2023 SORT Seminar Instructor Bios
Instructors for Air Scent
Kimberly Kelly
Kimberly is 26 year search and rescue specialist, and working dog trainer and handler. She is currently partnered with “Hodor”, a 4 year old Australian cattle dog (blue heeler), who is certified large area, large source human remains detection (HRD), cadaver, water, and area search.
Kimberly spent 14 years with San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, reserves, SAR and underwater search and recovery/dive team, before completing 8 years as a director for Intermountain Fire and Rescue. She has additionally served as a director or officer for California Reserve Peace Officers Association (CRPOA), National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), and Western Disaster Center (WDC), and coordinated the CA SAR City K9 Conference track for 10 years.
Kimberly has been a K9 handler for K9 Search and Rescue Team, Inc., in Dolores, Colorado, for more than a decade, and has served as a member, then commander, of an international SAR team since 2003. She has trained, taught, consulted, searched or managed searches in more than 30 US states, and in 15 countries globally.
Kimberly is a current member of National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), National Search Dog Alliance (NSDA), North American Search Dog Network (NASDN), is an American Kennel Club (AKC) evaluator, and is a professional trainer in good standing with International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP).
Kimberly is the author or contributing author to several SAR related books, including “Urban Search and Rescue” (Young and Wehbring, et al) and “In Search of the Alzheimer’s Wanderer” (Warner, et al), as well as the co-executive producer and director of “Plain Talk About Alzheimer’s”, an award-winning multi-part DVD series that addresses missing at risk persons with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.
Chuck Melvin
Canine handler and Director of Response, K-9 Search & Rescue Team, Inc.
Senior Instructor, Search Dog Associates, Inc.
Canine Specialist, 1st Special Response Group
Chuck Melvin has served as a member of the K9 Search and Rescue Team Inc. from 1984 and Commander from 1990 until 2013. He is now Chairman of the Board and Response Director. He has trained and fielded canines responding to requests in 12 states and has taught a wide range of K9 and emergency medical related topics at state & national conferences. He is a Canine Specialist with the 1st Special Response Group, responding internationally, and was an evaluator for the North American Search Dog Network where he served as Vice President. He is a senior instructor with Search Dog Associates, Inc.
Serving as a part time Dolores Deputy Marshall for over a decade, full-time Lieutenant for Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, Seasonal Ranger for Colorado State Parks, and Deputy Montezuma County Coroner, Melvin has gained valuable experience, training, and knowledge in all aspects of law enforcement work. He has also served with the Dolores & Lewis-Arriola Fire Departments, the Civil Air Patrol, and the OEM. In addition, Melvin served 41 years as a science teacher and as College Adjunct Professor for 37 years. Melvin was honored with the Ralph Dowdy Award in NM and the Hunter Holloway Award in CO, the only individual to be awarded both. He holds a master’s degree in Entomology, emphasis behavior, from the University of Wyoming. He has published extensively.
Melvin lives on his Colorado Centennial Farm in Dolores, Colorado with his search partner Vrijheid Quiddity, better known as Quiddy.
Instructors for HRD
Brian Flynn
Brian Flynn is the owner of a veterinarian hospital and a retired Texas Task Force 1 Canine Search Specialist. Brian’s interest in working with K9’s began over 20 years ago during his time working at the medical examiner’s office. His background in forensic science merges
seamlessly with the search and rescue community.
Brian spent many years training dogs for obedience and creating well balanced dogs that could serve as family dogs and working dogs. He regularly works with patrol K9’s to help handlers problem solve and help them use their partner to its fullest potential.
Brian’s interest is the realm of HRD. Brian’s first working K9 Dante was a doberman who served on TTF1. Brian also had a German Shepherd, Sarge, who also served TTF1 for many years. Brian and Sarge were deployed to numerous disaster areas both in and outside of Texas.
Brian has been a member of Search One since 2003 and has served as the Human Remains director, flanker, K9 handler, and search manager.
Darrin Niemeier
Darrin Niemeier is a retired Captain from the Kansas City Missouri fire department. Where he served for 25 years. He joined Missouri Search and Rescue in 2009, being active in the different management committee roles where he is currently serving in the dispatcher position. Since 2009 he has been actively working a Human Remains Detection K9 and is working his 4th HR K9 while training his 5th HR dog and his 1st electronics detection K9. He has conducted countless searches with MOSAR along with several searches across the country for various agencies, many of which were criminal in nature. Darrin is the owner of Storm K9 Solutions, LLC which was formed for the purpose of bringing quality Search and Rescue training to teams across the country. As a firefighter, he was an instructor at Blue River Community College where he taught fire fighting. This is when his passion and love for teaching was realized. He learned a lot about the instructor-student relationship and how to communicate with people at different levels to help them meet their objectives. He also learned the value of a strong foundation and mastering the basics in whatever discipline your learning. This is reflected in his philosophy in dog training where a foundation and basics are the building blocks of success.
Instructors for Trailing
Taylor Bracken
C. Taylor Bracken is a current state law enforcement officer assigned to the agency’s K-9 Unit. At his home agency, Taylor handles two canines daily, serving as a narcotics detection handler and scent specific tracking/trailing handler. Taylor has had several K-9 related articles published in magazines such as “Police K-9”, “K-9 Cop” and the “Tactical Edge”. Taylor is an 18 year Nationally Registered Paramedic and still works as one today. Taylor wrote the training course, “K-9 Medical Operator Program” and is the lead instructor for that course for the training company R.A.N.T. Strategies. Prior to his law enforcement career, Taylor was a New York City Firefighter where he worked in Manhattan.
Bill Force
Bill Force is a highly skilled K9 search and rescue instructor with over 13 years of experience as a SAR handler. Bill served 10 years on Search One as a key trailing K9 handler, trailing director and as vice president. He also had a distinguished career spanning over 22 years, as an officer in the Marines and 20 years in law enforcement, bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his instructing. As a former Marine officer and law enforcement officer, Bill has undergone rigorous training and has gained valuable experience in various challenging environments. He has successfully applied this knowledge and experience to his role as a SAR handler, making him a reliable and effective professional in the field. In addition to his extensive experience as a SAR handler, Bill operates K9 Force, a reputable organization dedicated to search and rescue operations. Bill’s passion for search and rescue is evident in his dedication and commitment to his work. He understands the importance of these highly trained K9 teams in saving lives, and he is determined to provide the best possible training and guidance to future handlers.