LTC Farris was transferred to Brigade HQ and LTC Carwile took command of the 103
rd BN. In Company C, CPT White stepped down for health reasons & 1LT Kimbrough took over as CO. 1LT Hendon moved to XO with 1LT Wright still at 1
st Platoon. Soon after hurricane Katrina swept through & changed the face of the company. Several members were sent to Mobile & returned then went to Guntersville to assist. Afterward several members dropped out or went to the USDRC. This left 1LT Hendon in command with 1LT Wright as 1
st PLT Leader & acting XO. It was found that CPT Blake Hargett in the 101
st BN was doing the same thing with Co E, 101
st BN. Co E, known as the “Black Sheep”, were training for the Overland SAR mission. A decision was made to join forces and have a mutual aide agreement between the two companies. Training continued. Co C brought several ESMs to the Battalion & continued working for the Fair. 1LT Wright commanded several ESMs while personnel continued to aide the Battalion in the medical area.
CERT became a priority & most members became CERT certified. The
Morgan County Volunteer Center, which oversees CERT, started using Co C's equipment for drills.
In Sept 2007 CPT Hendon transferred to Battalion HQ and full command went to 1LT Wright. Since unit strength was down & no other officers were available, the company was run like a platoon. In late September recruiting became a priority & new personnel were added. In December 2007 CPT David McNairy proposed a merger of the of C-103rd & E-101st to expand their numbers & strengths. The Command of the 101st BN stopped it. Plans were made to run the first ever “Search & Rescue” school held on the Company level. The school would start the first week in January 2008 & run 10 weekends strait.
School started with 7 students. The first few weekends were mainly medical training. Early in the morning on 06 February 2008, it all changed. Co C personnel had already been placed on Alert once in January during a thunderstorm to check on readiness. A decision was made on the 5th not to do it due to the expected forecast. Then a call came from 1LT Gene Hart asking for assistance about 0330on the 6th while LT Wright was dressing to go to his uncle's farm. A tornado had mauled Lawrence County. 1LT Wright called the remaining members of his unit who were ready & went to the site. After performing a search in the “Five Points” area, the unit reported to the Armory in Moulton & 1LT Hart gave command to 1LT Wright. The entire detail reported to incident command & awaited orders. The next five days were spent on tornado remediation. William Wright was promoted to Captain by COL Edwards at the disaster site.
After the Lawerence County operation several personnel have been added to the Co C. 2LT Tim Terrell came from the ARNG; 2LT Jeremy Blevins, also Prior Service ARNG; 1SG Jeff Spano came from the US Army (Retired). Several other personnel have come on board since. The Brigade School of Soldiers has taken the SAR course for the Company. Several personnel have joined the National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR), with more joining daily. Two Platoons are currently active in Company C: 1st Platoon is operational SAR; 3rd Platoon provides logistics & support.
Volunteers from Company C participated in the search for Eric Richardson in Cullman, Alabama during the month of August 2009.
In December of 2009 in Town Creek Alabama, 1LT Gean Hart, SFC Judy Hart, and SGT Alan Bunnell participated in the search for an individual whom fled for the sheriff department after a dog fighting ring was busted up. The three members assisted the Town Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Lawrence County Rescue Squad, and the Lawrence County EMA.
In 2009 the company took a right turn, realizing that the need for an Urban SAR team was unlikely, they began training to become professional Wilderness SAR members. In 2010 the company will go through a makeover to improve its members and training. 2LT Alan Bunnell has taken over first platoon and has set a task, condition, and standard on all SAR training, with 1LT Tim Terrell leading the company along with 1SG Mark Blankenship. Charlie Company plan on holding the first Search and Rescue Assessment and Selection (SAR-AS) course where applicant will be selected to attend the SAR Qualification Course ('Q' Course).
Training continues...