Homeland Security Consulting

 Homeland Security Consulting provides a broad array of risk management, emergency planning and preparedness solutions.  We thrive on developing solutions for the risks our nation faces. Our project teams are developed to match the needs of our client’s projects, staffed with highly experienced individuals, who in many cases participated in developing the national preparedness guidance and referenced standards.   We work hand-in-

hand with private companies, hospitals, universities, government agencies, and non-profits.  Our experts understand the challenges senior leadership face in identifying risk and complying with a myriad of legal requirements and national standards.

Our experts can train your organization’s spokespersons to communicate effectively following an incident, taking advantage of social media, rather than being overwhelmed by the “instant information” phenomenon.  Our experienced professionals offer guidance to senior leadership, develop specialized training for managers and threat assessment teams, and provide customized training for your workplace.

Whether the subject is risk management, workplace violence, active shooter preparedness, or crisis communications, often, the question is “how much preparedness do we need?”  Our team will develop cost-effective solutions for your threat environment, based on the size and complexity of your organization.  We can assist with comprehensive programs that enable you to implement plans and maintain training and preparedness capabilities utilizing existing staff.  Our partners can customize video training to your organization’s needs, and combine training with common-sense drills to evaluate and maintain response capabilities.  See our consultant bios which provide examples of projects we have conducted.  Please contact us to discuss solutions to your organization’s risk management challenges.

 

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Dave Hunt

 

Dave Hunt, CPP, the principal for Homeland Security Consulting, LLC is a national expert in the field of emergency response with a 30 year background in law enforcement, terrorism response, fire/arson/explosives investigation, hazardous materials response, and emergency medical response.  He has worked in every area of national preparedness in the development and delivery of nationwide assessments, all-hazards plans, training programs, national preparedness guidance, including active shooter and active threat prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.  He has worked with responders and planners in all 56 U.S. States and Territories pioneering the development of many of the nation’s emergency response capabilities, developing innovative pilot programs in major urban areas, States, individual communities and private organizations. He has worked with over 200 universities in the development of catastrophic response capabilities, and protective action decision-making.  His experience has built a thorough understanding of the needs and priorities for organizations to analyze risk and develop comprehensive preparedness and response capabilities.   

In 1993, Mr. Hunt began instructing for the National Fire Academy in fire and arson investigation. In 1996, he assisted in the development of the first counter-terrorism training for the nation’s responders.  In 1999, he supported development of the nationwide online assessment tools used for grant programs, including development of the nationwide terrorism threat assessment tool with the FBI.  He worked with several states to develop their strategic plans for terrorism response.  In 2003 he helped DHS develop the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) process and remains an HSEEP-certified Train-the-Trainer, conducting hundreds of exercises across the nation.

Mr. Hunt is a subject matter expert on workplace violence and active threat preparedness. Over the past two years, he led the effort to develop and deliver a completely revised Active Shooter Preparedness curriculum for the DHS Office of Critical Infrastructure, addressing the needs of critical infrastructure partners in developing and implementing prevention, response and recovery capabilities. He served as lead instructor for the program and also hosted the new DHS 96-minute video on active shooter preparedness planning.    He is a certified instructor for workplace violence prevention.

In 2011, Mr. Hunt developed and facilitated solar electromagnetic pulse (EMP) exercises for the Congressional EMP Caucus, the National Defense University, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and Maryland Emergency Management Agency, evaluating the impact of an extended nationwide electrical grid collapse.   He has provided training to FBI/InfraGard members on nuclear and solar EMP protection and is pursuing several initiatives in this area, supporting the Electro-magnetic Pulse Special Interest Group of the InfraGard program.

Mr. Hunt managed the Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) planning for FEMA’s National Planning Coordination and Assistance Branch, including the development of a pilot public education campaign for pre-incident IND messaging.  He led a team of 10 employees and dozens of consultants and subcontractors (including scientists and other experts from Lawrence Livermore National Labs and Virginia Tech’s Center for Technology Security and Policy) in developing IND evacuation strategies and software focused on nuclear planning factors and nuclear protection for individual communities. For FEMA, he also conducted dozens of seminars focused on logistics planning, emergency public information and Joint Information Center operations, as well as strategic planning for crisis communications.  

Working with the NY/NJ/CT/PA Regional Catastrophic Planning Team, Mr. Hunt served as the Radiological Dispersion Device and Improvised Nuclear Devise Exercise Team Lead, revising the IND Regional Plan and Radiological plan, and developing exercises for the New York City Region, to provide emergency operations centers experience in coordinating response to a nuclear or radiological incident.

Mr. Hunt also helped develop the TSA PortStep port exercises, conducting several exercises around the nation, evaluating Area Maritime Security plans and the ability to integrate local and federal assets in response to a maritime terrorist incident.  He developed and conducted anti-terrorism/force protection exercises for Marine Corp bases around the world.  He served as an exercise designer for the federal counter-proliferation program, which worked to secure nuclear material in the former Soviet republics.

In 2001, he assembled a team of 12 people to support New York City on 9/11/01, reconstituting the logistics sector for NYC OEM and providing support to Chief Blache and the Incident Command Team for over 12 weeks.  He was also requested by US DOJ and NYC to revise the FEMA Emergency Response to Terrorism Training to a one-day course and supported training NYC instructors to deliver this course to over 11,000 NYC responders in the months following 9/11.  He was involved in the oversite of the cleanup operations of the State Department Mail Facility incident, the site of one of the anthrax letters releases and fatalities, located in in Loudoun County, Virginia.   He has responded to radiological release incidents, and numerous explosive incidents as lead investigator.  Mr. Hunt is certified by ATF and FBI in post-blast and hazardous materials investigations.

In addition, he has managed the development of several national level emergency planning guides for state, territorial, tribal, and local jurisdictions including development of the FEMA Comprehensive Preparedness Guidance and 12 draft annexes to FEMA’s Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101.  In this capacity, he has facilitated nationwide panel discussions between stakeholders from Federal, State, local and private sector entities.  He has led the development of annexes on Catastrophic Logistics; Crisis Communication; Radiological Response; Planning for Persons with Disabilities; Improvised Explosive Devise Response; Space Weather; and EOC coordination with Intelligence Fusion Centers.  

Other past projects include:

• Developed the IC3 Coordination Center guidance for the National Capital Area to share current incident information with all area jurisdictions and agencies,  2014
• Assisted in catastrophic incident planning for NASCAR, NFL and collegiate stadium events, 1999-2011
• Supported the State of Florida in development of its regional response program (RDSTF), including development of the state terrorism annex, establishment of the Field Operations Guide, and execution of 18 exercises,  2000-2004
• Developed national level logistics planning guidance on behalf of FEMA and oversaw revisions to FEMA’s Logistics Capabilities Assessment Tool  2006-2011
• Participated in the 2002 Winter Olympic Exercise program for the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command, 2000-2002
• Assisted the State of Georgia in the planning for the Sea Island G8 Summit,  2004
• Supported the Colorado State EOC and Fusion Center during the Democratic Convention, 2008
• Developed FEMA IND training seminar for Intelligence Fusion Centers, 2011
• Served as Instructor for Chemical Protective Clothing Course for DHS/FEMA, 2002-2006
• Trained FBI hazmat teams to operate in contaminated environments, 2001-2003
• Developed COOP/COG plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2004-2005
• Developed and exercised Tennessee’s and Pennsylvania’s State Energy Assurance plans, 2010-2013
• Conducted statewide seminars for Advanced University Planning and Protective Action Guidance, assisting universities in building capabilities to respond to catastrophic events.  2005-2017
• Team Lead for the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Domestic Preparedness Exercise Program. Under the US Army Soldier Biological Chemical Command, conducted tabletop and full-scale exercises for 25 of the largest cities across the nation, 1998-1999.

Dave Hunt Memberships and Activities

 

Joint Communications Task Force

The mission of the JCTF is to provide emergency and supplemental communications and other services to entities related to federal agencies or to other local, regional, state agencies, or certain NGO’s on an as-needed basis. The JCTF supplements the activities of those entities in public safety related duties. The JCTF provides consultative services as a support entity as required.  Mr. Hunt is a member and serves as a consultant to JCTF on national preparedness issues and exercise and training guidance.

 

Mid-Atlantic Disaster Recovery Association

MADRA provides a forum for education and networking among Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Continuity of Operations and Risk Management professionals throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.  Mr. Hunt is a member and has been a guest speaker on Active Shooter Preparedness for MADRA.

 

American Society for Industrial Security  (ASIS)

ASIS International is the leading organization for security professionals worldwide. Founded in 1955, ASIS is dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and productivity of security professionals by developing educational programs and materials that address broad security interests, such as the ASIS International Annual Seminar and Exhibits, as well as specific security topics. By providing members and the security community with access to a full range of programs and services, and by publishing the industry’s No. 1 magazine—Security Management—ASIS leads the way for advanced and improved security performance.  Mr. Hunt is a member and has spoken at ASIS employee workshop on Active Threat preparedness, and has been interviewed as a subject matter expert for Active Shooter incident recovery in the May 2017 issue of Security Management magazine.   Mr. Hunt is currently pursuing certification through ASIS as a Certified Protection Professional.

 

FBI Infragard

InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and members of the private sector. The InfraGard program provides a vehicle for seamless public-private collaboration with government that expedites the timely exchange of information and promotes mutual learning opportunities relevant to the protection of Critical Infrastructure. With thousands of vetted members nationally, InfraGard’s membership includes business executives, entrepreneurs, military and government officials, computer professionals, academia and state and local law enforcement; each dedicated to contributing industry specific insight and advancing national security.   Mr. Hunt has been a member of Infragard since 2010, and is a founding member of Infragard’s Electromagnetic Pulse Special Interest Group, which has developed training and exercises for managing the impact of an extended electrical grid outage.