Our Team

ResponseForce1 is operated by a team of experienced Emergency Management Professionals. Key resumes include:

Edward Minyard

Edward Minyard, Founder and CEO of ResponseForce1, is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), a Certified Continuity Manager(CCM), Certified by the Business Continuity Institute (CBCI) and Certified in Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).  He is a consulting professional with over twenty-five years of experience in designing, implementing and managing diverse technology environments, and advising clients on adapting strategies to changing environments.  For the past five years, he has been activiely involved in providing leadership during some of the largest disasters ever to impact North America.

Ed has served in leadership roles within several of the world’s largest consulting and technology companies, including Accenture and Unisys.  As a Partner at Accenture, Ed was responsible for their Cyber Security Practice in the USA and Canada.  As Managing Partner, North America for the Emergency Management Practice of Unisys,he oversaw the delivery of Emergency Planning, Preparedness, Response and Recovery Services to key Unisys clients, including the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and The City of New Orleans.

Ed and his team were on the ground in New Orleans three days after Hurricane Katrina struck.  Using a satellite communications system he designed for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, he and his team reestablished communications for the Mayor and city government. They went on to build a temporary, 100 position Emergency Operations Center in the Hyatt Hotel, then managed that facility for the following sixteen months. In 2006, Ed and his team were the architects of the City Assisted Evacuation Plan (CAEP).

In recognition of his efforts, on May 10th, 2006, Mayor C. Ray Nagin declared a Special Day of Honor in the City Of New Orleans, honoring Edward Minyard.

 In August of 2008, Ed and his team returned to New Orleans, supporting the City’s Office of Homeland Security in preparing for Hurricane Gustav.  A part of that mission was to deploy the CAEP developed post – Katrina.  Ed and his team, on a pro-bono basis, were assigned leadership roles in the New Orlean EOC, and were also physically engaged at  the union Passenger aTerminal, assisting citizens in the evacuation of the city.
In 2008, RF1 was awarded a significant portion of a Large Base Camp Operation contract released by FEMA.  RF1 was actiated by FEMA to build and operate large base camps in support of both Gustav and Hurricane Ike.  We built and managed a 2000-resident facility in Port Allen, La., and a 500-resident facility in Galveston, Tx.  The Galveston camp was active for over three months.

Certifications

• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• Certified by the Busiiness Continuity Institute (CBCI)
• Certified Continuity Manager (CCM)
• Chemical Facility Vulnerability Information Certified
• FEMA Certifications
• National Incident Management System (NIMS)
• Incident Command Systems
• IS 100
• IS 200
• IS 275
• IS 300
• IS 400
• IS 700
• IS 701
• National Response Framework (IS 800)
• National Critical Infrastructure Protection Plan (IS 860)
• Continuity of Operations Planning (IS 546 / 547)
• Introduction to Exercises (IS 120.A)
• ITIL Foundations (ITIL)

Jeffrey Merryman
Mr. Merryman's recent experience includes supporting base camp operations (Logistics Chief) for two FEMA Large Base Camps, following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.

He was also involved in response & recovery efforts in the Hurricane Katrina / Rita recovery efforts for the City of New Orleans, acting as the Chief of Logistics for the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. He was responsible for overseeing all logistical services within Orleans Parish. This included corresponding with all Public Safety Offices, Office of Homeland Security and all other private organizations throughout the parish.

Mr. Merryman also served as the logistics program manager to the City of New Orleans, overseeing protective services and all programs within logistics operations of the EOC.  Additionally, he was an evaluator (HSEEP) to Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management in the state Exercises; (TICP) and (CAEP) in New Orleans.

In 2004 Mr. Merryman was responsible for providing emergency management support to Polk County, Florida for hurricanes Charley, Francis, Jeanne and Ivan.  He managed operations for debris management in Broward and Pasco County Florida.  He also designed, coordinated and implemented operational procedures for tracking assets purchased or used during these projects, as well as planned and supervised the redeployment of emergency response vehicles and equipment from Polk County to Broward, Pasco and Hillsboro Counties.  

Mr. Merryman worked on the SASR Project with Lockheed Martin.  The SASR Project was a TSA Contract, involving objectives to be completed according to a timeline provided by Congress.  Mr. Merryman served on the project as an Analyst, responsible for providing technical assistance which included conducting assessments on Airport Security checkpoints and redesign of each checkpoint.  Each checkpoint was given the utmost attention to detail.  After each milestone was reached, the stakeholders involved were briefed and kept up to date on past, present and future milestones.

Key Projects

• 2005 PPE Assessment for first responders in Boston UASI Region
• 2005 County HLS-CAM project for Lake County Florida
• 2005 UASI Grant Management in Tampa, Florida
• 2004 UASI Region HLS-CAM project for Broward County Florida
• 2002 SASR project in South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee

James L. (Jay) Bowden, CEM
Mr. Bowden is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) with over 30 years experience, and is a FEMA Certified ICS Instructor. Jay has worked over 14 federally-declared disasters, including serving over 16 months in the New Orleans EOC following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He has completed all applicable federal professional development training as well as extensive training and experience in hazardous materials response. He is skilled in planning, exercise and program design and development. Jay is also an experienced liaison with public safety and health organizations related to homeland security (CBRNE) and disaster preparedness and exercises. He currently serves as an assessor for the national Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP), and was recently appointed as co-chair of a sub-committee looking to develop national standards for EOCs.

He has worked at both the state and local Emergency Management agencies which has provided a wealth of experiences from mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. He field experience in response and recovery makes him uniquely qualified in planning, training and exercise. He has extensive experience working with the public health, hospitals and EMS in preparing for MCI events as well as Bioterrorism and pandemic preparedness.
Most recently, he has worked with the City of New Orleans to rewrite their emergency operations planning and training including a City Assisted Evacuation Plan. He has also worked extensively with NIMS compliance, as well as EOC layout design for 6 sites in New Orleans. Over the past 2 years he has served as a facilitator and/or player in over 15 exercises involving terrorism intervention, post incident response as well as hurricane exercises.

 
Captain James Krieger
Captain Krieger’s background includes establishing and serving as Director of the Risk Assessment, Target Hazard (RATH) Task Force of the Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness of the New York City Fire Department. In that role, his responsibilities included determining parameters for the All-Hazard assessment of over 800,000 locations in New York City, designing and implementing the logistical exercise plan for the FDNY’s participation in City-Wide exercises, serving as a Member of the FDNY Type II Incident Management Team and as a Member of the FDNY Exercise Design Team. In this last role, he designed and served as a controller and evaluator for 3 city wide full-scale exercises and 5 FDNY exercises: Both Tabletop and full-scale.

His Certifications and Awards include:

Certifications

• Hazardous Material Technician Level 2
• FEMA certified ICS instructor (ICS 100-400)
• NYC CDL with Haz-Mat endorsements
• ICS 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, 800
• FEMA certified emergency manager

Awards and Decorations

• Unit citation L-39 for meritorious service performing a rescue
• Commendation medal for operations at The World Trade Center
• Commendation medal for operations during Hurricane Katrina

Wayne Buford
Director, USAR Operations - Response Force 1

USAR
(Urban Search and Rescue, Urban Search and Recovery)

Wayne has over 30 years of Emergency Services Experience, from beginning as an EMT/Firefighter to a Police Officer and Sheriff’s Deputy to a State Narcotics Task Force Officer.

Wayne has participated in many high profile Search and Rescue Missions both Nationally and Internationally. He has had a Homicide Case that he worked that has been profiled by the TV show, “America’s Most Wanted”.

Wayne worked his K-9’s at the Columbia Shuttle Disaster and served as Incident Commander for recovery operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, LA.

Wayne has Instructed National seminars in the utilization of K-9’s, and has testified in many court cases over the years.

Wayne has assembled some of the top K-9 teams in the nation to assist you in your needs. Most bring over 20 years of USAR or Law Enforcement experience. We assist you in your operation that only many years of experience can bring. We work quietly and professionally to assist you in your needs.

We can provide the following services, but are not limited to them.

Questions? We will provide a free assessment or consultation.

• K-9 Tracking or Trailing
• K-9 Narcotics Interdiction and Detection
• K-9 Search and Rescue
• K-9 Search and Recovery
• K-9 Explosives Detection
• K-9 Forensics
• Search Managers
• Search Operation Specialists
• Logistics
• Communications

Roger Dorethy
A decorated war veteran, past holder of a top secret security clearance and with an extensive background in martial arts, Roger Dorethy’s security background spans a period of over thirty years.  As an employee of Wackenhut Corporation in a 3,500 employee manufacturing plant he was instrumental in preventing theft of property and industrial secrets.  Later, as an independent contractor, he provided private security services for the corporate and entertainment industries.   On one significant engagement, he was asked to act as personal security for corporate executives while on business in Europe, gaining important international experience.

Most recently, his experience includes supporting base camp operations (Operations Chief) for two FEMA Large Base Camps, following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he was recruited by the Unisys Corporation, a major systems integrator, to provide supervisory sevices in the public information center (311 Contact Center). The 311 center was a direct conduit of information for the Emergency Operations Center for the Hurricane Katrina recovery operations in the city of New Orleans.

It was during this time that he recognized the need for a cohesive ready response force to react to national emergencies. As such, he was an integral part in the formation of ResponceForce1.  In addition to the recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina, he personally provided evacuation assistance for the City of New Orleans for Hurricane Gustav, followed by providing credentialing and tracking services for first responders in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for Hurricane Gustav, and Galveston Island, Texas, for Hurricane Ike.

His certifications from the Emergency Management Institute include the following: IS- 100, IS-200, IS-300, IS-400, IS-700a, IS-702, IS-703 and IS-800b. He has qualified as a marksman with the automatic rifle and an expert with the rifle. He also holds the rank of First Degree and Third Degree Black Belt in two diverse martial arts, and has been a certified instructor for a number of years.

Ready Reserves
ResponseForce1 has a team of over 30 highly experienced Ready Reserves, capable of being deployed anywhere within 72 hours of an event.

JOIN OUR TEAM

ResponseForce1 is seeking on-call personnel to fill the following positions supporting FEMA base camp deployments; Logistics, Operations, Food Unit Leader, Dispatch, Planning. Safety, Finance, IT Technician, Registered Nurse, Electrician, General Labor, Forklift/Supply Operator.

ResponseForce1 is also interested in persons with a background in; Hazard Mitigation Planners, COOP planners, ICS Instructors, Operations Planners.

The above position must be available for rapid deployment within 48hrs of notification for our staff.

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