Halfaker & Associates

News

March 2008

Halfaker and Associates' CBRNE/EM Coordinator, Robert Cohen, Leads Development of a Citizen Corps Council

Halfaker and Associates’ CBRNE/EM Coordinator, Robert Cohen, has been chosen to lead the Naval Station Great Lakes in establishing the 1st military based Citizen Corps Council in the United States.

In April of 2004, President Bush began an initiative called the USA Freedom Corps. Under that umbrella, the Federal Government designed the Citizen Corps Program in order to make Americans better prepared for handling disasters of all types. In cooperation with the Community Preparedness Division of FEMA Region V, the Naval Station has initiated a Citizen Corps Council under the initial planning and leadership of Robert Cohen, in order to provide a strong base of disaster preparedness among its military family. The Council will support 4 major activities of CERT (Community Emergency Response Training), MRC (Medical Reserve Corps), Neighborhood Watch and a VMST (Volunteer Management Support Team). The volunteers in these programs can be utilized to compliment the professional military personnel of fire, police and medical while providing disaster response support to the Naval Station.

Bob was asked by the Naval Station Commanding Officer to be a Co-Coordinator of this effort along with MCC R. Burke, NAVSTA’s Public Outreach Coordinator. The CO wanted to pull from Bob’s extensive experience in emergency management and in working with this program outside of the Navy. Bob has been the director of a Citizen Corps program that has been recognized by the White House and former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge for its impact on his community and state.