The Southern Area Blue Team was organized officially in 1983 as an interagency all-risk team.  Our membership is comprised of employees from the Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, various Southern States, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Western Band of the Choctaw Tribal government.  This interagency and diverse team membership has made us a strong team, particularly through the integration of many agency ideas and concepts.  Assignments throughtout the years have also been very diverse including wildland fires, hurricanes, floods, and other special assignments such as avian influenza eradication and most recently the Columbia Space Shuttle Recovery.  Our mission is simply to take the assignment we "draw" and complete it safely, while doing the best job possible for the ordering line officer or agency head.  Coupled with that, is a desire to be open to new membership and be as diverse as possible.  We encourage applications at any time and we want to mentor anyone who expresses a desire to work with us.  The team has been very successful in recent years in moving members from apprentice to trainee status and from alternate to primary team positions. We encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a member to contact a current team member and/or submit an application.