VETERAN'S DAY PROGRAM: The Heavy Lifting of Emergency Management at the Local Level

Colonel Terry Ebbert, United States Marine Corps Retired, founded Ebbert & Associates to provide consulting, planning, training, and education in all aspects of emergency preparedness, public safety, disaster management and security matters. Colonel Ebbert completed a distinguished career in the United States Marine Corps where he served as the Military Secretary to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and Commanding Officer of The Basic School for Marine Officers.  He was awarded the Navy Cross for actions as a Company Commander for the Republic of Vietnam.  Colonel Ebbert is the former Director of Homeland Security for the City of New Orleans. In this role he was responsible for the administration and leadership for all Public Safety agencies, which included Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Preparedness and Criminal Justice organizations.  Serving as “Incident Commander” during aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he coordinated all local, state and federal response to New Orleans in the largest disaster in the history of the United States.  Colonel Ebbert’s views have been documented in extensive federal testimony, books, articles, television, lectures, and personal sessions with the White House and Department of Homeland Security.  His input has led to the creation of national reforms for emergency planning and operations.  His extensive congressional testimony and work with the White House after action report team brings a unique understanding on the emergency preparedness expectations of multiple Federal, State and Local agencies.

Colonel Ebbert’s previous positions have included serving as the Director of the New Orleans Police Foundation and as the Director of Security for the National Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He currently  serves  as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow for the Department of Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute, the ” think  tank” for DHS. He has been selected by the University of Maryland’s Center for Health and Homeland Security, and approved by the US State Department, to be the lead instructor for Mass Sheltering and Evacuation presentations to international delegations at Senior Crisis Management seminars hosted by the US Department of State Office of Antiterrorism Assistance.  Recent seminars have been held with Malaysia, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Turkey, Ecuador, Bangladesh and Nigeria, Mexico and Pakistan.  He is currently working Incident Command Systems Training in Bulgaria.  Colonel Ebbert led a team selected by the US Department of State to create and deliver extensive “Pipeline Security Training” to the leadership of the Secret Service Department of Pipeline Protection in Azerbaijan.  This instruction included students from Lieutenant to General Officer.