Homeland Security Consulting
HSC Consultants
Homeland Security Consulting maintains a cadre of world-class individuals to serve our client’s needs. Each of our experts has decades of real-world experience, providing analysis and realistic solutions that are drawn from their diverse fields of expertise. Most of our team members have authored books, articles and developed national policy guidance on the threats facing our nation. Many of our team members have known each other and worked together on various projects for twenty years, assisting organizations to identify needed capabilities and implement cost-effective solutions. Included below are some of our subject matter experts. For every project we assemble a team of relevant, experienced professionals that enjoy working together, and who thrive on solving challenging problems.
Dave Hunt
Dave Hunt, CPP has over 20 years’ experience developing national emergency response guidance. 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.
Prior clients include DOJ, FEMA, DHS, FBI, multiple branches of the military, state and local government agencies, health departments, hospitals, professional sports venues, universities and private organizations. He has conducted assessments, developed strategic plans for several states, planned and implemented hundreds of exercises. He led a team in the development of 12 of the FEMA Comprehensive Preparedness Guidance annexes. For FEMA, he also conducted dozens of seminars focused on emergency public information and Joint Information Center operations, as well as strategic planning for crisis communications.
Mr. Hunt is a national subject matter expert on 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 a new DHS 96-minute video on active shooter preparedness. He is a certified instructor for Workplace Violence Prevention.
Mr. Hunt has developed electrical grid collapse exercises for the Congressional Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus, the National Defense University, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. He has conducted national level planning projects on nuclear response with scientists and other experts from Lawrence Livermore National Labs and Virginia Tech’s Center for Technology Security and Policy.
For more information on past projects, see the “About” page on our Homeland Security Consulting website.
Richard Brundage
Richard Brundage is a national award-winning producer, director, author and lecturer. He is the President and CEO of the Center for Advanced Media Studies, a Kansas City based company that conducts crisis communications seminars for senior executives around the world. He was selected by the U. S. State Department to conduct media training to new U.S. Ambassadors prior to taking their posts around the world.
He was the creator, executive producer and chief correspondent for the nationally syndicated half hour news program, “Small Business Journal”. As a television correspondent, Brundage has produced TV reports from the Suez Canal to the Berlin Wall, as well as the Far East. As an Army Captain in Vietnam, he commanded the Joint Information Press Center near the DMZ, and conducted daily press briefings to press and embassy personnel from around the world. He has been on the staff of Joint Military Information Centers around the world, and served as an instructor at the Defense Information School.
His seminar, “Responding to Terrorism – Crisis Communications and Media Response Training“, has been taught around the world, and he has been a guest lecturer at colleges and Universities, including Cornell University, and the University of Kansas – William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the University of Miami Ohio, Purdue, and Auburn University.
Mr. Brundage was the only crisis communicator to be featured on the 60-minute Television Special, “Global Risk Management”, and is on “the next flight out” basis for several large corporations in the event of major crisis. He is the author of the 2006 book entitled “The Heart in Communicating.”
Dennis Cobb
Dennis Cobb served over 24 years in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police in positions of increasing responsibility, including patrol bureau commander for on the Las Vegas Strip and Detective Bureau Commander for Crimes Against Persons (Homicide, Robbery, Sexual Assault, etc.), retiring as Deputy Chief of Communications and Information Technology.
Dennis works to assist organizations with improving their operational effectiveness and organizational resilience. He assisted in developing the National Emergency Communications Plan and helped deliver the DHS Active Shooter Preparedness workshop to thousands of attendees. Dennis has also aided public and private agencies with strategy, procurement, and implementation of communications systems as well as policy, training, and risk and vulnerability assessments of critical emergency capabilities and resources.
Dennis Cobb holds a B.A. in Political Science, and an M.S in Crisis and Emergency Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He graduated the FBI National Academy, served as a Fulbright Fellow for Police Studies in England in 1992, and as a White House Fellow in 1994-95 with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a certified Project Manager, a FEMA-certified Incident Command System instructor, and started his public safety career as a firefighter/EMT with the Clark County Fire Department in Nevada.
Dr. Hank Christian
Dr. Hank Christen has been a consultant in the fields of emergency response and counter-terrorism for Department of Defense agencies, federal response agencies, and local government public safety agencies since 2000. He was previously a Battalion Chief for the Atlanta Fire Department and Director of Emergency Services for Okaloosa County, Florida. He served as Unit Commander for the Gulf Coast Disaster Medical Assistance Team (FL-1 DMAT) and responded to twelve national level disasters including the 2001 World Trade Center attack.
Dr. Christen was a contributing editor for Fire House Magazine and has published over thirty articles in technical journals. He is the co-author of five books on Incident Command and terrorism response. He has been a speaker at national level conferences for the past twenty years and was a member of the Executive Session on Domestic Preparedness, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, an affiliate faculty member with The George Washington University Medical School, Capella University, Pensacola State College and the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, University of Miami. He was also the Deputy Director of the Disaster Health Policy Program (DHP), College of Health, University of South Florida and taught emergency management certificate courses at Auburn University.
Dr. Christen completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Florida, and graduated as a Doctor of Education in 2009 at the University of West Florida. His doctoral specialty is Human Performance Technology.
Tim Lockett
Mr. Tim Lockett served 29 years in the Kansas Highway Patrol, in numerous senior capacities, including administrator of the terrorism grants for the State of Kansas. He has extensive experience in conducting assessments of threats and vulnerabilities, writing and reviewing long-range strategic, emergency public information and operations plans and guidelines for states, territories, and Department of Defense. He represented the Patrol in the Kansas Emergency Operations Center, and was instrumental in assisting local jurisdictions in developing plans and capabilities for emergency response. He consulted with DHS/FEMA Preparedness Directorate, including drafting many of their national planning guidance documents as annexes to the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide. He is a certified emergency manager, and experienced instructor for emergency preparedness and response.
Mr. Lockett retired after 36 years as an Air Force Reservist formerly assigned to the National Security Emergency Preparedness Agency. In this capacity he executed, as required, national security plans and programs to include Continuity of Government and Continuity of Operations Plans. Those duties also included coordinating Department of Defense assistance to civil authorities, developing curriculum and instructing senior military officers on Defense Support to Civil Authorities. He also served in DOD liaison positions to state and federal agencies and performed coordination duty during Incidents of National Significance, in the Military Support section of the National Military Command Center, Pentagon.
Dr. Jim O’Brien
Dr. Jim O’Brien has a distinguished forty year record providing leadership, program management, planning, training and exercises in the field of emergency management. His leadership in emergency management, includes eight years as the Director of Clark County, Nevada, Emergency Management. Dr. O’Brien has developed extensive knowledge of and expertise in emergency management planning, training and exercises throughout his career.
Dr. O’Brien teaches Emergency Management for schools through Southern Utah University; and also a series of online classes as part of a Master’s Degree in Criminology for Regis University in Denver, Colorado. In addition, he designed the curriculum and taught in the Executive Master’s Degree in Crisis and Emergency Management for the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In addition to higher education capabilities, Dr. O’Brien is an accomplished training developer, instructor, and evaluator, including work on developing a revised curriculum for the DHS Active Shooter Preparedness workshops.
Dr. O’Brien has decades of EOC experience. He established the documentation, format, processes, and validation methods for a multi-agency coordination center serving a population of 2.5 million residents and 42 million annual visitors in Clark County. He was a member of the FEMA national working group that developed the Comprehensive Preparedness Guidance documents.
Leslee Stein-Spencer, R.N., M.S.
Leslee Stein-Spencer, R.N., M.S., has extensive expertise in planning, organizing, implementing, training and responding to emergency medical services, domestic preparedness and public health initiatives and incidents in a variety of settings (e.g., pre hospital, hospitals, communities, local health departments, clinics, schools at the local, regional, state and federal levels).
Ms. Stein-Spencer recently retired as Director of Medical Administration and EMS Compliance for the Chicago Fire Department. Previously, she served as Division Chief of the Illinois State Public Health Department for Emergency Medical Services. She has worked for decades as an Emergency Room nurse, which enhanced her credibility in the EMS world, and helped her develop and implement common sense EMS regulations and programs. Leslee continues to serve as a Program Advisor on Domestic Preparedness for the National Association of State EMS Officials, and has been appointed to serve on dozens of national task forces and boards for the Defense Department, Health and Human Services, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and many more. Leslee is a thought leader in the Emergency Medical Services field in the United States and other nations. She has initiated and implemented dozens of innovative programs for decades in the emergency medical field, and she has received dozens of commendations and awards for her dedicated service. Ms. Stein-Spencer has authored or co-authored over 20 publications.
Ms. Stein-Spencer has an M.S. in Hospital Management with a focus on Health Systems Administration, National College of Education, Evanston, IL (1986). She completed the Naval Post Graduate Executive Leaders Program, Monterey Calif. (2010-2011). She was a member of the Executive Session on Bioterrorism Preparedness, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government (1999-03). She earned a B.A. in Psychology, DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, Chicago, IL (1980), and her R.N. at Mayfair Nursing School, Chicago, IL (1974).
Wimberly Fair
Ms. Wimberly Fair is an experienced technical writer and editor who has supported the development of FEMA’s Comprehensive Planning Guides for State, Territorial, Tribal, and local governments across the U.S. Wimberly has a gift of synthesizing large amounts of highly technical data and developing products that are both comprehensive and user-friendly. Areas of focus include emergency public information, public education and outreach, planning for individuals with access and functional needs, logistics planning and preparedness, cyber security, long-range incident planning, radiological emergencies and improvised nuclear devices, improvised explosive devices, space weather, and special events.
Ms. Fair has been integral to the drafting of strategic plans for the Commonwealth of Virginia, American Samoa, and the Anaheim/Santa Ana Urban Area. She has helped manage the facilitation and writing efforts for each of these projects and has worked closely with State, Territorial and local stakeholders to assess current capabilities and ensure plans meet Federal as well as State requirements.
Previously, Wimberly was an investigator and professional staff member for the Committee on Government Reform in the House of Representatives. Her concentration at the Committee was disaster preparedness and homeland security, and she investigated the preparations for, and response to, Hurricane Katrina at all levels of government. In this role, she conducted interviews with top local, State, and Federal officials and authored a chapter of the Congressional report, A Failure of Initiative, which was the first Federal report released on the response to the storm. In this capacity, Ms. Fair also developed press releases for the Committee and wrote speeches for members of Congress.
Sam McGhee
Sam McGhee has served in law enforcement for 37 years, at all levels. He was appointed for two years as the deputy executive director of, the Colorado Information Analysis Center Colorado’s fusion center in 2012. Prior to that, in 2011, he served as a fellow within the Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group, located at the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C. Previously, he held a number of senior police leadership positions including: Emergency Services Coordinator, Media Relations Manager, Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Commander and Sector Commander. His career highlights include: Planner for the Democratic National Convention Denver, 2008, Chair of the North Central Homeland Security Region (NCR) and Colorado’s Information Sharing Committee, board member of the NCR and one of the principal architects of the Rocky Mountain HIDTA.
In 2014, McGhee helped to create the first national strategy and implementation plan for the National Network of Fusion Centers. He is currently a member of the Committee on Homeland Security for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He is a contributing writer for The Police Chief and Homeland Security Today magazines and has authored a number of articles on contemporary issues in homeland security and law enforcement.
Mr. McGhee travels the country briefing first responders on the Century 16 Theater shooting in Aurora, CO. He presents the Department of Homeland Security’s Active Shooter Preparedness Workshop and has guest lectured at the Naval Postgraduate School, the FBI Academy and the CIA’s Sherman Kent School. He is also an adjunct faculty member for Penn State’s School of Public Affairs, Homeland Security Program, and an instructor for active shooter preparedness.
Mr. McGhee has a Master’s Degree in Security Studies from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Monterey, CA. He holds a B.S. in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State University and is a graduate of the Executive Leaders and Fusion Center Leaders Programs at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, NPS, Monterey, CA. He is also a graduate of the Organizational Leadership for Executives program at the US Army’s Command and General Staff College.
Thomas Margetta
Thomas Margetta began working for 9-1-1 as a Public Safety Officer in 1991, and rose through the ranks to the level of 9-1-1 Manager. During a project with HSC staff, Tom realized the jurisdiction being studied could change its 9-1-1 center staffing and protocols, reducing call dispatch time by almost two minutes. This ended the need for the county to build and staff two more fire/rescue stations to maintain response time, saving the county millions of dollars each year.
He has drafted standard operating policies on matters as crucial as triaging responses to biological terrorist attacks (Amerithrax/anthrax, 2001), and served as the project manager for the 800MHz Radio Rebanding Project. He was responsible for the initial overall organization of the Palm Beach State College 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunicator program and certification of the 9-1-1 Dispatch Academy by the State of Florida Department of Education and Department of Health.
He has served on many local and national committees, including the Palm Beach County 9-1-1 Training Committee, Palm Beach County Emerging Technologies Committee, International Academy of Emergency Dispatch Police Council of Standards, International Public Safety Association Communications Committee, and as an Ambassador for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
He has also volunteered time on Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and National Emergency Number Association (NENA) Committees and subgroups. Tom has an obvious passion for all things “9-1-1” and organizes several local training opportunities including the popular South Florida 9-1-1 Mini-Conference, charity events through The Cool Kids of 9-1-1 social group, and individual consulting and training program creation through APA Global, LLC, as a managing member. He remains active in the emergency services field as part-time staff at a local police agency, teaching classes online and in person at Palm Beach State College and presenting sessions at state, national, and international conferences.
Thomas is currently serving as the Director of Public Safety Business Solutions for EagleEye Intelligence, LLC, a technology company focused on Incident Management Software and Unmanned Aerial Systems/Drone platforms for public safety; a company he helped launch from start-up.
Shawn Dyball
Ms. Shawn Dyball retired as an Investigator with the Orange County (CA) Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) after 32 years of service. She worked a variety of assignments during her career, and helped found and staff the Orange County Terrorism Early Warning Group. Ms. Dyball gained expertise in various aspects of Emergency Management, including operational experience participating table-top and full-scale exercises with the OCSD Emergency Operations Bureau.
Ms. Dyball was assigned as liaison to the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center (JRIC), and conducted training on fusion center resources to military, state and local intelligence units throughout the state. She was a liaison to the Jail and Prison Radicalization Unit, which focused on violent extremist radicalization activity in correctional facilities and local mosques.
Ms. Dyball was assigned to the Inter-Agency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG), housed in the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C. from 2010 – 2012. The ITACG collaborated to keep first responder agencies informed on changing tactics, trends and techniques of terrorist operators overseas and in the U.S. Ms. Dyball also initiated and managed a project working with the FBI National Joint Terrorism Task Force, Federal Bureau of Prisons to address training and information sharing with respect to violent extremist radicalization and activity. She worked to develop a standardized awareness curriculum for state and local corrections personnel on inmate radicalization to violence and terrorism-related activity. For her work on this project, Ms. Dyball was awarded the Exceptional Achievement Medal by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), one of the intelligence community’s highest honors.
Ms. Dyball is a graduate of the California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Master Instructor Development Program (MIDP), where she developed a ground breaking 40-hour course for California POST: Terrorism Liaison Officers’ Role in School/Community Networking. Ms. Dyball has developed, or has assisted in the development and instruction of a variety of training courses, on terrorism, active shooter preparedness, human trafficking, including: Law Enforcement Response to Terrorism; Terrorism Preparedness for Schools; Active Shooter Awareness, Prevention and Response for Schools; Human Trafficking Resources for Law Enforcement; Burglary Patterns, Trends and Problem-Solving for Investigators; Pre-Incident Indicators of Terrorism; Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness; Chemical Weapons Threats to Schools; and more. She has presented terrorism and active shooter focused training to audiences at conferences and symposiums throughout the country, and has participated in the development and evaluation of field training exercises involving response to both active shooter and mass hostage siege situations.
Ms. Dyball currently focuses on instruction/facilitation, course design and instructor development. Ms. Dyball has a Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Studies from Excelsior College – University of New York, (Albany), and a Master of Professional Studies degree in Homeland Security from The Pennsylvania State, University. She is currently enrolled in the Master of Education: Adult and Continuing Education program at Rutgers University, where she plans to specialize in Educational Technology.
Rick Smith
Mr. Richard Smith has over 18 years’ experience with IT Security and Risk Management in the information assurance sector. Rick’s areas of domain include Risk Management Framework, Security Architecture, Security Operations, Network, and IT audits/assessments. Rick has proven success in implementing large enterprise security programs for DoD (e.g. HBSS, ACAS, eMASS, NAC), as well as writing winning proposals for DoD/Federal, large vehicles (IDIQ, eFast, and other programs), and providing advice to leadership in cyber strategic planning. HSC staff have partnered with Rick over the past decade on IT security assessments and other IT risk management projects.
