569 countries that happen to live in Texas . 00:56.569 --> 00:58.791 Czech Republic goes all the way back to 00:58.791 --> 00:58.509 when it was Bohemia , and they had a 00:58.509 --> 01:00.453 bunch of people coming over in the 01:00.453 --> 01:02.565 1800s . They built a lot of cities in 01:02.565 --> 01:04.787 Texas , West City of West , probably in 01:04.787 --> 01:06.898 West Texas . Yeah , they've , they've 01:06.898 --> 01:06.629 been here for a very long time . 01:06.669 --> 01:08.780 They've really influenced the culture 01:08.780 --> 01:10.947 of Texas in a lot of ways , especially 01:10.947 --> 01:13.113 in the hill country where we are right 01:13.113 --> 01:12.309 now , and they're able to help out , so 01:12.470 --> 01:14.470 I'm sure that's really good for the 01:14.470 --> 01:16.303 locals . I think the partnership 01:16.303 --> 01:18.303 program is amazing for at least two 01:18.303 --> 01:18.269 different reasons . The first one being . 01:18.569 --> 01:21.400 That it enables us to get easy access 01:21.400 --> 01:23.456 to go overseas and work with foreign 01:23.456 --> 01:25.567 nations , train with their militaries 01:25.567 --> 01:27.511 and with their different emergency 01:27.511 --> 01:29.678 services units like we are right now . 01:29.678 --> 01:31.622 It also gives the Texan people the 01:31.622 --> 01:33.733 ability to call in those military and 01:33.733 --> 01:35.789 emergency services units whenever we 01:35.789 --> 01:35.319 have a crisis like we're having right 01:35.319 --> 01:37.319 now . I don't know all of the inner 01:37.319 --> 01:39.589 workings of it . What I do know is that 01:39.589 --> 01:42.230 in the same way that America , and I 01:42.230 --> 01:44.510 guess in this case Texas has response 01:44.510 --> 01:46.566 teams set up , so if in case we ever 01:46.566 --> 01:48.399 get called out , we have a quick 01:48.399 --> 01:50.510 response force to go there and act as 01:50.510 --> 01:52.677 their emergency services or to help do 01:52.677 --> 01:54.954 some , yeah , stabilization operations . 01:54.954 --> 01:57.010 I assume that the Czech Republic had 01:57.010 --> 01:59.177 the exact same thing set up . I know a 01:59.177 --> 01:58.910 lot of these guys are federal 01:58.910 --> 02:00.743 firefighters . They're they're , 02:00.743 --> 02:02.854 they're government firefighters , not 02:02.854 --> 02:05.077 just for a city . So that they were set 02:05.077 --> 02:04.919 aside for this purpose , and I know 02:04.919 --> 02:07.086 that a lot of them have had experience 02:07.086 --> 02:09.030 deploying to places like Nepal and 02:09.030 --> 02:11.030 Turkey , so they've been doing this 02:11.030 --> 02:13.197 exact kind of work with other friendly 02:13.197 --> 02:15.419 nations in the past , so . I think that 02:15.419 --> 02:17.530 it's really good that they're able to 02:17.530 --> 02:17.229 come and help us as well . So whenever 02:17.229 --> 02:19.396 we got here , we got a command roll up 02:19.396 --> 02:21.562 of exactly who's in charge of who , so 02:21.562 --> 02:23.729 there wasn't any confusion . The Czech 02:23.729 --> 02:25.785 firefighters and me as their liaison 02:25.785 --> 02:27.951 are attached to the engineer battalion 02:27.951 --> 02:30.118 on ground that's able to help out with 02:30.118 --> 02:32.429 a lot of the clearing of debris and the 02:32.429 --> 02:34.540 extraction of any HR we might be able 02:34.540 --> 02:36.449 to find . They themselves are 02:36.449 --> 02:38.529 subordinate to a task force entity 02:38.529 --> 02:41.330 which is a civilian task force who in 02:41.330 --> 02:43.559 turn is all the way up to the Texas 02:43.559 --> 02:45.615 task force . Right now we're working 02:45.615 --> 02:47.726 with Indiana Task Force One . They've 02:47.726 --> 02:47.690 been really great . They've been really 02:47.690 --> 02:49.912 professional with all their stuff , and 02:49.912 --> 02:49.850 we're really happy that Indiana was 02:49.850 --> 02:52.017 able to send their people down to come 02:52.017 --> 02:54.239 help us out . Texas task force , like I 02:54.239 --> 02:56.294 said , coordinating all of that from 02:56.294 --> 02:58.517 the top and able to give everything all 02:58.517 --> 02:58.014 commands , everything all the way down 02:58.014 --> 03:00.384 and have a master grid system set up so 03:00.384 --> 03:02.551 we're all clearing in the same way and 03:02.551 --> 03:04.606 we don't have to double check land . 03:04.606 --> 03:06.551 We're doing this as efficiently as 03:06.551 --> 03:06.505 possible and I'm really glad that we 03:06.505 --> 03:08.672 have all of these partners together to 03:08.672 --> 03:11.149 be able to enable that . So whenever we 03:11.149 --> 03:13.316 show up , we get a mission given to us 03:13.316 --> 03:15.427 by the engineers or the civilian task 03:15.427 --> 03:17.538 force depending on who's available at 03:17.538 --> 03:19.871 the command that day . The firefighters , 03:19.871 --> 03:19.789 along with some engineer soldiers to go 03:19.789 --> 03:22.750 and clear the area , make sure if 03:22.750 --> 03:24.917 there's any debris piles that they can 03:24.917 --> 03:26.806 get sniffed by the dogs to see if 03:26.806 --> 03:29.139 there's any victims or survivors inside . 03:29.139 --> 03:31.361 If we detect that there might be . Then 03:31.361 --> 03:33.417 we spend time delayering those piles 03:33.417 --> 03:35.639 with different tools that the check may 03:35.639 --> 03:37.750 have with them . We haven't needed to 03:37.750 --> 03:37.240 use any of the check tools they brought 03:37.240 --> 03:39.407 with them because luckily our engineer 03:39.407 --> 03:41.296 battalion are all qualified . Our 03:41.296 --> 03:43.462 engineer battalion have a ton of their 03:43.462 --> 03:45.629 own equipment such as chainsaws , jaws 03:45.629 --> 03:47.573 of life , in some cases bobcats or 03:47.573 --> 03:49.573 excavators to get rid of the debris 03:49.573 --> 03:51.629 pile and be able to get certainty on 03:51.629 --> 03:53.462 exactly what the dogs detected . 03:53.462 --> 03:53.259 Whenever the firefighters and the 03:53.259 --> 03:55.426 troops are down by the river . Usually 03:55.426 --> 03:57.370 happens in 3 layers . So the first 03:57.370 --> 03:59.854 layer is the drone . The drones go out 03:59.854 --> 04:02.076 and they scout ahead of everyone else . 04:02.076 --> 04:04.298 They see where major debris piles are , 04:04.298 --> 04:06.298 and they can scan routes to make it 04:06.298 --> 04:08.354 easier in case some areas are Behind 04:08.354 --> 04:10.465 them is the dogs . The dogs go in and 04:10.465 --> 04:12.576 they detect any of the debris piles . 04:12.576 --> 04:14.743 They sniff around them to determine if 04:14.743 --> 04:16.854 they get a hit or a mark , which is a 04:16.854 --> 04:19.021 possible detection if there's going to 04:19.021 --> 04:18.654 be a victim or a survivor in that 04:18.654 --> 04:21.378 debris pile . If they do , then that 04:21.378 --> 04:23.545 3rd layer is going to get up to it and 04:23.545 --> 04:25.767 begin to delayer . If they don't , then 04:25.767 --> 04:27.822 that 3rd layer , which is made up of 04:27.822 --> 04:29.934 all the members on foot , potentially 04:29.934 --> 04:32.045 any special equipment they might have 04:32.045 --> 04:34.045 on them , and they get there and if 04:34.045 --> 04:35.822 there's no hit , then they just 04:35.822 --> 04:37.822 continue on their way . We continue 04:37.822 --> 04:37.468 that all the way down the riverbed 04:37.468 --> 04:39.579 until an entire sector is clear , and 04:39.579 --> 04:41.579 then we return back to the civilian 04:41.579 --> 04:43.746 counterparts to give us another sector 04:43.746 --> 04:45.524 and we repeat the process . The 04:45.524 --> 04:47.412 Guadalupe River and all the other 04:47.412 --> 04:49.524 rivers that have been affected by the 04:49.524 --> 04:51.857 storms that led to the flooding is very , 04:51.857 --> 04:54.109 very large . They go a lot of different 04:54.359 --> 04:56.640 routes and there's a lot of streams 04:56.640 --> 04:59.179 that flow into them . All the damage to 04:59.179 --> 05:01.235 the flooding isn't just on flat land 05:01.235 --> 05:03.401 like you would see maybe in Florida or 05:03.401 --> 05:05.623 Louisiana . It's mostly along the river 05:05.623 --> 05:07.735 way and it's not a linear path . It's 05:07.735 --> 05:09.846 winding . It takes a lot of personnel 05:09.846 --> 05:12.140 to clear out that much land . We have 05:12.140 --> 05:14.196 that personnel , but it also takes a 05:14.196 --> 05:16.418 lot of time to coordinate and make sure 05:16.418 --> 05:18.820 we're not wasting effort . We have been 05:18.820 --> 05:20.876 and we will continue to be extremely 05:20.876 --> 05:22.487 effective and thorough . But 05:22.487 --> 05:24.579 thoroughness takes time . Luckily we 05:24.579 --> 05:26.690 have these experts on the ground from 05:26.690 --> 05:28.690 CEC to help us enable that and then 05:28.690 --> 05:31.023 ourselves as well as National Guardsmen , 05:31.023 --> 05:31.019 we've been trained in this , so we have 05:31.019 --> 05:33.019 all the equipment we need . We just 05:33.019 --> 05:35.186 need the time to execute the product . 05:35.186 --> 05:37.408 We're extremely lucky to have the state 05:37.408 --> 05:39.352 partnership program . A lot of the 05:39.352 --> 05:42.279 elite firemen , ambulances , all of 05:42.279 --> 05:44.446 these teams , they can't be pulled for 05:44.446 --> 05:46.501 weeks on end from their metropolitan 05:46.501 --> 05:49.089 areas to conduct these searches . If we 05:49.089 --> 05:51.089 didn't have the check or any of the 05:51.089 --> 05:53.200 other teams that we have from Indiana 05:53.200 --> 05:55.089 and Nevada , these task forces of 05:55.089 --> 05:57.256 civilians , then we would nowhere near 05:57.256 --> 05:59.422 have the manpower we need to clear the 05:59.422 --> 06:01.645 wide of area that we have to clear . It 06:01.645 --> 06:03.940 is I would say necessary for us to have 06:03.940 --> 06:06.619 this to clear in any meaningful amount 06:06.619 --> 06:08.779 of time . Which is what we're looking 06:08.779 --> 06:11.839 for . And I would say on behalf of the 06:11.839 --> 06:13.895 entire IRP team , a team of National 06:13.895 --> 06:16.117 Guardsmen designated specifically to be 06:16.117 --> 06:18.228 the quick response force for flooding 06:18.228 --> 06:20.117 and for hurricanes across Texas . 06:20.117 --> 06:22.283 Having those been extreme help , and I 06:22.283 --> 06:24.506 would say thank you to all of the Czech 06:24.506 --> 06:24.040 firefighters who are able to make their 06:24.040 --> 06:26.207 way over here to the other side of the 06:26.207 --> 06:26.000 world to help us .