Garry L. Briese
Region VIII Administrator
Garry L. Briese is the Regional Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region VIII office located in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Briese brings to FEMA numerous years of dedication and leadership expertise pertaining to emergency management and homeland security, as well as, his comprehensive understanding of disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
Mr. Briese's diversified experience prepared him to assume the role of Regional Administrator for FEMA Region VIII. This experience was derived through over 30 years experience in the fire service, both as a volunteer chief officer and as a paid fire fighter. In 2007, he became the Vice President of Emergency Management & Homeland Security for ICF International; a private sector consulting firm specializing in energy, environment, transportation, social programs, defense, and homeland security markets.
Prior to ICF, Mr. Briese served for 22 years as the Executive Director of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (1985 - 2007) where he was responsible for the organizational vision, development, and implementation of their strategic plan. He was also responsible for the development of programs and services, communication with members, leading major partnership initiatives, coordinating public and governmental communications efforts on a national and international basis, and assuring solid financial growth.
Mr. Briese also devoted 15 years to working as the Executive Director of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians (FCEP). At FCEP, he implemented successful legislative and public education programs addressing critical issues including the development of state and national training courses for emergency medical personnel. Additionally, he was appointed by the Secretary of Energy to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Independent Commission on Fire Safety & Preparedness (2001-2003).
As a well-known author and lecturer in the fire and emergency services community, he has co-authored two emergency medical textbooks for first responders, and a basic training for fire fighters textbook released in 2007. He has published many articles and has spoken at numerous national and international conferences in Japan, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Sweden, Canada and the United Kingdom. In January 2007, he headed a delegation of 17 senior leaders in fire service to Israel to study the country's emergency services preparations and operations for terrorism.
Mr. Briese developed the Fire Service Leadership Partnership Program which is a nationally recognized labor management relations program for the fire service. He also established the Annual National Wildfire Conference, bringing together the federal, state and local agencies involved in wildfire-urban interface fires, and wildfire management. Since 1978, he has been the earliest advocate for terrorism preparedness for the fire and emergency services and has done extensive work in those areas. He is credited with his continuing work on a concept linking sustainable development and the resiliency it brings to communities and businesses, and has collaborated with several nations examining emergency command and control systems.
Professionally, he holds the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the American Society for Association Executives. He has a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations for the University of South Florida and a Master Degree in Public Administration for Nova Southeastern University. He is an adjunct associate professor at both the University of Maryland and George Washington University. He also served as member of the Board of Directors of the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation, the International Fire Service Research Center & Policy Institute; the Board of Advisors of the Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center of the Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS)
Special recognitions resulting from his years of service have been presented to Mr. Briese. He received the U.S. Coast Guard Meritorious Public Services Award in 2001 for "Notable services that have greatly contributed to the advancement of the missions and goals of the Coast Guard". In 2004, he received the "James O Page Award" for his years of leadership, support and services to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) community.
In 2007, Mr. Briese was presented the Norman Mineta Excellence in Transportation Safety Award, presented by the National State Fire Marshal's Association. That same year he received The Mason Lankford Award which is presented by the Congressional Fire Service Institute. This award is "Presented once a year to an individual who exemplifies one or more of the following goals; Leadership in promoting and supporting fire/emergency service and life safety issues; Advancing the readiness of the Fire/EMS services at any level of government (local, county, state, federal); Strengthening fire safety through the development of fire prevention programs; Acting as a catalyst to improve the fire service". Garry also remains active at the local, council and national levels of Boy Scouts of America and is a National Distinguished Eagle Scout.
Last Modified: Friday, 31-Oct-2008 17:00:13 EDT