A ROYAL Air Force veteran from Princetown has recently undertaken training and is ready to respond to disasters with Team Rubicon UK.

Frank Howard, air force veteran, retired firefighter and prison officer, recently completed a training course with disaster relief charity Team Rubicon. The charity unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams to disasters in the UK and worldwide.

Team Rubicon offers veterans the opportunity to continue their service by helping those affected by disasters while regaining a sense of purpose, community and identity.

Frank reflected on the training course and said: ‘The course was both serious and fun with an emphasis on team building. We all got to know each other’s skills and expertise that can be utilised when working as part of a strike team. We also had a tour of the deployment operations room, which had just closed following the deployment to Haiti.

‘The team building went on into the evening with quizzes during dinner and we even took part in the mannequin challenge during the hungry hippo game.

‘The final day included a practical exercise in teams, carrying out dynamic risk assessments in disused buildings. Obtaining the grey shirt enables us to be able to deploy and help disaster affected communities both nationally and internationally.’