Union County Search and Rescue member honored as Volunteer of the Year
By Joe Hathaway on Monday, December 18th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – John Punches, a member of the Union County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) Search and Rescue (SAR) team, was honored with the prestigious title of SAR Volunteer of the Year by the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association (OSSA) Search & Rescue Advisory Council.
Punchess recognition stems from his professional achievements and contributions since joining the UCSO SAR more than five years ago. Punches, who works as Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management at Oregon State University as well as the Extension Forester for OSU Extension in La Grande, also volunteers for the Douglas County Search and Rescue, as his family lives in Roseburg.
“It was a surprise. I wasn’t anticipating that. I’m just kind of a heads down, do whatever’s needed kind of person,” says Punches when he learned he had been honored. “So it was a surprise that came through, but happy to know that my service was appreciated.”
“John is one of the most knowledgeable individuals I’ve ever met, and he possesses the rare combination of not only having a career’s worth of experience and skills, but also having the ability to effectively teach and humbly share that wealth of knowledge with others,” said Nick Vora, Emergency Manager for Union County.
Punches says he’s been volunteering for search and rescue teams since 1990, first in Virginia when he taught at Virginia Tech. He and his family moved to Oregon in 1994 when he accepted an offer to teach at OSU. He says his interest in volunteering came from a need to want to help people, as well as tackling challenges.
“I love the teamwork component. Being with people who have that similar mindset and similar commitments,” said Punches. “I’m also just an outdoor person at heart. I’m fascinated by remote wild areas. I’ve gotten to see more remote wild areas as a search and rescue volunteer than I’d ever take myself to as a normal hiker because we rarely go on the trails way back out in the wilderness.”
John is also particularly active in technical rescue, especially in the highly technical and high risk specialty of cave rescue. He is one of the instructors with the regional SAR academy and also teaches classes for local SAR teams and fire department rescue technicians.
Nick Vora says he has taught technical rescue skills to hundreds of people across the nation over his career and is internationally known as an expert in cave rescue.
“As a SAR coordinator, I always breathe a little bit easier when I see John’s name on an availability list,” said Vora. “Having someone with his level of competence and professionalism in the field is an incredibly valuable asset to the entire team.”
John says he plans to continue volunteering and teaching in search and rescue “as long as I can” and encourages others to think about volunteering.
“It’s a great, rewarding experience. There’s a lot of a great training opportunity associated with that. So even people who are experienced outdoor persons will learn quite a bit about navigation and survival skills, situational awareness and safety practices,” said John. “That cadre of people that you work with will really become important friends and companions, because we all have that kind of similar mindset of service and that desire to work under more extreme conditions. We become almost a family.”
