Wisconsin Guard leader named to federal Homeland Security task force Published April 9, 2010 By The Adjutant General Headquarters, Wisconsin National Guard Madison, Wisconsin -- Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar, the adjutant general of Wisconsin, is among 35 people to be named to the Department of Homeland Security's newly formed Preparedness Task Force. "Enhancing preparedness across our nation requires close collaboration between all levels of government," DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday (March 7) in announcing the new task force. "The recommendations of this Task Force - comprised of emergency management and homeland security experts from states, cities and tribes across the country - will help guide our ongoing efforts to ensure the resilience of communities throughout the nation." The Preparedness Task Force will be tasked with making recommendations for all levels of government on topics such as disaster and emergency guidance and policy, federal grants and federal requirements. Those recommendations will emphasize identifying preparedness policies, guidelines and grant programs in need of updating, as well as determining the best way to proceed toward improving the nation's collective disaster preparation capabilities. The conference report which accompanied the 2010 DHS Appropriations Act called for establishing a Preparedness Task Force. It will conduct regular meetings and expects to deliver recommendations this September. Other task force members include: Charles H. Ada II, administrator, Guam Office of Civil Defense; Karen Baker, secretary of service and volunteering, Calif.; John Cary Bittick, sheriff, Monroe County, Ga.; Dave Bunce, fire chief, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Fire Department, Ariz.; Jeffery C. Cash, fire chief and emergency manager, Cherryville Fire Department, N.C.; Salvatore Cassano, commissioner, New York City Fire Department; Nicholas Crossley, director, Johnson County, Kan. Emergency Management and Homeland Security; Edward F. Davis, commissioner, Boston Police Department; Robert DesRosier, director, Blackfeet Nation Homeland Security Program and Emergency Services Program, Mon.; Patricia Dukes, chief of emergency medical services, Honolulu; Angela English, executive director, Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities; Charley English, director and homeland security advisor, Georgia Emergency Management Agency; Anthony H. Griffin, county executive, Fairfax County, Va.; Dwight E. Henninger, chief of police, Vail, Colo.; James D. Himes, assistant director, Metro Nashville and Davidson County Department of Public Works, Tenn.; Hubert Douglas Hoell, Jr., director, North Carolina Division of Emergency Management; Jeffrey D. Johnson, fire chief/administrator, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, Ore.; Hans Kallam, director, Colorado Division of Emergency Management; Ron Lane, director, San Diego County Office of Emergency Services; Joseph Laporte, public safety director, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Mich.; John. W. Ledbetter, executive director, Mississippi Office of Homeland Security; Pamela L'Heureux, director of emergency management, Waterboro, Maine; John Madden, director, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; Raymond Orozco, chief of staff, Chicago; Jim Page, executive director, Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System; Kerry Pettingill, director, Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security; Mary Selecky, secretary, Washington State Dept. of Health; David Taylor, state chief information officer and executive director, Agency for Enterprise Information Technology, Fla.; Lyda Ann Thomas, mayor, Galveston, Tex.; MaryAnn E. Tierney, deputy managing director for emergency management, Philadelphia; Alan Dennis (A.D.) Vickery, assistant chief of risk management, Seattle Fire Department; John Wageman, state Hazard Mitigation Officer, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division; John Wheeler, cabinet secretary, New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; Thomas Wyss, Indiana state Senator.