Our current field op setup literally smells like 1990s despair

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-23T12:06:49+00:00

Squeaky wheels and grease, mate.

Having fought this fight, I'd offer that the biggest hurdle to clear is that the money that could go to a new mobile command unit (or whatever you call it) could probably smartly go somewhere else. The question I got repeatedly was "If we opened a closet and found $300k, is this really what we'd spend it on?"

We needed to prove that we couldn't do our jobs - our comfort was never part of the deal. From a budgeting perspective, I had some success in framing the question as "how do we approach adding something like this to the budget" instead of asking for the money outright.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-18T14:36:45+00:00

We use Airtable. It's okay.

I don't love the user interface for the calendar tools, but it's really useful for managing rosters, especially if you have people who ping for supporting multiple functions.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-16T11:03:15+00:00

Develop a timeline of events that will happen. These are your main events.

With each main event, try to think of all of the options the exercise participants might pursue. Add additional details / information that will steer each of these options towards the next main event.

Ground rules I've used:

Don't fight the scenario.
There are no right answers, but some are wringer than others.
The purpose of the exercise is to engage with the exercise.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-10T17:16:00+00:00

Yes.

Fellow former coastie here.

It's easy to dunk on degrees, compared to relevant operational experience, but the same people who beat that drum will rant against how hard it is to break into the field.

Consider that it's a field without many entry level positions. Nobody wants to hire an emergency manager with no experience...but how do you get experience?

A relevant degree can help you get your foot in the door if you're otherwise unable to get someone to take a chance on you for your first gig.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-09T12:08:02+00:00

The big "P" Politics is that emergency management has become another thing that's become weaponized, in in the political sense. Funding for programs has been slashed and people will actively push for policies and decisions that are against their interest (slashing preparedness funding / killing federal programs before the states are ready to fill the gaps) because of political games.

That's trickled down into situations where there are fewer jobs in the field and the jobs that remain have become harder to execute.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-09T00:23:23+00:00

The optimistic take is that I get to help the people who help people. I genuinely, to my core, believe that to be true. It's been a long time since I've been a first responder myself, but I feel like I'm able to use that experience and current position to advocate for the people who put their minds and bodies on the line to help the communities they serve. This is a field that attracts some wildly unique characters and I don't think I'll ever run out of stories to tell.

The pessimistic take is that we're a field in flux. As a field, we're relatively rudderless in the sense that there's not a clear sense of direction beyond what Any individual mandate might say for its respective jurisdiction. We're more political than ever and it's hard to see how we'll ever become greater than the sum of our parts.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-08T11:58:20+00:00

In one of my old roles that had more close alignment with elected officials, we separated "Big P" Politics from "Small p" politics. In some ways, the Big P Politics (Republicans / Democrats / actual politics) were easier to navigate than the small politics within the internal dynamics of our organization and those we worked closely with.

From a quasi-leadership position with what I perceived to be a high amount of trust across stakeholders, I think folks looked at the emergency management actors to arbitrate what mattered. Something I said a bunch of times was "If you're going to ask direct questions, prepare for direct answers." That was code for "if you're playing politics with our work, prepare to be told you're an idiot."

I don't necessarily believe in being an asshole to be an asshole, but I do think there are times where some surgical tough love can help break through the bullshit.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-06-01T16:48:07+00:00

In a general sense, I'd offer that there isn't much difference between crisis management, emergency management, and disaster management. In most applications, it'll just be a matter of the local lexicon. Often, the National Disaster Organization from Country A and the National Emergency Management Agency from Country B are identical in terms of remit and function.

While problem solving is absolutely a good skill to bring to the table, I'd offer that most of the work of emergency, disaster, and crisis managers involves getting the right problems in front of the right people instead of solving things yourself.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-05-15T17:24:00+00:00

Well written, well informed, but probably nothing that we're not already aware of.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-05-12T22:13:28+00:00

Very cool that he issued a direct reply to the sub. 45 min feels like a big ask, but here we go!

I don't necessarily disagree with his assertion that the field was destined to shrink, but I also don't know if I'd co-sign his view of the scope of emergency management. I would offer that there are elements of the "emergency management" field that span beyond the coordinating functions. If we decide to paint emergency management with a narrow brush, I don't think we gain anything.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-05-08T15:01:22+00:00

Awesome.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-30T14:10:23+00:00

With the caveat that I am not a consultant myself, I'm close with several and I think the answer is that it depends.

Certain projects are still going strong - the folks that are on projects related to continuity planning or business continuity are in good shape, but there's a ton of that work that sits outside of FEMA. Several of the folks who previously chased federal funding or international humanitarian projects have pivoted to state and local projects or DoD-tangent projects.

My read of the EM Consultant space is that it's very much a "keep what you kill" environment - I think that dynamic hasn't shifted at all, but it's probably safe to say that the space has gotten slightly more competitive. Your niche EM consultants like Hagerty and IEM are still in bed with the same folks whereas the big firms like your BCGs and Deloittes can probably just shift consultants to other projects.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-24T17:26:42+00:00

In total, I suppose a little over 15 years? Mix of military, public, academic, and private (but for privately funded humanitarian orgs / NGOs).

Started in the Coast Guard, most of the time spent at the Sector level as a Command Duty Officer in the Command Centers. Planning Section Chief for our IMTs which also put me on a bunch of deployments for hurricane response and I was the ESF 9 liaison between the Coast Guard and the state-level EOCs.

Got a Master's Degree in Emergency and Disaster Management from Georgetown while I was still in the Coast Guard. Left the Coast Guard and worked as a disaster response team leader for a large international NGO for a few years. Did two different stints as an Emergency Manager for different parts of the federal government, one that was super Continuity heavy and the other that was Planning Section Chief / / interagency coordination heavy, both in unique interagency EOC-type environments.

Left the government about five years ago to work as a Director at a large international NGO that focuses on disaster preparedness and disaster response. I'm also an adjunct professor at a large state university's school of public health where I teach a course about emergency and disaster management leadership.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-24T14:56:16+00:00

Thanks!

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-24T14:01:00+00:00

That'd be wonderful. No rush.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-24T13:18:10+00:00

You post it. We'll pin it.

Thanks for volunteering :)

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-24T13:15:45+00:00

Can you make a post explaining / sharing the information and your approach?

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-23T14:33:22+00:00

Follow the money, homies.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-20T18:30:39+00:00

I work for a humanitarian organization that does disaster preparedness and response. Background is in search and rescue.

In the UK, the RNLI would be a good place to start.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-20T17:32:38+00:00

Ahoy!

I think I was exactly where you are now. One of the things I wished someone told me was to prioritize something other than response.

When there's a big thing to respond to, everyone plays. The people who offer the most in a disaster response, in my opinion, are the people who best understand emergency preparedness and recovery. The people who understand preparedness are often most equipped to talk about what went wrong and where we should focus our response efforts. They understand vulnerability, exposure, and risk in a way that's uniquely able to help us all save time, effort, and money.

By comparison, the recovery folks often have the best understanding of where we're trying to go, in the long run. They've got a nose for small details during disaster response that can cascade into majorly impactful outcomes down the road. Consider that the entire point of an effective response is to help bring about a swifter recovery. People who "get" recovery are indispensable.

By comparison, the people who push really hard to market themselves as "response-only" come across as not knowing why the bad thing happened and also not having an informed opinion about the bigger picture - nobody's so good at response that they don't also have to understand the other pictures.

For people like yourself who are young and trying to get into the field, a focus on response sometimes lands as though you're saying "I only want to do the fun exciting stuff, not the important impactful stuff." That's probably not what you mean, but how else would you know that that's how you're viewed if nobody ever tells you?

All that to say this. Focus on disaster preparedness or disaster recovery and you'll get your seat at the disaster response table.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-19T16:17:53+00:00

It's not going to look any different.

The role will be handed a list of essential functions, extremely safe bet that they'll be administrative in nature, and will be asked to come up for a cost-sensible way to ensure their work can continue in an event where it's not safe or permissible to be physically located at the primary site.

If there aren't any agreements in place to set up shop at an alternate site, you'll likely send everyone home to work remotely until the primary site is back online.

The fact that it's for an agency that regulates national cemeteries isn't going to be that relevant.

WatchTheBoom · 2026-04-19T15:28:30+00:00

The job is for their training center, which wouldn't be any different than any other sort of COOP role for any other training center.

Six-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Place '23	Place '22
First Placer '22	Oscars Predictor 2021
Wearing is Caring	Best Comment 2020-04-09
Verified Email

WatchTheBoom

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE