2015 Western Wildfires
CHDS Alumni Respond
Summary
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8 Master’s Degree Program Alumni
3 Executive Leaders Program (ELP) Alumni and 1 current participant
Master’s Degree Alumni1 and Their Thesis Topic
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Phil Cocker, Los Angeles, CA – Assistant Fire Chief, Los Angeles County Fire Department
Mission Command: Retooling the Leadership Paradigm for Homeland Security Crisis
Response?
Bill Eller, Yakima, WA – Regional Manager / State Agency Liaison, Washington State
Conservation Commission
Leveraging Rural America in the Fight against Terrorism in America through the Use of
Conservation Districts
Paul Foerster, Seattle, WA – Battalion Chief, Seattle Fire Department
Fire Service's Role in Maritime Homeland Security
Glen Holder, San Diego, CA – Battalion Chief, San Diego Fire Rescue Department
The Future of Fire Department 2.0
Bijan Karimi, San Francisco, CA – Assistant Deputy Director, San Francisco Department of
Emergency Management
Security and Prosperity: Reexamining the Relationship Between Economic, Homeland
and National Security
Bruce Martin, South Lake Tahoe, CA – Project Manager, Bay Area UASI
Collaboration in the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Medical Response System
Andrew Phelps, Salem, OR – Director, Oregon Office of Emergency Management
Play Well With Others: Improvisational Theater and Collaboration in the Homeland
Security Environment
Donald Reed, Peterson AFB, CO – Deputy Chief, Civil Support Branch, Future Ops Div,
U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM)
On Strategy: The War on Terror in Context
Executive Leaders Program (ELP) Alumni
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Sherrie Collins, Salinas, CA – Deputy Director of Emergency Management, Monterey
County (CA) Office of Emergency Services
Ryan Rockabrand, Santa Barbara, CA – Director of Emergency Management, County of
Santa Barbara of Emergency Management
Christian Tubbs, Mill Valley, CA – Fire Chief, Southern Marin Fire District
Jobs listed are based on alumni self-entered data as of November 20, 2015
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CHDS - More than A Decade of Innovation in Homeland Security Education
Current Executive Leaders Program (ELP) Participant
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James Ayre, Mather, CA – Deputy Superintendant / CSTI, California Governor’s Office of
Emergency Services
2015 Wildfire Response
Thesis Abstracts
Phil Cocker
Assistant Fire Chief
Los Angeles County Fire Department
Thesis: Mission Command: Retooling the Leadership Paradigm for Homeland Security Crisis
Response?
Abstract: Homeland security leaders faced with managing a crisis event, such as a terrorist
attack, will invariably be exposed to tremendous decision-making pressure. Typically, these
leaders are working within the confines of hierarchically configured response organizations. Crisis
response is complex, requiring flexibility and the collaboration of multiple homeland security
response partners to be effective. Mission command and the tools used to communicate a
leader's intent provide an alternative approach to hierarchical leadership norms. Decentralization
of mission authority and promotion of self-initiative can increase the tempo of decision making
and execution. The intent of this thesis is to examine the applicability of mission command for
use in managing homeland security crisis response. Several perspectives are considered. First,
the origins of mission command and the efforts by a military organization to implement this
ethos are reviewed. Second, parallels between both the military and the homeland security
response environments are examined. Finally, implementation challenges, implementation
examples using the wildland fire experience, and opportunities for implementation within the
homeland security enterprise are considered.
Bill Eller
Regional Manager / State Agency Liaison
Washington State Conservation Commission
Thesis: Leveraging Rural America in the Fight against Terrorism in America through the Use of
Conservation Districts
Abstract: A vast, untapped resource is available to the federal government and the Department
of Homeland Security in the war on terror. The citizens that comprise rural America have long
been ignored by the efforts to wage the war on terror, and have been told, along with their
urban counterparts, that the government would wage the war on terror, not citizens. […]The
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CHDS - More than A Decade of Innovation in Homeland Security Education
findings and recommendations of this research advocate the creation of a domestic intelligencegathering network, which utilizes the nation's 2,946 local conservation districts to interact with
rural citizens. Conservation districts, as a unit of local government, occupy a unique place in their
local communities due to their nonregulatory nature. As a result, they have a high degree of trust
in their local communities. Conservation districts would forge a partnership with rural Americans
and state fusion centers for information gathering purposes. Intelligence analysts would analyze
that information at the state fusion center and use it to support the war on terror. In this way,
the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. intelligence community could leverage rural
America as a force multiplier.
Paul Foerster
Battalion Chief
Seattle Fire Department
Thesis: Fire Service's Role in Maritime Homeland Security
Abstract: Since September 11, 2001, the fire service role as first responders has changed to
include acts of terrorism. United States ports and areas in the marine domain provide terrorists
with a wide variety of targets to attack. The marine domain presents many difficult and unique
problems to homeland security. The open nature of ports with the high volume of goods and
services, key infrastructures, and the large number of agencies with jurisdiction create a complex
environment to protect. Many fire departments that protect and respond to incidents in the
marine domain have little specialized equipment, special knowledge, or training needed to
respond to terrorists attacks in this area. This document looks at the roles the fire service has in
homeland security in the marine domain. Based on findings from maritime leaders, five roles
emerged: Homeland Security Presidential Directive-8, intelligence and information sharing, area
maritime security committee, interagency exercises and training and public/private partnerships.
This document demonstrates the fire department's role in each of these areas, and provide a
framework fire departments can use to enhance maritime homeland security.
Glen Holder
Battalion Chief
San Diego Fire Rescue Department
Thesis: The Future of Fire Department 2.0 (In Progress)
Bijan Karimi
Assistant Deputy Director
San Francisco Department of Emergency Management
Thesis: Security and Prosperity: Reexamining the Relationship Between Economic, Homeland and
National Security
Abstract: What is the relationship between economic, homeland, and national security? This
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CHDS - More than A Decade of Innovation in Homeland Security Education
question drove the investigation of journal articles and federal doctrine to determine the answer.
Through qualitative and quantitative research, I explored definitions, examined connections, and
made observations. From this effort I found that the definitions for these security elements are
cloudy; furthermore, the relationships between the elements are primarily described in relation
to the elements explored but not in the context of the security environment, which plays a
significant role. Key findings include: 1) there is not a balanced relationship between economic
security, homeland security, and national security; 2) the security relationship is an uneven
overlap of the elements; and 3) metamorphic forces shape the security relationships. All
combined, when some security decisions are being made they lead to unintended consequences.
To align national security efforts, the focus should be on discussion the nation's health through
the lens of security and prosperity. The first steps to accomplishing this goal are: 1) develop a
national narrative, 2) integrate Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense, 3)
create a Department of Prosperity, 4) continue combatting violence and extremism and, 5)
continue promoting prosperity abroad.
Bruce Martin
Project Manager
Bay Area UASI
Thesis: Collaboration in the San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Medical Response System
Abstract: Within the San Francisco Bay Area there are four cities that host a Metropolitan
Medical Response System (MMRS) program: San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Fremont. The
four Bay Area MMRS cities are within fifty miles of each other. The MMRS resources could be
used to reinforce each other's planning and response. The 103-city, 10- county Bay Area is under
one Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). Currently though, the MMRS programs in the four cities
work independently of each other and of the UASI. How can these agencies collaborate to
address mission gaps and overlaps? This thesis uses a Delphi survey methodology to ascertain
institutional perspectives on benefits, processes, enablers and barriers to collaboration in the San
Francisco Bay Area. With collaborative effort, gaps and overlaps in San Francisco Bay Area mass
casualty preparedness and response can be mitigated. This thesis recommends short term and
long term actions to encourage collaboration in the Bay Area, which, in turn, can lead to better
patient outcomes in infrequent mass casualty incidents.
Andrew Phelps
Director
Oregon Office of Emergency Management
Thesis: Play Well With Others: Improvisational Theater and Collaboration in the Homeland
Security Environment
Abstract: Collaboration, though identified as a critical component to the Homeland Security
(HLS) enterprise, can be difficult to achieve when working in complex HLS environments or
addressing the wicked problems that permeate the enterprise. Federal doctrine and directives
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CHDS - More than A Decade of Innovation in Homeland Security Education
tell us collaboration is important, but we are not told how to collaborate. Improvisational
theater, on the other hand, is built on collaboration among performers to invent a narrative,
performers who have been trained to collaborate. Based on a distillation of improvisational
theater into five key principles, a comparative analysis of established collaborative models, and a
case study of collaboration in the homeland security environment, I believe that those working
within the homeland security enterprise can apply the same principles used by theatrical
improvisers. This thesis proposes a new framework for collaboration, the Improvisational Theater
Collaboration Model. Utilizing this framework to develop collaboration training or as a tool to
assess the efficacy of collaboration in homeland security environments are two suggestions for
further study into the Improvisational Theater Collaboration Model.
Donald Reed
Deputy Chief, Civil Support Branch, Future Ops Div
U.S. Northern Command
Thesis: On Strategy: The War on Terror in Context
Abstract: The War on Terror, as the outcome of the al Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, promises to be the effort of a generation. If it is to
win, the United States must approach it in a manner reminiscent of successes in past wars: with
clearly defined and obtainable national objectives, and a unified national strategy to obtain those
objectives. In addition, it must establish a clear long-term vision for transforming its efforts and
its institutions from the industrial age to the information age as the new domain for waging war.
This thesis examines the War on Terror from several perspectives. First, is the strategic context in
which the war is being conducted, particularly the issues involved in its prosecution. Second, the
Vietnam War and the War on Terror are examined in historical context to determine if the United
States is repeating the strategic mistakes that led to its defeat in Vietnam. Third, transformation
imperatives are identified which require the Nation to consider what it must do to win the War
on Terror while simultaneously preparing for the emergence of greater forms of information age
warfare. Finally, an adaptive capabilities-based approach is suggested for the United States to
deal with the new strategic reality it faces.
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CHDS - More than A Decade of Innovation in Homeland Security Education