logistically self-sufficient for the first 72 hours of operation
Texas A&M Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) functions as one of the 28 federal teams under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) System and as a statewide urban search and rescue team under direction of the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM). TX-TF1 also coordinates the state’s swiftwater rescue program and the helicopter search and rescue team which works in conjunction with Texas Military Department.
TX-TF1 held its first organizational meeting on February 14, 1997 after the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Soon after inception, TX-TF1 went on their first deployment as an Urban Search and Rescue Team in May 1997 to the central Texas town of Jarrell, after an F-5 tornado touched down.
In June 2001, TX-TF1 joined the FEMA National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) System and responded to their first national incident during the events of September 11, 2001. Joining many task forces, TX-TF1 responded to the collapsed World Trade Center buildings in New York City and searched tirelessly through the debris for victims.
Throughout its existence, TX-TF1 has served the state of Texas and the nation by participating in over 100 deployments, relentlessly completing search and rescue missions with highly trained and qualified personnel.