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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Team Rubicon contractors deploy in support of the Nepal relief effort |
| 2015-05-13 |
| UPDATE: A second earthquake has struck the nation of Nepal on Tuesday. All Team Rubicon UK and Team Rubicon USA members deployed to Nepal are safe and accounted for. TRG Supporters, I’m excited to share with you this first newsletter update from Team Rubicon Global (TRG). Five years ago, when our team was standing in the streets of Port-au-Prince looking over mountains of twisted rebar and rubble, we never imagined Team Rubicon would gain the interest and attention of military veterans around the world. But here we are today, conducting our first combined deployment in Nepal with veterans from the United Kingdom (TR UK) and the United States (TR USA). Before we talk about this historic event, I'd like to share a brief history about how we got here. TR was founded in Haiti with the belief that military veterans were capable of bridging the critical time gap between natural disasters and conventional aid response. Over the years, the slogan “bridge the gap” became a dual mission, also representing the transition experience TR provides between military service and civilian life. Today, TR USA is a 25,000 member, best-in-class disaster response organization giving veterans three things: purpose, community and identity. These past five years have been one amazing leap of faith after the next, which brings me to a curious thing that started happening years ago. While Team Rubicon was gaining recognition over the years, hundreds of military veterans from around the world began registering their interest. Veterans from Norway, Canada, UK, Australia, and the Philippines began volunteering to deploy with TR USA operations. Responding to this demand from abroad, the TR USA board made international expansion one its four strategic initiatives. Last August, the TR USA board voted to create a new 501c3 organization called Team Rubicon Global (TRG). With it's predominantly non-American board, TRG will enable the launch of new Team Rubicons and is the global coalition that holds the entire network together. We’re fortunate and honored to have the thought-leadership of our impressive Board of Directors: • General Sir Nick Parker, former Commander of British Land Forces • General David Petraeus, former Commander of Coalition Forces in Iraq & Afghanistan • Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg, former German Minister of Defense • Dr. Charles Kalmbach, former CEO of DBM, Inc. and CFR member • Jake Wood, Cofounder of Team Rubicon Which brings us to today. On April 25th, a devastating 7.8 earthquake struck Kathmandu. TR USA immediately began planning for a large deployment of medical and disaster assessment personnel. At the same time, the nascent TR UK was spurred into action and today the British make up one third of the Team Rubicon presence on the ground in Nepal. We couldn't be prouder or more impressed with this team of coalition veterans. Join us and support TRG, the world’s first international veteran service organization. Together we will transform the lives of thousands of veterans around the world, while at the same time, doing what Team Rubicon does best: get sh*t done. Best, William McNully The above update copied from e-mail. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 IIRC Team Rubicon was a hasty put together to make it to Haiti in an effective timeframe. Even if it had been talked about beforehand, that was still impressive. Here we are a few years later, and they have the organizational skills required to deploy to the mountains half way around the world. Just as impressive, if not more so. Well done. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-05-13 09:29 |
| #1 Good people continuing to serve, whether in or out of uniform. Bless 'em all. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2015-05-13 03:56 |