Updated for Fall of 2024
Solutions Guidance Corporation (SGC), was the prime contractor (2018 to 2023) for the U.S. Fire Administration work projects to develop guidance, training, and best practice documents to assist the national AHIMT program. SGC is working to finalize these projects in collaboration with the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA) and Incident Management Training and Consulting, LLC.
All subject matter experts (SMEs) that SGC uses for these projects come from AHIMTA identified SMEs. The SMEs listed represent hundreds of years of experience and represent the wildland fire, structural fire, municipal law enforcement, law enforcement ICS trainers, and emergency management disciplines. To ensure the integrity of the products, SMEs who possessed documented “on-scene” ICS position qualifications at the NQS/AHIMTA Type 3 and NWCG Type 2, Type 1, and Area Command incident complexity levels were involved in the development and validation of the products. Position qualifications represented in the SMEs include Area Commanders and virtually all Command and General Staff positions at all levels of incident complexity. Several SMEs are also current or former members of training and standards committees for NWCG and/or the FIRESCOPE organization, with team training experience for the NWCG, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), FIRESCOPE, USFA, FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMATs), and the Emergency Management Institute (EMI). The SMEs are nationally recognized by their peers as leaders in incident management qualifications, development, and response.
Project Team, left to right. Back Row: Mike LaPlant, George Maier, Robert Martucelli, Mike Rubenstein, Ryan Thompson. Front Row: Jeff Soule (former USFA AHIMT Program Manager), Dave Fall (SGC Vice President), Geoff Wilford, Bill Campbell, Paul Hannemann, Charles “Boo” Walker, Nick Duvally, Kevin Lauer.
Project Manager
Geoffrey D. Wilford
Geoffrey Wilford retired in 2008 as an Operations Battalion for the Kern County (CA) Fire Department. Chief Wilford’s career spanned 33 years in positions that included three years on a hand-crew and the ranks of firefighter, engineer, captain, and battalion chief. During that time, he served on the local extended-attack management team, a Federal interagency Type 2 team, and over 20 years with a Type 1 IMT in the planning section, including Planning Section Chief Type 1 (1995 to 2019), and Operations Section Chief Type 1 (2001 to 2019). He was also qualified as a Type 2 Incident Commander (2001 to 2019).
Chief Wilford represented the Firefighting Resources of California Organized for Potential Emergencies (FIRESCOPE) on the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Training Working Team (2001 to 2008), during the origination and rollout of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the national ICS program. One of his roles was to develop partnerships between FIRESCOPE, the nascent All-Hazards program, and the NWCG. He also co-chaired the “Incident Management Team Development Plan” (IMTDP) project (2005–2006) that began identifying the issues between the S-420 and S-520 courses.
From 2007 through early 2014, Chief Wilford was identified as a Key Staff and under subcontract to provide subject matter expertise and technical writing and editing to the working groups sponsored by the National Integration Center (NIC) that provided national guidelines and standards for the implementation of NIMS. Under that contract, Chief Wilford provided subject matter expertise in incident management to DHS’s National Integration Center staff and was responsible for technical editing of numerous drafts of the All-Hazards guidance documents and standards for the NIMS. During that time, he wrote the drafts of the publication now known as the National Qualifications System, led the workgroup that developed the 2010 All-Hazards ICS forms, and assisted in the initial resource typing efforts of several dozen resources and positions.
Chief Wilford is the CEO of Incident Management Training and Consulting, LLC (IMTC), the original developer of 18 of the DHS Emergency Management Institute’s (EMI’s) All-Hazard Position-Specific curricula for the DHS AHIMT program (using NWCG and FIRESCOPE curricula) and provided the subject matter expertise for the DHS-sponsored video The NIMS Planning Process. IMTC was also the training provider for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2003–2009) and the U.S. Coast Guard (2012–2017).
Chief Wilford is currently a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA), where he has served on the Incident Qualifications Committee since 2016. He is the author of all three editions of the All-Hazards Incident Management Team Response and Planning Guide, an AHIMT reference guide and textbook for ICS courses in the U.S. and Canada. Chief Wilford has been under a multi-year contract to provide documents, guidance, guidelines, and enhancements to the USFA All-Hazards Incident Management Team program.
Members (Alphabetical)
Paul Broyles
Paul Broyles’ career spanned 36 years with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. National Park Service in positions that included Park Ranger/Law Enforcement Officer, Structural Firefighter 2, Search and Rescue team member, wildland firefighter, and Fire Management Officer. During that time, Mr. Broyles served on Federal interagency Type 2 and Type 1 Incident Management Teams from 1980 to 2018, in all aviation positions up to Air Operations Branch Director, in operations, including OSC1, and in command, including ICT1 and LOFR on a National IMT 2005–2018.
Mr. Broyles’ final career assignment, lasting over 20 years, was to the National Interagency Fire Center as the National Park Service (NPS) National Training and Safety Officer (1988–1997) and Chief of NPS Fire Operations (1997–2009).
Mr. Broyles served on the NWCG Training Working Team (1988–1997), the NWCG Safety and Health Working Team (1989–2004), including the last four years as the chair, and the Incident Operations Standards Working Team (1997–2009). He was instrumental in development of the first and subsequent versions of the Federal Interagency Fire and Fire Aviation Operation Standards, known as the Redbook. He was also involved in the development of the first NWCG Incident Response Pocket Guide and other Federal and NWCG wildland fire qualifications standards, including numerous revisions of the NWCG 310-1 Wildland Fire Qualification Standards. He also represented the Department of the Interior during the development of the NIMS/ICS in 2005–2006.
Since retiring in 2009, Mr. Broyles has been active as a subject matter expert (SME) and consultant on numerous projects, including a two-month assignment working as an ICS adviser to the USCG during Deepwater Horizon. Mr. Broyles is currently a member of the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA), where he has served on the Incident Qualifications Committee since 2013. He is currently on the AHIMTA board of directors as the Region 10 representative.
Bill Campbell
Bill Campbell retired in 2019 as Chief of the New York State Incident Management Team Program for the Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services. During that time (2007–2019), he also spent several years working in the Training & Exercise Section of the State Emergency Management Office, and spent the last seven years of his time there as the Director of Training and Exercises. Mr. Campbell has over 37 years’ experience in the emergency services and emergency management fields, with most of this time spent in emergency response, emergency management training, and, more recently, incident management. He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from the State University of New York College at Cortland.
As Chief of the New York State Incident Management Team Program, Mr. Campbell was instrumental in the initial development of the New York State All-Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT), officially recognized in May 2004. In addition to helping establish the NYS AHIMT, he has been a member of a national IMT, the Rocky Mountain Type 2 IMT (Blue Team), since 2008, and is an NWCG-qualified Type 2 Planning Section Chief and a Liaison Officer.
During his 33–plus years of state service to the State Emergency Management Office and the Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services, Mr. Campbell has responded to numerous major and/or complex incidents. The more notable incidents included the crash of TWA Flight 800, the North Country Ice Storm in upstate New York, the F-3 tornado in Saratoga County, the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks, and Hurricanes Irene and Sandy in 2011 and 2012. Mr. Campbell has also responded with his Incident Management Teams to floods, hurricanes, and wildfires around the country, including Hurricanes Frances and Ivan in Florida, Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana, and Hurricane Harvey in Texas, major flooding in North Dakota and South Dakota, and wildfires in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oregon, and Washington State.
In 2000, Mr. Campbell was awarded the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal by the Division of Military/Naval Affairs for exceptionally meritorious service to the state of New York. In 2003, he was selected as a SME by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) in Boise, ID to revise the ICS-National Training Curriculum. The New York State Training Council recognized Mr. Campbell in 2004 for “Excellence in Practice” for his work in leading the training initiative on the ICS, and he was selected by DHS-FEMA’s National Integration Center to participate in several NIMS Working Groups, including: NIMS Doctrine; NIMS Training & Exercise; and NIMS Intelligence/Investigations.
Mr. Campbell is a charter member and original Board of Directors representative for the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA), founded in December 2010. He continues to serve as one of 11 directors on the board after previously having served two terms as first vice president.
Nick Duvally
Nick Duvally’s incident command experience spans more than three decades and demonstrates his front-line capabilities in All-Hazards Incident Management. For the last 27 years, Chief Duvally has served as a member of Los Angeles County Incident Management Team 1, and for 20 years has served as a member of a Type 1 National Incident Management Team managed by the United States Forest Service. Chief Duvally is qualified as a Planning Section Chief Type 1, Resources Unit Leader, Situations Unit Leader, Demobilization Unit Leader, Documentation Unit Leader, Training Specialist, Strike Team Leader, Field Observer, and Safety Officer and Incident Commander Type 3. Chief Duvally has provided guidance and expertise in incident management for FEMA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. His incident command experience also includes deployment to the Pentagon following 9/11, and to Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, Frances, and Ivan, in addition to hundreds of other incidents in California and specifically in Los Angeles.
Chief Duvally earned a B.S. degree in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering from Oklahoma State University. He is a current or past member of the following: FEMA/NIMS Incident Management Working Group, FEMA/NIMS Animal Emergency Working Group, FEMA/NIMS Core Competencies Working Group, NFPA ICS Professional Qualifications Committee, and IFSTA Indoctrination to the Fire Service Committee, and he has served as Committee Chairperson for the IFSTA Private Fire Prevention Committee.
Chief Duvally’s on-the-job experience as a professional firefighter has been extensive, beginning in 1971 as a member of the Willingboro, NJ Volunteer Fire Department, continuing with the Stillwater, OK Fire Department, then moving to the La Habra Heights, CA Volunteer Fire Department, and culminating in his present career with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, a career spanning almost three decades. Entering the LA County Fire Department first as a firefighter and paramedic, Chief Duvally quickly moved up the ranks to Firefighter Specialist, then Captain, Battalion Chief, Assistant Chief, Fire Marshal, and currently Deputy Chief.
From 2009 through early 2014, Chief Duvally provided subject matter expertise in the areas of Incident Management and Animal Emergency Response to the work groups sponsored by the National Integration Center (NIC) that provided national guidelines and standards for the implementation of NIMS. In addition to assisting in resource typing almost 30 positions for on-scene ICS positions and resources, he was a co-editor of the draft model Position Task Books, the 2010 conversion of the NIIMS ICS Forms to All-Hazards Use, the 2014 revisions and corrections to the NIMS ICS forms, and the NIMS ICS Qualifications Guide for all ICS positions.
Chief Duvally served as the ICS Training and Qualifications coordinator for the 4,500-member Los Angeles County Fire Department, from 2002 to 2010. He began his involvement with the California Incident Command Certification System (CICCS) in 2002. He has served on the local, regional, and state review committees for 18 years. In 2008, Chief Duvally became the Chairman of the State CICCS committee and has served in that position ever since. The CICCS establishes the ICS qualifications standards for all 1,000 fire departments in the state. This committee publishes the administrative and qualifications guide every three years and oversees the ICS qualifications process throughout the state.
Bill Easterling
Bill Easterling retired in 2017 as the Fire Marshal and Administrator of the Genesee Fire Protection District (GFPD), culminating his 23-year career in the fire service. The GFPD is located west of Denver, CO at an elevation of 7,800 feet and includes the communities of Genesee, Genesee Village, and Chimney Creek, and the Genesee Business District/Town Center.
Initially working as a volunteer starting in 1994, Chief Easterling used his significant financial management background as an administrator for the District. He also assumed the full-time position of GFPD Fire Marshal and became a chief officer for Genesee Fire Rescue. While at GFPD, he also served on the board of Highland Rescue Ambulance service, a nonprofit corporation. During that time, Chief Easterling revamped the administration and assisted in securing its financial future by converting the corporation to a special tax district.
In 2000, Chief Easterling joined members and representatives from other local-area fire departments and formed the Jefferson County Type 3 Incident Management Team (Jeffco). The Jeffco Team was one of the first All-Hazards Type 3 Incident Management Teams formed. Chief Easterling is qualified as an Incident Commander Type 3, Operations Section Chief Type 3, Division Supervisor, and Structure Protection Specialist. From his membership in the Jeffco IMT and his work with several interagency Type 1 and Type 2 IMTs, his response experience includes a wide variety of incidents across the United States, including the Hayman, High Park, and Waldo Canyon fires, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the 2008 Windsor Tornado, and, as a first of its kind, managing the 2018 Federal law enforcement staging area for Hurricane Irma.
Chief Easterling is a founding director of the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA) and has served as an at-large Board member continuously since its inception in 2010. He is the Board representative on the AHIMTA Incident Qualifications System (IQS) Committee and has participated in the development of the AHIMTA Interstate Incident Management Qualification System (IIMQS) Guide, position descriptions, and the Position Task Books. Chief Easterling has served on numerous NIMS work groups at FEMA’s National Integration Center (NIC); he is one of the founders of, and serves as a member of, the NIC Coordination Group (NCG).
Chief Easterling has a B.S. degree in Business Administration (1973) and a year of postgraduate work at Mississippi State University, and obtained his CPA license in 1975. After working for several years as a sole practitioner at a CPA firm, he purchased the practice and successfully transitioned it into a larger, more diversified financial management firm. His firm specialized in income and estate taxes and management advisory services. During this time he also served on the boards of several private corporations. Chief Easterling sold his firm in 1983 and moved to Atlanta, GA, where he worked as an individual investment portfolio manager. He moved to Colorado in 1990 and in 1992 added investment brokerage services with an international brokerage firm to his portfolio. He maintained his investment brokerage services until 2002, when his full-time duties and passion for the GFPD won his full attention.
Paul Hannemann
Paul Hannemann retired in 2020 as a special adviser to the Director, Chief of Fire Operations, Texas A&M Forest Service, culminating a career of more than 30 years. His past positions included Chief of Fire Operations and Department Head of the Incident Response Department from 2010 to 2019, and the same positions for the Texas A & M Forest Service.
Mr. Hannemann is a nationally qualified Type 1 Incident Commander, Type 2 Planning Section Chief, and Type 2 Logistics Section Chief, and currently serves as one of the Incident Commanders for the Lone Star State IMT. He has managed wildland fires in several states in addition to hazardous materials, tornadoes, and other All-Hazards incidents.
Mr. Hannemann’s ICS Management and Training experience includes development of more than eight Type 3 Incident Management Teams for the state of Texas, performing as the Simulations Team Leader for the National Association of State Foresters’ Complex Incident Management Course (CIMC), serving on the DHS-US Fire Administration Type 3 IMT Development Team, being a Lead Instructor for the USFA AHIMT Type 3 introduction course, delivering training to the U.S. Coast Guard theater-wide (2013–2017), and participating as part of the U.S. Forest Service Planning & Logistics Training Cadres.
Throughout his career, Mr. Hannemann has been heavily involved in defining and setting national-level doctrine and guidance for ICS qualifications entities. His membership has included serving on the NWCG Training Working Team (2008–2009), the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) Complex Incident Management Course Cadre (2003–Present), NWCG Operations & Training Committee (2009–2013 and 2016–2020), NWCG Incident Management Organization Succession Planning project (2009–2012), NWCG All-Hazard Oversight Project Team (2009–2011), NWCG Training Committee (2013–2016), and NWCG L-580 Leadership Course Steering Committee, a subcommittee of NWCG Leadership Committee (2010–2019), and the NWCG NIMS-ICS Committee (2017–Present).
Mr. Hannemann started with TFS as a Contract Trainer in 1981 and became the first Regional Fire Coordinator in 1995. He also served as the State Regional Fire Coordinator from 1997 to 1999 and Chief Regional Fire Coordinator from 1999 to 2010. Prior to 1995, he was the Fire Department Administrator, Emergency Management Coordinator and 9-1-1 Coordinator for the City of Fredericksburg, TX and Gillespie County, TX.
Mr. Hannemann retired from the Texas Army National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel. He is s a graduate of the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College. He has a B.S. in Building Construction and a Master of Education degree (M.Ed.) in Industrial Education from Texas A & M University. He is certified by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection as a Master Firefighter, Master Instructor, Intermediate Wildland Firefighter, Level III Firefighter, and Level III Fire Instructor.
Mike LaPlant
After eight years of active duty service as a Fire Protection Specialist with the United States Air Force, Mike LaPlant joined the Ventura County, CA Fire Department and has served as a firefighter, Fire Captain, Battalion Chief, Division Chief, and Assistant Chief, retiring in 2014, after a 32-year career, as the Department’s Deputy Chief.
During 11 of those years, Chief LaPlant served as a member of California’s FIRESCOPE Task Force, the developers of the Incident Command System, including serving as the Task Force Chair for two years. During this time, he accomplished the rewrite of the MACS 410-1, participated in the development of the California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS), assisted in the adoption of ICS as directed by HSPD-5, worked on the development of the regional Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) taskforce concept and description, and assisted in several rewrites to the FIRESCOPE Field Operations Guide, which is considered the forerunner of all Field Operations Guide currently in use.
Chief LaPlant was also a member of a federally sponsored Type 2 IMT as both a Planning Section Chief and an Operations Section Chief. Currently, he is a member of a Type 1 IMT as an Operations Branch Director.
Chief LaPlant is certified as a Company Officer and a Chief Officer in the California Fire Service Training and Education System and as a Master Instructor certified by the California State Fire Marshal’s Office. He specializes in instructing command and control and the application and use of the Incident Command System, including several of the ICS position-specific training courses. In addition to presenting hundreds of training sessions throughout the United States, he was recently asked to assist the Seattle-King County (WA) public health department in its effort to control the COVID-19 pandemic as part of their Health and Medical Area Command organization.
George Maier
George Maier’s career includes over 40 years of extensive experience of fire suppression, incident command, and training through his career with the Fire Department of the City of New York, where he retired as a Battalion Chief serving Midtown Manhattan. Chief Maier’s responsibilities have included being the officer in charge of the Hazardous Materials Training Unit, the Executive Officer for Special Operations, as well as creating the FDNY Incident Management Team, serving as the Planning Section Chief on the FDNY Incident Management Team, and working with the nationally recognized consultants of McKinsey & Company after the 9/11 World Trade Center attack to improve FDNY’s preparedness for operational response. This critical task targeted the expansion of the ICS, and developed an Incident Management Team within the Fire Department of the City of New York, key elements of ICS in a major at-risk metropolitan area.
Aa a contract instructor with the National Fire Academy, Chief Maier specializes in the ICS training for structural collapse, high-rise fires, multi-alarm incidents, and unified command and multi-agency catastrophic incidents. Chief Maier is a lead instructor for the ICS Command and General Staff course, as well as the All-Hazards Type 3 Incident Management Team Introduction course. Chief Maier also brought his expertise to bear when he served as a SME for the United States Fire Administration’s All-Hazards Type 3 Incident Management Team course development, the All-Hazards Planning Section Chief course, and Resources Unit Leader course. He previously served on the revision team for the USFA ICS 300 Intermediate Incident Command and the ICS 400 Advanced Incident Command courses. Additionally, Chief Maier served as an instructor at the Nassau County, NY Fire Service Academy from 1982 to 2009, specializing in Command and Control and ICS courses.
An NWCG-qualified Type 2 Planning Section Chief, his ICS credentials include being a charter member of the NIMS Consortium, which he currently serves as president. He previously served as the Consortium’s representative on the FIRESCOPE Joint Operations Team. As a member of the Consortium, Chief Maier has written model procedure manuals for instituting ICS for high-rise fires, structural collapses, emergency medical, hazardous materials/CBRNE, and unified command/multi-agency incidents.
From 2009 through early 2014, Chief Maier provided subject matter expertise to the Incident Management Working Group sponsored by the National Integration Center (NIC) that provided national guidelines and standards for the implementation of NIMS. In addition to assisting in resource typing almost 30 positions for on-scene ICS positions and resources, he was a co-editor of the draft model Position Task Books, the 2010 conversion of the NIIMS ICS Forms to All-Hazards use, the 2014 revisions and corrections to the NIMS ICS forms, and the draft NIMS ICS Qualifications Guide for all ICS positions.
Chief Maier is currently a member of the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA), where he has served on the Incident Qualifications Committee since 2016 and is the past chair and current advisor for the Committee.
Bob Martucelli
Robert Martucelli retired after 22 years as a Massachusetts State Trooper. Mr. Martucelli has an extensive history of conducting, planning, and coordinating complex training, exercises, and operations in domestic urban and suburban environments. Assigned to the Massachusetts State Police Incident Management Team from 2000 to 2010, Mr. Martucelli developed Incident Action Plans for planned events including the Boston Marathon, the Boston 4th of July Events, Gillette Stadium, Presidential Visits for President Clinton as well as staffing the State and Regional EOC’s in response to serious weather events in the Commonwealth. Mr. Martucelli was assigned as an Incident Command System Training Officer for the 2,000 member department to provide instruction of ICS 100, 200, 300, 400, and 402, ICS for Executives. Mr. Martucelli instructs nationally as a Lead Instructor for the USFA O-305, Type 3 All-Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT) Introduction course and the EMI All-Hazards Position Specific Liaison Officer Course.
Mr. Martucelli is also an instructor for the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEXs) and served on the revision team for the MGT 314, Enhanced All-Hazards Incident Management/Unified Command Course, the MGT 440, Enhanced Sports and Special Events Incident Management Course, and a member of the development team for the MGT 456, Integration of Cybersecurity Personnel into the EOC for Cyber Incidents course. Mr. Martucelli is certified as an ICS 449 Instructor and has participated in the development of a wide variety of Incident Command System curricula.
Mike Rubenstein
Mike Rubenstein began his Law Enforcement career in 1987 in Oregon, where he worked on a multijurisdictional Marijuana Eradication Team. In 1993, Sergeant Rubenstein returned to Colorado to begin working for his current employer, the Jefferson County, CO Sheriff’s Office, currently with the rank of Sergeant. He has been and remains active in Mobile Field Force leadership since 2007.
Sergeant Rubenstein has been significantly involved in the application of the ICS within the law enforcement community, starting in 2000 and through 2004 working with the Jeffco IMT as a liaison officer and within the evacuation/LE function on multiple fires. In 2004, he joined the Jefferson County Type 3 All-Hazards IMT. Since then he has been deployed on more than 40 Type 1, 2, and 3 All-Hazards incidents, including wildland fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, public health events, floods, blizzards, and political conventions. In 2015 Sergeant Rubenstein deployed as the ICT3 for the Jeffco IMT, the first All-Hazards Team to be deployed under ESF4 for evacuation and sheltering on BIA lands. Sergeant Rubenstein is currently qualified at the All-Hazard Type 3 level in the following positions: Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief, Operations Section Chief, and Liaison Officer. NWCG qualifications include Liaison Officer and Type 2 Planning Section Chief. In addition to a Duty Officer and ICT3 on the Jeffco AHIMT, Sergeant Rubenstein is rostered as an alternate PSC2 on an Interagency Type 2 Team.
Sergeant Rubenstein has been serving as an Evaluator on HSEEP exercises since 2007, when he assisted in the full-scale air mobilization exercises with the National Disaster Medical System. Since that time he has participated Salt Lake City’s “shakeout,” a passenger train tunnel derailment, a National Nuclear Weapon Accident Exercise, and FEMA’S Wide-Area Resiliency and Recovery Program.
Sergeant Rubenstein has been providing subject matter expertise in setting national-level doctrine and guidance for the ICS since 2005. He and the Jeffco Team worked with the FEMA Region VIII AHIMT pilot project, creating the first All-Hazards Type 3 Qualification Guide and Position Task Books in 2005. Those documents were adopted by the State of Colorado and eventually used by FEMA during development of guidelines. Sergeant Rubenstein is actively engaged with the NIC as a SME/Practitioner evaluating and editing NIMS ICS doctrine, including the National Response Framework, National Mutual Aid System, NIMS Updates, National Qualification System, the NQS AHIMT Training Focus Group, and the NQS AH Position-Specific courses. He is currently working with the FEMA Field Operations Directorate (FOD) assisting in the integration of AHIMTs as Supplemental Response Teams (SRTs) into the FOD’s overhead capacity to support responses to National Disasters.
Sergeant Rubenstein represents the AHIMT community nationally on the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Advisory Group, which administratively governs and oversees the National EMAC program. He is also a founding and current member of the National Integration Center Coordination Group (NCG).
In 2010, Sergeant Rubenstein teamed with two other Jeffco Team members to form the All-Hazards Incident Management Teams Association (AHIMTA) and appointed the first Board of Directors at the 2010 conference. He is currently an envoy to the Board of Directors specializing in Federal partners advocacy and relations
Dana Simpson
Mr. Simpson’s extensive ICS experience is reflected in his having served as a member of local and National Incident Management Teams since 1994. During this time, he has been assigned in the Logistics Section as a Logistics Section Chief, Facilities Unit Leader, Ground Support Unit Leader, Food Unit Leader, Medical Unit Leader, and Supply Unit Leader on Type 3, 2, and 1 incidents. Through his National Incident Management Team membership, he has been involved in over 50 team responses, including wildland fires, hazard materials incidents, Exotic Newcastle Disease breakouts, hurricanes, civil unrest, major flood events, electrical power restoration in Puerto Rico, and COVID-19 response. As a Logistics Section Chief Type 1, Mr. Simpson developed his in-depth skills in ICS as a member of California Interagency Incident Management Teams directing ordering, receiving, storing, and distributing all equipment and supplies, providing food, medical, repair service, and facilities for complex all-hazard incidents, and administering National Catering and Showering contracts as a Contracting Officer’s Representative. He has also qualified as a Liaison Officer and Human Resource Specialist and has deployed on numerous Type 1 and Type 2 incidents.
Dana Simpson’s 31 years of experience in the Kern County (CA) Fire Department bear witness to his expertise in local incident management and hazardous materials responses. Retired as a station captain and hazardous materials team relief captain, he responded to all emergencies, including structure and wildland fires, aircraft incidents, hazardous materials and refinery incidents, train derailments, and medical incidents in the department’s busiest stations. Mr. Simpson served as HazMat Group Supervisor in the aftermath of a major train derailment and for numerous highway cargo incidents involving pesticides and other toxic products.
A graduate of Cerro Coso College, Mr. Simpson also holds a Fire Science Certificate from Bakersfield College and is a graduate of S-520, Advanced Incident Command, presented by the National Advanced Resource Training Center. Through the NWCG qualifications system, he is qualified as a Type 1 Logistics Section Chief, Facilities Unit Leader, Ground Support Unit Leader, Supply Unit Leader, Liaison Officer, and Human Resource Specialist. His completion of courses at the California Specialized Training Institute resulted in his being certified as a Hazardous Materials Specialist and an Arson Investigator, as well as being certified in Technical Rescue Systems. He has also taken numerous specialized courses at the Center for Domestic Preparedness, California Specialized Training Institute, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service , and the Reno Fire School. Mr. Simpson uses his U.S. Navy technical training in the areas of electronics and shipboard firefighting in his many applications of Incident Management.
Charles “Boo” Walker
Boo Walker is Qualified as an Area Commander (AC Team #2, 2015–2018) and has worked as a Deputy Area Commander, Assistant Area Commander – Logistics, and Area Command Aviation Coordinator since 2002. Mr. Walker is also qualified as a Type 1 Incident Commander, Type 1 Operations Section Chief (Southern Area Type 1 Team 1988–2002), Air Operations Branch Director, Safety Officer, and Air Tactical Group Supervisor.
Mr. Walker served on the Steering Committee of the Complex Incident Management Course, sponsored by the National Association of State Foresters, for 20 years. For the last five years he has been serving as the committee chair. He also co-chaired the Steering Committee for the S 520 Advanced Incident Management Course and S-620 Area Command Course. Mr. Walker’s instructional experience spans 35 years at both the regional and the national level.
Mr. Walker has been involved in All-Hazards incidents throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. His involvement with FEMA assignments has included floods, oil spills, hurricanes, fires, and tornadoes. NASA awarded the Public Service Medal to Mr. Walker for his work with the aviation operations of the Space Shuttle Colombia Recovery effort.