Another Alabama emergency management officer, Jeff Byard, joins FEMA leadership

0
195
Jeff Byard
[Photo courtesy of AEMA Facebook]

Alabama is losing another emergency management leader to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA)’s Executive Operations Officer Jeff Byard has been appointed the Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery (ORR) at FEMA.

Byard joins fellow AEMA alum, FEMA Director Brock Long who joined the agency last month, in his new post where he will focus on the agency’s ability, and those of its partners and stakeholders, to respond to all catastrophic events through building, sustaining, and improving response and recovery capabilities.

During his tenure with the AEMA, Byard was responsible for the creation and implementation of the Alabama field response structure, which resulted in a more effective and efficient response and recovery model. He also served as the Deputy State Coordinating Officer for the nation’s first large scale host state evacuation event during Hurricane Gustav. From 2006-2007, he served as the Director of Alabama’s Transitional Recovery Office where he led and coordinated the timely delivery of FEMA’s disaster recovery and assistance support to state and local governments.

Byard holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Troy University, and is a graduate of the Alabama Public Safety Leadership Academy at Alabama.

He was sworn in to his new position Monday morning in the National Response Coordination Center.

Byard in FEMA org chart
Byard in the FEMA org chart [Photo courtesy of FEMA]