How your donations are ‘giving veterans an opportunity to serve’.

“For me, TR is a way for vets to unite behind a common force for good in this world. There is no other organization that provides the sense of purpose that TR instills.”

-Bob Eidson, a UCLA MBA graduate, current Real Estate developer, and Army infantry vet.

“Throughout my years of military service, I’ve spent countless hours honing and perfecting unique and specific skills. Skills that I thought would not have practical uses in the civilian world, but are still vitally important on the battlefield. Until Team Rubicon, these skills would go unused and wasted. Instead, Team Rubicon allows me to use these skills to provide aid to injured people and reminds me that these skills are still important. This reinforces just how valuable my service was and still is and how unique and special these skills really are in today’s world.”

-Matt Pelak Team Rubicon East Coast Coordinator

“When the time came for me to make the decision to end my military commitment, I was plagued by the demons of the missions that I would never be able to do. I searched for an outlet for my energy, I searched for a way to stay involved, I searched for a mission I could do. I found all of these in Team Rubicon.”

-Joshua Webster Team Rubicon Western Region Core Team Member

“The United States Marine Corps has enabled me to proudly serve my country while also giving me a feeling of purpose in my own personal life. Like many other combat veterans who have completed their military service, I wanted to continue and help others in some capacity. Team Rubicon has afforded me a great opportunity to not only help save the lives of others, but also the ability to rescue myself with a new found purpose.”

-Sam Chapetta Team Rubicon West Coast Volunteer

“Since separating from the Marines in May of 2009, I have been having quite a hard time re-entering civilian society. I have sorely missed the friendships and sense of purpose that I had while I served. I honestly didn’t think I would ever find that anywhere else- and then Team Rubicon was born. While serving with TR in Haiti and Chile, I was able to use the skills I had learned in the Corps and I found myself alongside a band of brothers once again, who were all working towards a common goal- to help people who were in dire need of our assistance. That experience has given me a renewed sense of purpose, but more importantly, hope- a hope that I might find a place in the world where I am needed again, and that I can use the skills and the knowledge I gained by serving in the Corps to help make the world a better, brighter place for the people we bring assistance to. Team Rubicon has changed my life, and the future course of it for the better, without a doubt.”

-Clay Hunt Team Rubicon West Cost Volunteer

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Filed under: Volunteers by William on March 31, 2011
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As TR prepares for a fundraiser in San Diego, we want to thank CEO and founder of Archer Group Investments, partner at Escobar, and Team Rubicon volunteer, Jesse Levin, for delivering on a promise.

TR Hair Whip at Escobar

In Jesse’s words regarding the event:

To the Aspen merchant community, Triple Aught Design, and Rite in the Rain:

I would like to thank everyone on behalf of myself, the six other partners at Escobar, and at Team Rubicon for your outrageously generous contributions to the raffle for the Team Rubicon Fundraiser. On such short notice it was amazing to see how the community rallied to support this cause. I have been working in the non-for-profit disaster relief sector for over five years and I have never come across such an efficient and powerful response team as Team Rubicon. I appreciate the opportunity you afforded me to make a contribution. If there is ever anything we can do at Escobar for your establishment please let us know. Even though it was an impromptu event on a snowy Sunday at the end of the season your contributions helped us to raise $3,000 through the raffle for Team Rubicon.

Jesse Levin is a serial entrepreneur. He first introduced himself to Jake and I from Panama where he pilots his consulting firm Archer Group Investments. Jesse is a rare breed. He was moved by the destruction and human suffering of the Haiti earthquake and found himself there a few days afterward performing search and rescue. Later, he developed innovated logistics solutions for the organization Hope for Haiti.

Jesse Levin in Haiti

Jesse attended our fundraiser in San Diego. Leaving the event he passed us a hand written note pledging to raise $3,000 for TR. We want to single Jesse out for a moment and thank him for delivering on his pledge. Actually please do so yourself, in Aspen, at Escobar.

William and Jake

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Filed under: Free time, Thank You, Volunteers by William on March 31, 2011
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Escobar holds benefit for disaster relief workers

by Dorothy M. Atkins
Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Saturday, March 26, 2011

Escobar is giving purpose to boozing on Sunday by holding a fundraiser for a team of disaster relief workers.

All door donations, raffle tickets and a percentage of drink proceeds will be donated to Team Rubicon, a group of combat veterans who act as first responders after natural disasters.

“Long story short, the whole international relief community is a total screw up,” said Jesse Levin, one of the seven owners of Escobar. “There are hundreds of thousands of dollars not being distributed and you realize when you get in the field that when you show up in the hospital no one’s there.”

California-based Team Rubicon tries to be the people there.

The group identifies disaster zones and its goal is to give relief to areas that are bureaucratically or logistical challenging to reach. The group has no paid staff and its overhead is covered through grants so that donations are not used for salaries or administrative costs.

Team Rubicon also gives veterans with post traumatic stress disorder a purpose.

“These guys have done every drug cocktail there is and therapy,” said Levin. “And I know this sounds cliché but it really is amazing how helping others really kind of helps these guys heal.”

The fundraiser will begin at 8 p.m. and there is a recommended $10 donation at the door.

“Receive relief and refills until you become a disaster,” reads a flyer advertising the event.

Since Escobar opened in January, it has held only one other fundraiser, which was impromptu. The benefit was for the family of Brandon John Zukoff who died skiing in the backcountry outside of the Snowmass Ski Area last month.

“That was a different ball game,” said Levin. “We raised $4,000 but they literally came to us the day before. For this, we don’t really know what the turnout is going to be.”

Sunday’s event will kick-off a new trend Escobar is trying to encourage. The bar is going to start holding one or two fundraisers a month.

“The cool thing about this bar is that all the guys involved are in their early 30s,” said Levin. “Everyone has a charity they support and we’re just trying to incorporate that into the business.”

Escobar’s goal is to raise $5,000 and fill the place, said Levin, adding that every penny donated is put to immediate use in getting team members to disaster areas.

To donate to the team, visit teamrubiconusa.org/donate.

dorothy@aspendailynews.com

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Filed under: In The Media by William on March 26, 2011
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Social Consciousness in Aspen
March 24, 2011

Aspen is a small town at the end of the road.

We the people who live here have a passionate social conscious and feel the responsibility to give back to those less fortunate than us, especially in times of crisis. The Boyz at ESCOBAR ASPEN are “up to good”…partying with a purpose. On Sunday March 27, 2011 Escobar is holding a fundraiser for TEAM RUBICON, an International a disaster relief organization. See the invite below.

Maybe you’ve heard?? Our planet is under siege. Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Tsunami and other natural disasters are becoming more and more prevalent. TEAM RUBICON (TR) is a team of dedicated volunteers who provide “immediate, efficient emergency medical response to 3rd World disaster zones”.

Jesse Levin, one of the entrepreneurs behind Escobar Aspen has had first person experience with Team Rubicon. Levin spent 6 months volunteering in earthquake torn Haiti. During his time in Port Au Prince, Levin became aware of the work that TR was doing, he became an instant supporter. Jesse and his partners at Escobar are asking the people of Aspen to give back. Come out to ESCOBAR ASPEN this Sunday Night, 3/27/11 to party with a purpose. The stated goal of this event is to raise $4000 for Team Rubicon.

Per their website :

TEAM RUBICON

We are a new way of thinking in disaster response. We bridge the gap between catastrophe and large-scale response, uniting military veterans with medical professionals. We utilize flat command structures, social networking technology, and simple decision making processes. We don’t wait for ideal situations to develop, we make dysfunctional situations ideal.

We are volunteers not satisfied with standing on the sidelines. We believe that inaction is not an option; that our skills are needed, and that Team Rubicon is a model for delivering them. We are 21st century “Medical Minutemen.”

We are capable of doing MORE with LESS. We are self-sustaining, self-reliant and self-deploying. We bring only what we need, deploying rapidly to where we are needed. We arrive on-site, identify problems, create solutions and GET THE JOB DONE.

We are doctors, firefighters, medics, nurses, physician assistants and military veterans.

We are Team Rubicon.

So finish the weekend strong , come to Escobar on Sunday March 27, 2011 at 8pm. Win some serious raffle prizes from TAD and Rite in the Rain, and help Team Rubicon BRIDGE THE GAP. Thank you.

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Filed under: Free time, In The Media by William on March 24, 2011
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Filed under: Free time by William on March 20, 2011
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Outside Magazine, April 2011

The Other Side of The Mountain

The U.S. military has always excelled at training soldiers, but they’ve had a tougher time helping them adjust to peace. The author joins 11 combat veterans in Nepal as they test the most promising new postwar therapy: adventure.

Veteran Aaron Isaacson at 18,000 feet on Lobuche (Photo by Didrik Johnck)

TWO YEARS LATER AND STILL HE IMAGINED HIS BLINDNESS AS A TERRIBLE DREAM. He’d wake up and see again. The mountains. A wife whose face he knew only by touch. The sunrise. Everything. His last vision of this world was a dusty, darkened street in northern Baghdad while at the wheel of an enormous armored vehicle. The bomb was simple but lethal: a metal tube stuffed with explosives and capped with a concave copper disk. Powered by the blast, the disk transformed into a jet of molten copper that bored through the thick front passenger door. Shrapnel sliced through his friend Sergeant Victor Cota, then into him. Metal punched through his right temple, ruptured his eyes, gouged holes in his left thigh and right biceps, and mangled his left forearm. Face crushed and body scorched, he was covered in so much of Cota’s blood that fellow soldiers thought he was dead, until he stirred from unconsciousness and wiped his face. Cota died in the truck, and Private First Class Steve Baskis woke up a week later in Walter Reed Army Medical Center to more pain than he’d ever felt and a doctor telling him he’d never see again. Yet he carried an optimism many couldn’t understand. “I just love living, more than anything,” he’d often say.

Before the deployment, his father made him promise that he wouldn’t give up on life if he came home broken. So he learned to navigate a darkened world, ran in the Chicago Marathon and finished a half Ironman triathlon. He married a specialist in blindness rehabilitation and trained for the Paralympic cycling team. Baskis knew many wounded who’d become mired in desolation and anger. That wasn’t him. He pushed and suffered and didn’t quit. But now, as he gulped thin air and tripped and stumbled over rocks, the frustration swelled, and he wondered whether the final 2,000-foot ascent might break him. “I’m not going to make it if it’s like this all day,” he said. “I don’t know if I have enough in the tank.”
(more…)

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Filed under: PTSD by William on March 17, 2011
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TR has carefully assessed and decided against an emergency response to the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. TR came to this decision after considering our capabilities versus the robust emergency services and infrastructure of the nation of Japan. There is simply no gap for TR emergency medical teams to bridge when host country services start at definitive care. In other words, we have determined there is no need for TR triage services within such an advanced emergency system.

Japan is as well prepared as any country in the world to handle emergency trauma needs in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. The third largest economy in the world, Japan is in fact number one when it comes to earthquake response.

In making our decision, TR considered our experience in Chile, where definitive care was fully intact and functioning by the time TR reached the epicenter of the earthquake. In our detailed Chile after action report, TR determined that in hindsight we most likely would not deploy to Chile again. TR has limited resources to conduct disaster relief and will only deploy medical teams when TR can ensure the individual donor a ‘return on investment’ in terms of lives saved, however difficult that may be to determine.

In addition, we are searching for any aftermath of the tsunami in less well environments in the Pacific which would be unable to mount such a coordinated response. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the nation of Japan. This will prove to be their finest hour.

William McNulty
VP, Team Rubicon

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Filed under: News by William on March 11, 2011
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2011 March 11 05:46:23 UTC

Team Rubicon is monitoring…

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Filed under: News by William on March 10, 2011
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It is my pleasure to introduce you to our 2011 Forward under 40 honorees. These 13 UW grads under age 40 are making a tremendous impact in the world by truly living the Wisconsin Idea — the 107-year-old guiding philosophy behind UW outreach efforts and the inspiration for this award.

As we enter the fourth year of this awards program, it’s remarkable to see our honorees past and present continue to do great things and make lasting connections with each other, with alumni, and with our alma mater. They’ve heard from former classmates and professors inspired by their stories, returned to campus to present to students at events and as commencement speakers, and in some cases, they’ve partnered with one another to expand their reach to communities all over the world.

I hope you experience the same level of excitement and pride as I did when reading the inspiring stories of these 13 young Badgers and fellow alumni. I’d also like to extend a special thank you to our friends at the UW Foundation for supporting this worthy program.

On, Wisconsin!

Paula Bonner MS’78
WAA President and CEO

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Filed under: In The Media, News by William on March 10, 2011
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TR's Kurtus Creiglow standing above TR logo

What can I say about Team Rubicon thus far in the last six months that I have been a member? What do you want to hear as a prospective volunteer or donor?

To start, my name is Kirtus Creiglow and I live and work in Sacramento, California as a firefighter paramedic. In my profession, as you can imagine, I see people on their worst days and I am tasked with mitigating the problem and delivering medical care. I do this day by day and I make a great living doing it. I could be like most and feel that this is more than enough. I mean, I have an exciting, honorable job where I help my community right? But, deep down inside do you ever ask yourself if you are really doing enough for mankind?

That is where Team Rubicon comes in and that is the answer. As our President and Co-founder Jake Wood said before he left to help in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake: “I have a special set of skills and I would be ashamed if I didn’t try to help.” Well, everyone that is my new creed. Yes, Jake said it, but regardless that is the way all of Team Rubicon thinks. We are all people with a special set of skills willing to give back, with no expectations of pay or praise.

Team Rubicon is an organization made up of doctors, nurses, paramedics and military veterans. Why veterans? Because they are a valuable resource. Because it is important to repurpose the skills of veterans coming back from Afghanistan and abroad and bring them back into an environment or organization where they can continue to use their training in risk assessment, logistics, security and combat medicine and triage. Not just for the benefit of TR but to their benefit too. It has been said and proven through the words and thoughts of other veterans that being a part of something – being a part of Team Rubicon – helps them.

My recent deployment with Team Rubicon to South Sudan was a humbling experience. Or maybe I can better define it as a culture shock. Yes, I knew prior to leaving that I was going to see things I had never seen before or even things I had never imagined. That was what I expected and hoped for. Being over there I knew would help me later to live a richer fuller life. It would help me realize how much I love life, my family and friends, and how fortunate I am for them all to be healthy. Life isn’t as rough and tough as I once thought it was.

Another benefit of my recent deployment was once again being able to practice medicine in a clinical setting, working with a doctor and assisting in surgeries as I once did back when I was in the military. I too served, and had a career in the military as a Navy Corpsmen 10 years back. Now, as a paramedic you stabilize your patient in the field and provide treatment en route to the hospital where you hand the patient off to a higher trained staff to complete the care, all in less than 30 minutes. Being a member of TR provides me the opportunity to once again treat a patient from beginning to end. From sick call to surgery to post-op care to discharge. We could be in an old bombed out hospital or in a grass hut. Working only with what we carried in our backs. I have had the opportunity to learn all about tropical medicine and more about antibiotics and their uses. I enjoy being a part of a group that is self sustaining, mobile and rapidly deployable. That it’s reactive and proactive in its missions whether the team is deploying in the next 24 hours to a natural disaster or it’s planning a medical humanitarian mission to Sudan two months out. That’s what appeals to me, that’s who I am. Team Rubicon somehow has a place in my life and in my heart and I am proud to be a part of this organization for many years to come.

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Filed under: News, Personal Reflections, Sudan, Volunteers by William on March 8, 2011
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