Inland Search and Rescue School

In 1956, with the publishing of the first National Search and Rescue Plan, the US Coast Guard was designated the federal Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordinator responsible for search and rescue in the maritime regions, and, likewise, the US Air Force was designated the federal SAR Coordinator responsible for search and rescue in the aeronautical (inland) regions. Since the inception of the Plan, both services have worked closely together developing procedures and techniques which have increased the efficiency or SAR operations.

Since 1966 the US Coast Guard and the US Air Force have jointly operated the National SAR School, redefining programs as the needs of the services have evolved.  Each service provided the expertise from its area of responsibility and shared in the burden of instruction across lines of responsibility.

The mission of the school is to provide standardization and professionalism within the search and rescue community.

The Inland SAR School is an element of the National SAR School which provides academic instruction on inland search planning and procedures to SAR professionals from all U.S. military branches, various federal, state and local government agencies, volunteer SAR organizations, and members of the international SAR community. The National SAR School is located at USCG Training Center Yorktown. Directions to the base can be found here.

Courses

Inland SAR Planning Course (ISPC).  The ISPC is a five (5) day resident and exportable course designed to teach advanced search and rescue theory and its application to land and air searches for missing persons and aircraft.  The target audience is SAR leaders in federal, state, and local emergency services and law enforcement, as well as Civil Air Patrol, international, and volunteer SAR agencies -- those few people who are responsible for the planning and overall conduct of inland search missions.

Basic Inland SAR Course (BISC).  The BISC is a two day (16 hour) exportable course designed to teach basic federal SAR architecture, resources and mission coordination with an introduction to search theory.  The course is designed as an entry level SAR management course for federal, state and local SAR responders.

Sponsorship Requirements

Are you sponsoring (or wanting to sponsor) an upcoming Inland SAR Planning Course in your state? Please download and review our Sponsor Requirements and Student Selection Guidance.  Agencies or organizations wishing to sponsor the Inland SAR Planning Course should email their intent with all contact information to USAFInlandSARSchool@uscg.mil.  Agencies or organizations wishing to sponsor the Basic Inland SAR Course should email their intent with all contact information to the BISC Manager at: afrcc.console@us.af.mil.

Contact Information

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