Not Sierra,
but this National Park Service Morning Report shows they brought out everything to find these two


White Sands National Monument (NM)
Newly Engaged Couple Found By Interagency Searchers

On the afternoon of Monday, January 9th, the park learned that two visitors who had been hiking within the dunes since noon were lost and unable to find their way out. Russell Vandameer and Karen Renshaw, both of Oklahoma, left to go hiking with their three dogs, Stitch, Suzy, and Griswald. After finding a suitably beautiful spot within the dunes, Vandemeer proposed to Renshaw. The newly engaged couple than attempted to hike back to their car, but were unable to find their way back. Rather than continue to wander becoming more lost, they contacted a cousin via cell phone and requested that help be sent. An interagency effort was begun that involved the NPS, the Alamo West Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army. While two Army Rescue Blackhawk helicopters were en route from Fort Bliss, approximately an hour away, Holloman Air Force base diverted an F-22 Raptor from a training mission to the search effort. The pilot of the Raptor was able to positively identify the couple with their three dogs. Two Air Force drones were also tasked, which were able to relay specific coordinates and monitor the lost hiker's location and movement from the air while the Army helicopters were en route. The hikers and their dogs were transported by the Army Blackhawks out of the dunes to the command post, where they were examined by NPS and Alamo West EMS for exposure to the below freezing nighttime temperatures. Renshaw accepted Vandemeer's marriage proposal. The newly engaged couple invited the Blackhawk crew to the wedding. The search effort was greatly aided by the assistance of the military aircraft, which utilized night vision and infrared equipment to safely locate the hikers after nightfall. Ranger Kelly Roche acted as IC.
[Submitted by Becky Wiles, Acting Superintendent

http://home.nps.gov/applications/morningreport/index.cfm

Mr. and Mrs. Vandemeer, do you remember that little rescue in New Mexico? Please remit $2,001,457.12 to your dearest uncle. Those Raptors and Predators cost a bunch to operate.

Tax Payers 1 - Darwin 0

Lest we all get our shorts bunched up over this - it's obvious the military used this a training exercise and threw just about everything but the kitchen sink at it. Most of the resources were probably totally unnecessary, however, as it sounds like the couple was located almost immediately.

Sounds like a terrific outcome, and hope the couple have a long, happy life together. I doubt anyone involved in the operation will soon forget them.

> it's obvious the military used this a training exercise

Yep, I agree. Real world situations are way better than setups.

What a hoot! Thanks for posting it, Harvey.

Nothing like "polishing the edge of the sword."

Maybe the "cousin" was "flag rank" aka "general officer" or some GS-15.

Shorts not in a knot. However, there were costs involved retasking those assets, costs which are borne by taxpayers.

As Steve said, this is something everyone involved will not soon forget.

I don't mind a bit if they use tax dollars for training to find people in sandy, desert-like conditions.

Steve didn't say that. I did.

A couple of months ago, here in my neighborhood, a suspect was on the loose and the K-9 team(S) were brought in to flush out the perp -- TEN teams showed up to find the guy! We thought that maybe Son of Manson was loose in the neighborhood, so we all hunkered down (good to do anyway, if you have ever heard one of those dogs growl) Needless to say, the caught the guy in no time flat. The next day, I ran into the usual Starbuck's cops and asked what was up. He responded that once the call for a COUPLE of dogs goes out, every team in the county wants to come out for the "practice" -- they LOVE it!!

Sorry for the wrong attribution.

There was a lot of yukking it up on a couple of SAR boards over that one. A LOT of hardware and everyone in the SAR community was jealous.. .

A couple of notes, as some of you figured out:

The response hardware was already in the air on training missions and just diverted.

Whenever there's a SAR at White Sands, the local military is always notified. White Sands is surrounded by military test areas and they need to know if there's a chance someone's going to wander onto their area.

Also, it's a break in routine, a chance to test out stuff and, at no extra charge, do something good.

We're all lobbying for the F-35b on future SARs:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD-J1KksHUQ

And, this just in, also from White Sands -- the military does it again:

www.alamogordonews.com/ci_19755943

Tallyho!

g.