Post by L Roebuck on Oct 7, 2006 8:24:36 GMT -5
Recruits go deep to show worthiness
Conservation officer training includes cave rescue
By Harold J. Adams
hjadams@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nicole Baumann slithered forward a few feet on her stomach through a narrow, muddy passage in Langdon's Cave yesterday before she decided to retreat.
"I don't know where I'm supposed to go" in the passage, Baumann said as she backed out to a larger space where she could stand up.
Baumann was one of 24 Indiana conservation officer recruits who climbed, crawled and squeezed their way through the cave in the Harrison-Crawford State Forest to prepare for the dark and uncertain conditions they would face if they were involved in a cave rescue.
More than 500 people applied for the 18 conservation officer jobs that will be filled across Indiana in January. A written exam last November followed by background investigations whittled the candidates to 120 who were invited to interviews.
Fifty-five were then selected for a physical fitness assessment that included treading water for five minutes, a 100-meter swim and a 1.5-mile run.
Those 55 began a 16-week training course for conservation officers at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield on July 10.
"It's a military atmosphere," said Lt. Kerry Griffith, the training commander. "It's very mentally and physically stressful. We had 17 leave the first week."
Baumann, a 27-year-old from Carleton, Mich., was one of four women to start the training course and the only one left by the end of July.
"The physical training has been very challenging," she said. But the classroom work of "just learning the laws is real tough" as well.
Robert Brewington, 22, of Depauw, Ind., said the mental challenge is the hardest.
"You've got to want this job to do (the training). If it's something you don't have your mind set on, you're not going to make it," Brewington said.
Troy Sparks, who grew up outside the small Rush County, Ind,. town of Milroy and turned 39 yesterday, is the oldest recruit ever, Griffith and other senior officers said.
Sparks said the training is "like an intensified Marine Corps basic training" in which Indiana Department of Natural Resources drill instructors work "to see if you can handle the mental and physical stress" of being a conservation officer.
Griffith said the 185 conservation field officers typically work alone, having primary responsibility for the county in which they live, but also responding within a district that typically contains 12 counties.
"If it's hunting season we're out looking for hunting violations or poachers," he said.
The agency also has primary responsibility for all water safety and legal matters and is the first to respond to natural disasters, Griffith added.
Conservation officers also have the same police powers as the state police and local law-enforcement agencies.
Training for the current recruits will end with a final challenge of a 10-mile run on Oct. 23.
Though the graduating class appears likely to have more members than there will be job openings in January, Griffith said, all graduates will "probably have a job by July of next year" because of retirements from the force.
Reporter Harold Adams can be reached at (812) 949-4028.
Full Article and Photo's
Conservation officer training includes cave rescue
By Harold J. Adams
hjadams@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Nicole Baumann slithered forward a few feet on her stomach through a narrow, muddy passage in Langdon's Cave yesterday before she decided to retreat.
"I don't know where I'm supposed to go" in the passage, Baumann said as she backed out to a larger space where she could stand up.
Baumann was one of 24 Indiana conservation officer recruits who climbed, crawled and squeezed their way through the cave in the Harrison-Crawford State Forest to prepare for the dark and uncertain conditions they would face if they were involved in a cave rescue.
More than 500 people applied for the 18 conservation officer jobs that will be filled across Indiana in January. A written exam last November followed by background investigations whittled the candidates to 120 who were invited to interviews.
Fifty-five were then selected for a physical fitness assessment that included treading water for five minutes, a 100-meter swim and a 1.5-mile run.
Those 55 began a 16-week training course for conservation officers at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield on July 10.
"It's a military atmosphere," said Lt. Kerry Griffith, the training commander. "It's very mentally and physically stressful. We had 17 leave the first week."
Baumann, a 27-year-old from Carleton, Mich., was one of four women to start the training course and the only one left by the end of July.
"The physical training has been very challenging," she said. But the classroom work of "just learning the laws is real tough" as well.
Robert Brewington, 22, of Depauw, Ind., said the mental challenge is the hardest.
"You've got to want this job to do (the training). If it's something you don't have your mind set on, you're not going to make it," Brewington said.
Troy Sparks, who grew up outside the small Rush County, Ind,. town of Milroy and turned 39 yesterday, is the oldest recruit ever, Griffith and other senior officers said.
Sparks said the training is "like an intensified Marine Corps basic training" in which Indiana Department of Natural Resources drill instructors work "to see if you can handle the mental and physical stress" of being a conservation officer.
Griffith said the 185 conservation field officers typically work alone, having primary responsibility for the county in which they live, but also responding within a district that typically contains 12 counties.
"If it's hunting season we're out looking for hunting violations or poachers," he said.
The agency also has primary responsibility for all water safety and legal matters and is the first to respond to natural disasters, Griffith added.
Conservation officers also have the same police powers as the state police and local law-enforcement agencies.
Training for the current recruits will end with a final challenge of a 10-mile run on Oct. 23.
Though the graduating class appears likely to have more members than there will be job openings in January, Griffith said, all graduates will "probably have a job by July of next year" because of retirements from the force.
Reporter Harold Adams can be reached at (812) 949-4028.
Full Article and Photo's