With over 26 years of government and military service, Dan brings comprehensive local, regional, national, and international emergency management experience to the EMSI Team. Dan completed his federal service at US Coast Guard Headquarters as the Chief of Contingency Preparedness and Exercise Policy, where he was the Program Manager for all-hazards emergency management strategy, doctrine, training and qualification requirements for incident preparedness and large-scale crisis response. In this role, he set service-wide policy for emergency operation planning process, continuity of operations, exercises, lessons learned and corrective action programs, as well as overseeing the annual process for all USCG Type 1 and 2 NIMS Incident Command System certifications.
Throughout his career, Dan has been assigned to ICS command and general staff positions on several large incidents, to include spills of national significance, international response, hurricanes, and National Special Security Events (NSSE), such as the 2004 G8 Summit-Sea Island, GA; Republican National Convention; the 2005 Presidential Inauguration; and NFL Super Bowl 39 in Jacksonville, FL.
In more typical response roles, Dan deployed to Houston, TX, ahead of Hurricane IKE in 2008 and served as Group Supervisor and Branch Director during the response for 120 personnel with 12 USCG response boats to conduct search and rescue, law enforcement, and security operations from Lake Charles, LA, to Houston, TX. Immediately after the 7.3 magnitude Haitian earthquake in January 2010, Dan deployed to Port-au-Prince as a Planning Section Chief on the DHS Haiti Integrated Response Team. Dan utilized his prior relationships with Haitian officials and knowledge of the country to quickly assess the seaport and to develop and implement security measures for humanitarian cargo arriving by sea and ensure an effective “re-start” to maritime sector of the Haitian government. He also supported security of the US Embassy perimeter alongside US Marine Corps and Diplomatic Security Teams and contributed to the immediate evacuation of over 12,000 US citizens back to the United States.
Indicative of his skills and leadership, Dan directed a diverse Operations Section of personnel, oil skimmers, small boats, heavy construction equipment, and multiple staging areas to address the oil impact along 24 miles of National Wildlife Refuge beaches on Matagorda Island, TX, and safeguard the habitat for several endangered species as Operations Section Chief during the Texas City “Y” spill. In 2017, he served as the senior Coast Guard Liaison Officer to FEMA at the National Response Coordination Center during response phase to Hurricanes HARVEY, IRMA, and MARIA and coordinated service-wide response operations with National and Regional Emergency Support Function (ESF) leaders, while brokering $200 million in Mission Assignments for USCG response.
After leaving the Coast Guard, Dan thrived as an Emergency Preparedness Planner for Duval County, FL, and as the Director of Terminal Operations for the Jacksonville (FL) Port Authority. Spanning more than 840 square miles, the emergency management role was a massive undertaking, as Duval County is home to Jacksonville, the largest city by land area in the contiguous United States. In this capacity, Dan was responsible for managing the Emergency Management program in all mission areas of emergency management, including prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation programs.
Dan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Sciences (US Coast Guard Academy), a Master of Arts in National Security Policy Studies (US Naval War College), and a Master of Science in Military National Resource Strategy and Policy (National War College).
Since joining EMSI, Dan has worked closely with the oil and gas industry and government clients to prepare companies to respond to highly complex scenarios on a global basis. Indicative of his expertise, he holds ICS qualifications as a Type 1 Incident Commander and Type 1 Operations Section Chief in addition several other Type 3 command and general staff certifications from the US Coast Guard. He also holds Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certifications.