Gold Level Authorized Trainers

The following Authorized Trainers received Gold Level recognition in the CDP Exellence in Training program for fiscal year 2008:

Ron Breland; Adjunct Instructor; Rio Rancho, NM After medically retiring from the United States Army in 2005, Breland served as the New Mexico State Hazardous Materials Coordinator, a division of the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, where he maintained the New Mexico State Hazardous Response Plan, and created and authored the "HAZCOM" newsletter, which gained national attention only two weeks after its inception. Breland was also the Interim Program Manager of New Mexico Task Force-1, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) national task force under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's ESF 9, and personally trained over 2,500 personnel in Incident Command System (ICS), Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), Vehicle-Borne IEDs, and suicide bombers in only two years. Breland was also selected as a member of the DHS' focus group to examine response actions of first responders, a cumulative report which directly served in the the development of Homeland Security Presidential Directive-19. Breland is currently an adjunct instructor for the Center for Domestic Preparedness, New Mexico Tech, Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, and the Albuquerque Police Academy.
Ronald Bush; Berrien CountySheriff's Office; St. Joseph, MI Bush has been a Deputy Sheriff with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department in St. Joseph Michigan since 1996. Since 2005, he has been assigned to the Emergency Management Division as a Regional Planner for the 5th District of Michigan. In this capacity, he has been tasked with writing emergency response plans and developing programs for the region. Bush serves as a Public Information Officer and the department’s school liaison officer, working with over 120 public and non-public schools in the county on the development of their all-hazard emergency response plans. Prior to coming to the sheriff’s department, Bush was a firefighter and still instructs for the fire service as a Certified Fire Service Instructor. Since joining the sheriff’s department, he became a Field Training Officer and developed the department’s field training program for the enforcement division, a Crime Scene Evidence Technician and the commander of our department’s Honor Guard Team. Bush is certified as a Hazardous Materials Emergency Responder Professional (Specialists) and a member of his department’s Hazardous Materials Response Team, which is a WMD Regional Response Team for the State of Michigan. In addition to providing training in Incident Command, Bush is also an instructor for Michigan’s Hazardous Materials Responder Awareness and Operations level courses and several Dept. of Justice – ODP courses including: Law Enforcement Prevention and Deterrence of Terrorist Acts, Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings Awareness Level, and WMD Responder Training Awareness (COBRA).
Paul Carr; Disaster Preparedness Specialist; Milpitas, CA Paul Carr grew up Dublin, Ireland. He served 21 years in the US military. Throughout his career, he has served as a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger with numerous duty assignments including Special Operations Team Leader; West Point, USMA instructor; and a Drill Sergeant having trained over 1,000 soldiers for combat. His deployments include South America, Europe, Southwest Asia, North Africa and the present Global War on Terrorism. He retired from the US Army on July 31, 2007. Mr. Carr’s specialized training includes: Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Hazardous Materials Technician courses (Department of Homeland Security); Terrorism Liaison Officers course (CA Office of Emergency Services); Counterterrorism course (FBI); and Threat and Risk Assessment course (Texas A & M). He has trained over 3000 security officers, hospital administration, and health care professionals. He has provided technical support for “Urban Shield,” the Law Enforcement Tactical Team competition (hosted by Alameda County Sheriff Oakland, CA) since its inception. Mr. Carr is currently contracted as a Disaster Preparedness Specialist for Kaiser Permanente. His duties include: WMD Trainer and Kaiser Permanente National Facilities Service Crisis Management Team Coordinator, Kaiser Permanente MIR3 Administrator, and Terrorism Liaison Officer. He is currently employed by Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.
Grant Coffey; Portland Fire & Rescue; Portland, OR Over 33 years with PF&R (24 as a command-level officer); Over 31 years with Portland Community College as a fire science instructor: chemistry, hazmat, physics, strategy and tactics, building construction; Currently the Hazmat Team Coordinator – 5 years in this position; State certified in Oregon as a Radiological Safety Officer and NFPA 472 certified Radiation Specialist; Chair of Oregon’s Dept of Public Safety Standards NFPA 472 committee; Member of a Regional Incident Survey Team (RIST) for IAFC / National Fusion Center – for dissemination of lessons learned from major hazmat incidents; Three years undergrad work at Lewis and Clark College – Biochemistry major and PCC Fire Science Associates Degree; Working on finishing a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Administration from EOU; Former Safety Officer, PF&R, founder of Metro Safety Officer’s regional group; Certified Incident Safety Officer instructor for FEMA, founded the Metro Safety Officers group for the Portland Metro area; Eight-week Capstone certification from OEM as an emergency manager, in process of application for state certification; 10+ years as an EOPS battalion chief, five of those supervising the hazmat program; Over eight years as an adjunct instructor for the Department of Homeland Security, teaching the NIMS ICS system for structural collapse incidents all over the USA; Member of the post 911 Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Terrorism Task Force; Founder of the PFB’s Neighborhood Emergency Team program, my associate in this endeavor is now the national director for Citizen Corp, for DHS; Exercise designer, controller, evaluator for numerous metro area exercises; Committee member of DHS’s RadCPR pilot project; Lead hazmat point person for TOPOFF 4 (radiological dispersion device); Member of an Improvised Nuclear Device DHS task force on public education
Durrell Dickens; Houston Police Department; Houston, TX Dickens holds a B.A. from Baylor University, an M.A. from the University of Houston, and is currently attending Lamar University in pursuit of an Ed.D. He has been a police officer with the city of Houston for 18 years, with eight years as a trainer. He is also an adjunct instructor at Lee College in Criminal Justice and Sociology.
Brian Doyle; Chicago Police Department; Chicago, IL Doyle has 18 years of service with the United States Marine Corps., both active as well as reserve duty; five years with the Chicago Police Department -- two ½ as a trainer for CPD’s Terrorism Awareness and Response Academy, where we have trained over 7,000 members of CPD as well as numerous outside agencies and private sector participants. Doyle is certified to instruct AWR 160, AWR 122, IRTB, UPSBI, PRSBI, WMD Law Enforcement Response/Protective Measures and Standardized Awareness, Law Enforcement Prevention and Deterrence of Terrorist Acts, NIMS, Land Transportation Antiterrorism Training Program, Instructor’s Academy, and the AVON FM-12 Respirator
Robert Eiserloh; New Orleans Fire Department; New Orleans, LA Robert Eiserloh is a District Chief and Training Director for the New Orleans Fire Department. Robert has over 25 years in the Fire Service. He is an advisor for the University of New Orleans, Executive Leadership Program and a contract instructor delivering various courses in emergency management. Chief Eiserloh is also an Adjunct Instructor with Louisiana State University, Fire and Emergency Training Institute delivering The NIMS Courses.
Tony Garcia; City of Adrian Fire Department; Lansing, MI Lt. Tony Garcia has been with the City of Adrian Fire Department for 22 years. In 1996, Tony was assigned as programs manager for the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Training Center hazardous materials response programs and in 1997 as the training coordinator for the Michigan Urban Search and Rescue program. He has been involved in the development of hazardous material response, command and management, CBRNE and technical rescue curriculums. Tony received his B.A.S. from Siena Heights University in Hazardous Materials Emergency Response. He is certified Fire Officer III through the National Fire Academy and Fire Officer II through Maryland Fire Training Institute and has served as an Instructor for the Office of Firefighter Training since 1989. Tony is owner of the training company “Safety and Compliance Training and Consulting”. They have provided emergency response training for a number of private and public sector agencies throughout the Great Lakes area including, DTE, BASF, Chemtura, US Steel, Anderson Development and Detroit Water Department.
Clarence Hawkins; St. Paul Fire Department; St. Paul, MN Clarence Hawkins has been a member of the Saint Paul Minnesota, Fire Department since 1984, holding the positions of Firefighter, Fire Dispatcher, Heavy Rescue Squad Firefighter, Assistant Training Officer, and Training Chief, in his 25 years on the department. He presently holds the title of Assistant Training Officer. In 2008 he was tasked with providing the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) course AWR160 to the entire 425 person department ,in advance of the Republican National Convention (RNC) held in St. Paul.
Irving Miller; Chicago Police Department; Chicago, IL Miller has been a Chicago Police Officer for over 23 Years and an original member of the Terrorism Awareness and Response Academy (T.A.R.A.) He is a Chief Master Sergeant, Retired USAFR and married with four children. He has worked in the 3rd, 7th, and 22nd districts, Public Housing South, IAD headquarters’ Security, and is in his second tour with the Education and Training Division.
Matthew Pecoraro; Chicago Police Department; Chicago, IL Mr. Pecoraro is a 15-year veteran of the Chicago Police Departmen,t where he currently serves as a senior instructor for the Terrorism Awareness and Response Academy (TARA). This Academy has trained over 10,500 individuals to include Chicago Police Officers, Cook County Sheriff, Los Angeles Police Department Officers, Significant facility security staff, Military members, FBI, etc. and has been recognized by the City Council of Chicago to have contributed greatly to Chicago’s terrorism preparedness. As one of the initial TARA instructors, Mr. Pecoraro established ongoing liaison with the FBI, The State Department, The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agencies, The Illinois Secretary of State Police, The Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, State of Illinois Emergency Preparedness agencies, The Illinois Army National Guard, The Department of Homeland Security, major railroad police agencies, etc. in the development and updating of TARA curriculum. Some topics Mr. Pecoraro specializes in are terrorism awareness, WMD recognition and response, radiological/nuclear recognition, recognizing fraudulent identification documents, conducting threat and security assessments, Muslim culture orientation, among others. He has acted as a civilian guest “observer/controller” for a large scale Civil-Military disaster exercise that took place near East St. Louis, Illinois, where he, upon request of event contractors, provided critical insights in the form of an after action review report. Mr. Pecoraro holds multiple instructor certifications from the Department of Homeland Security covering all aspects of Anti/Counter Terrorism and WMD.
Ronald Raab; James Madison University; Harrisonburg, VA Ron Raab is a Professor in the College of Integrated Science and Technology at James Madison University where he teaches courses in biotechnology and awareness and understanding of WMDs. He serves as a regional HazMat responder, and educator for the City of Harrisonburg, and Rockingham County in Virginia. In addition, he is also a volunteer firefighter. He joined the JMU faculty in Fall 2001. He received a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara. He received an M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining JMU, he spent 15 years in the biotech industry as a research scientist at IDEC Pharmaceuticals, and Affymax Research Institute. He has taught Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests are the cloning, expression, and purification of genes from pathogenic bacteria, and viruses for use as potential vaccines, therapeutics, and/or for diagnostic reagents for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
Ricky Rocquin; New Orleans Fire Department; New Orleans, LA Ricky Rocquin is a District Chief for the New Orleans Fire Department with 32 years of service. He holds a degree in Fire Science Technology from Delgado Community College. Ricky is a contract instructor with the University of New Orleans, (Center for Social Justice) where he delivers NIMS and AWR 160 classes. He is also an Adjunct Instructor for Louisiana State University Fire and Emergency Training Institute in Baton Rouge, LA where he teaches with the Fire Rescue program and National Incident Management Classes state wide. Also, he teaches for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) for the US Citizens Core. Looking ahead, he plans to continue his teaching after retirement from the fire service.
Eileen Verosik; Redlands Community Hospital; Yucaipa, CA Verosik has 22 years experience as a certified emergency nurse, and is certified as an NRP, BLS, ACLS, and PALS provider, as well as certifications as a PALS instructor and ICLS and Peds ICLS. Verosik also serves as a DMAT CA-2 team member, an adjunct instructor at Crafton Hills College, and is a PALS instructor at Western Training Center. She has served at Redlands in the Emergency Department, Infection Prevention, and Outpatient Surgery. She is the Chairperson for Disaster Preparedness and the Interim Director of the Emergency Services Department.
Brian Young; St. Louis Metropolitan Police; St. Louis, MO Sgt. Young has been with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department since 1990 and has been active in the Emergency Management field since 1993. He has served in a variety of positions within the Police Department, including the Bureau of Community Policing, Traffic Safety Division, Operational Planning and Emergency Management Units. Over the years, he has participated in planning for special events, such as the 1999 Papal Visit to St. Louis, 2004 Presidential Debates at Washington University and 2004 & 2006 World Series. He began instructing courses on Incident Command and hazardous materials in 1998. As the focus on terrorism became more prevalent in 1999 and 2000, he began training and instructing those courses as well. In 2004 he became a certified instructor for the Center for Domestic Preparedness by successful completion of the ITC program. Since that time, he adopted the Law Enforcement Protective Measures program for the Police Department, training all 1400 commissioned personnel in WMD preparedness and response. He has incorporated the issuance of Level C personal protective equipment to all Sergeants and Police Officers into the LEPM program to provide both the knowledge of CBRNE hazards and the skill set of personal protection for all personnel. He is now creating a workshop incorporating personal protective gear into a live firearms curriculum, providing an additional skill set to the officers of the SLMPD.