Disasters are our business. Veterans are our passion.
Team Rubicon’s Mission Statement says; Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams.
It all started when 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Port-au-Prince Haiti. Two Marines, Jake Wood and William McNulty, along with a handful of first responders decided to grab as much gear as they could and do something. Despite being warned by officials that conditions were to dangerous to go to, they went anyway. When they crossed the Artibonite river that borders between Haiti and the Domicican, they knew there was no turning back, they had crossed their Rubicon.
The Rubicon river was the river that Caesar crossed when he was marching his army into Rome. As it explains on Team Rubicon website, this was the point of no return. With the freedom to not have to deal with red tape, Team Rubicon can get in there and get shit done. No excuses, they just go in and do what needs to be done.
Team Rubicon goes by a set of service principals. They explain service above self is the driving force behind everything they do. As they say, we help people on their worst days. The principals are;
Tenacity
Impartiality
Collaboration
Accountability
Innovation
Not only are they helping people through some of the worst times of their lives, they are also helping veterans transition into civilian life.
Transition is never easy for anyone. I know parents who can’t release the grip on their adult children let alone go from being someone is a extremely high risk, high stress situation where lives depend on decisions made minute to minute. To coming home and trying to go back to taking out the trash and helping the kids with homework. It has to be virtually impossible to do. This organization is making a difference on both ends. It’s a win win, vets get a renewed sense of purpose and civilians who are dealing with disaster get the expertise, skill and knowledge of someone who is used to having roadblocks thrown up at every turn and understands how to improvise, adapt and overcome.
Please check out Team Rubicon and do what you can. Volunteer or donate. We are all in this together!
Facebook and Instagram Team Rubicon
Twitter @teamrubicon
As well as totally inspiring You Tube Videos!
(Hey Peter Berg, this should be a movie!)
Photo from Team Rubicon Instagram
