President
Eddy graduated the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1990 with a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering. Commanded armor units in Republic of South Korea and Ft Stewart, Georgia. SAPPER qualified in 1989. Law enforcement officer / tactical officer involved with rope operations since 1993 with Savannah Georgia Police, National Park Service, and the last 11 years with U.S. Forest Service. Served as team leader on several state and federal tactical teams with rope intervention duties. Eddy has been a vertical caver, ice climber, and mountaineer since 1987. National Speleological Society member for 34 years. He is a certified instructor and Small Party Assisted Rescue (SPAR) lead for the National Cave Rescue Commission, and the Pacific Northwest Regional coordinator for 7 years. Currently the NCRC Terrestrial Rescue Delegate for the International Commission of Alpine Rescue (ICAR) and European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA). International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist since 1999. Instructor for the National Park Service Technical Rescue academy since 2008. 11 year member of Portland Mountain Rescue and current wilderness EMT. Project coordinator for the 3 glacier cave projects on Mt Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainier. Graduate Law Enforcement Mountain Operations School (LEMOS).
ITRA BOD member since January 2021 and current chair of Tactical working group, seeking to give this small but advanced niche of rope operations its own identity. Co-owner of Vertically Speaking LLC instructing tactical rope operations for law enforcement / military students across the globe, as well as ultra-light mountain, cave, arborist rescue, and vertical protester / aerial blockade interventions.
Eddy currently holds ITRA Rope 3 Instructor & ITRA Tactical 3 Instructor. Eddy resides in Redmond, Oregon with his wife.
United States