The first cohort of the 10 year anniversary of the Clay Hunt Fellows Program (CHFP) has been selected. Team Rubicon welcomes 12 veterans to CHFP, a personal development program that promotes continued service within the veteran community. The individuals of Base Camp 11 will follow a six-month curriculum of personal growth and self-discovery.
Michael Brady
Sun Prairie, WI
United States Army
Brady served in the U.S. Army for 10 years in Artillery and Infantry, leaving active duty as a Specialist. He later retired from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Brady holds Certified Emergency Manager, Master Exercise Practitioner, and UW-Madison Enterprise Management Development Academy accreditations. He currently works as an instructor for Wisconsin Emergency Management as well as Team Rubicon and is the cadre lead for Team Rubicon’s Incident Command System. Brady has been a Greyshirt for seven years, and his first event was Operation Scout’s Honor in Illinois.
Service Quote: “It is not enough to understand or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.”—Robert F. Kennedy
Fun Fact: “I am a huge F1 and Indy Car racing fan. I once met Mario Andretti, and while my wife chatted with him, I could not speak.”
Daniel Dale
Yigo, Guam
United States Air Force
Dale will separate from active duty as a U.S. Air Force Major in July of 2023 and will continue to serve in the Air Force Reserves. He received a graduate certificate in public health, a master’s degree in managerial logistics, and a bachelor’s degree in history. He is a Logistics Readiness Officer and Air Advisor, working with partner nations in the Indo-Pacific to improve their air component capabilities. Dale worked with the Red Cross after Hurricane Harvey in-between stints at the NOC and one of the multiple Team Rubicon FOBs. He has held several volunteer leadership positions, including Deputy Regional Logistics, City Communications Manager, Logistics Section Chief, and Incident Commander. His first operation was Wind River in Wyoming, and his favorite memory was deploying to Puerto Rico as the Logistics Section Chief.
Service Quote: “If you wait till the last minute, it only takes a minute to do.”—Stock-Sanford Corollary to Parkinson’s Law
Fun Fact: “I was stationed in Greenland for a year and made a second trip in 2019 that included a stop at Canadian Forces Station Alert, the northernmost continuously inhabited place in the world.”
Porsha Harris
Woodbridge, VA
United States Air Force
Harris will retire from the U.S. Air Force as a Master Sergeant later in 2023 after 20 years of service. She has an associate and bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration. Harris also has her master’s degree in emergency management and holds a grad certificate in homeland security management. She is a Team Rubicon volunteer leader in Metro Area Planning. Her first operation was Sunshine Strong in Florida in 2022.
Service Quote: “No one has ever become poor by giving.”—Anne Frank
Fun Fact: “I am named after the Shakespeare play, not the car!”
Dave Louderback
Cincinnati, OH
United States Army National Guard
Louderback served in the U.S. Army National Guard for eight years, leaving as a Second Lieutenant. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and is a Certified Scrum Master. Louderback currently works as a Senior Project Manager in IT. He has been a Strike Team Leader in the operations field, and his first event as a Greyshirt was a service project. One of the most impactful memories of his life was serving on a local service project to repair an indigenous ceremonial arbor at a healing center in Ohio that members of the Haudenosaunee-Seneca and other Native American tribes use to help reintegrate veterans who have PTS.
Service Quote: “I cannot do all the good the world needs. But the world needs all the good I can do.”—Jana Stanfield
Fun Fact: “In my spare time, I make maps for writers, game designers, and tabletop gamers. Think ‘Tolkien,’ but on a tight budget.”
Brenda Nurre
Olney, TX
United States Army
Nurre served in the U.S. Army until an injury forced her to retire. She retired as a Private First Class and attended Colorado Technical University, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in criminal science. She recently started her own business, Broken Barrier Design, and volunteers with the American Legion. Her time within Team Rubicon includes mobilization, as an instructor, and as an advocate for others that are hearing impaired, like herself. Nurre’s first operation was Wild Angel in Colorado. Her favorite experience is becoming a deaf chainsaw operator because starting that chainsaw on the first try was “like finding the power within myself.”
Service Quote:Nurre said she doesn’t have a famous quote but describes service as “doing something to help someone else, and it doesn’t have to cost anything but a moment of your time. Service over self!”
Fun Fact: “I can remove and install a septic system and use a CAT960!”
Larry Parker
Amityville, NY
United States Marine Corps
Larry was an active-duty U.S. Marine for four years, leaving military service as a Corporal. He continued his love of serving as a New York City Fire Fighter. In addition to earning his bachelor’s degree in 2019, Larry is a PADI certified Rescue Diver, Naval Diving and Salvage Center Combat Diver, U.S.A. Triathlon Level 1 certified Coach, Ace Certified Peer fitness trainer, New York State Certified First Responder, and certified in Basic Fire Training for New York State. He donates his time to Last Hope Animal Rescue, local food pantries, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, The Lilac Fund, and the Veteran’s Administration. Larry has been a Greyshirt for four years, and his first event with Team Rubicon was Operation Won’t Bow Down in 2021.
Service Quote: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”—Aesop
Fun Fact: “I enjoy the theatre, and in 2019 starred in the musical ‘Nine to Five,’ playing Franklin Hart Jr., the main antagonist made memorable by Dabney Coleman in the 1980 film of the same name.”
Leon Parker
Kaneohe, HI
United States Marine Corps
Leon has been in the U.S. Marine Corps for 23 years and will retire later in 2023. He has a bachelor’s degree in social psychology and a master’s degree in project management. Leon also donates his time to the Kaneohe Community Emergency Response Team and USA Swimming while volunteering time as the Greyshirt membership lead for Hawaii. He loves the support at Team Rubicon, and the willingness to help strangers, with no-questions-asked, makes it an organization he believes in and wants to be a part of for a long time.
Service Quote: “The source of love is deep in us, and we can help others realize much happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.”—Thich Nhat Hanh
Fun Fact: “I am a brand-new triathlete (I’ve run two). I got into the sport because watching my 12-year-old son, who has been a triathlete for about a year, inspired me to try something new.”
Angi Perales
Anchorage, AK
United States Army
Perales was in the United States Army for five years, leaving as a Specialist. She attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and has certificates in FAA Airframe and Powerplant plus an associate degree of science in aviation maintenance. She uses her skills from the Army to continue working as an Aircraft Maintenance Planner and Mechanic. In addition to helping with Team Rubicon, Perales volunteers with Priceless, an anti-human trafficking organization, and recently started training with Guardian Group to end sex trafficking. Her first event with Team Rubicon was ASIST training but counts a homeowner’s hugs during Operation Last Eagle in Alaska as her most impactful memory.
Service Quote: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”—Albert Einstein
Fun Fact: “I crank up the music and dance (salsa, merengue) to improve my mood and get motivated!”
Sarah Puerner
Welton, AZ
United States Army
Puerner served in the U.S. Army as a Surgical Technologist, leaving as a Private First Class. When she is not knocking out the most amazing PowerPoint slide decks as a Communications Leader in the West Branch Leader Support Team, she volunteers with the Yuma Territorial Judo Club. Puerner also helped found the Stronghold Freedom Foundation to help veterans exposed to toxins in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. She has been a Greyshirt for eight years and her first operation was Lion’s Tamer in Hamilton, MT. Puerner considers her most impactful memory to be serving as the Incident Commander on Operation “A River Raged Through It” in 2022 because it helped her rediscover her love of service.
Service Quote: “Anyone who wants to be a leader must be the servant, not the boss, of those he wants to serve.”—Aminu Kano
Fun Fact: “My husband and I met on MySpace and were married at a paintball field.”
Michael Shook
Seattle, WA
United States Army
Shook was in the U.S. Army for five years, leaving as a Specialist. He has continued serving by using the language skills he learned with the
military to aid refugees resettling in the United States. Shook has been a Greyshirt for three years and is looking forward to his first mission
in the field.
Service Quote: “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope; you will fill yourself with hope.” —Barack Obama
Fun Fact: “I speak Dari and was an interpreter during Operation Allies Welcome.”
George Steward
Austin, TX
United States Army
Steward served in the U.S. Army, eventually leaving as a Chief Warrant Officer-2. He has an associate degree in applied science and will return to school in the fall of 2023 to continue his education. Steward previously volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and has been a Greyshirt for almost 10 years. His first operation was Iron Bird in Mississippi in January 2017. He loves Team Rubicon because giving back is always a humbling experience. Team Rubicon was also a lifeline when everything had gone wrong in his own life and allowed Steward to give back when he felt he had the least to give. He feels immense gratitude for all TRibe members he has served with for being his inspiration to stay in the fight and keep moving.
Service Quote: “Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others.”—H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Fun Fact: “George married his wife under a beautiful Tennessee tree in 2020 and has since moved across the country twice with their children, dogs, chickens, ducks, and goats, all crammed into the cab of my truck.”
Krista Vann
Marshall, MI
United States Army National Guard
Vann left the U.S. Army National Guard after 12 years, separating as a Sergeant. She attended Trine University, graduating with her bachelor’s
degree in psychology. She has been a Greyshirt for six years and her
first event was a Core Operations class. Vann said that the time she
spent on operations in Kentucky and Selma, AL, in 2022 was impactful because of the people who she was able to help.
Service Quote: “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”—Edward Everett Hale
Fun Fact: “I love a challenge and signed up for my first-ever Iron Man race in September.”
