Rick has served 16 years with the American Red Cross (ARC) in Disaster Operations, following a 25-year career in the aerospace industry. With his unique background in chemical hazmat training for plant operations, nuclear chemistry, biological education and management experience, he has held many disaster leadership/planning positions with the local San Diego Imperial Counties Chapter of the Red Cross and is National Director for incident management.  He has specialized training from the Clara Barton Institute, Pine Bluff Arsenal for WMD-Terrorism and many ARC disaster management courses. He served as Disaster Services Chair, Planning Chair, and Liaison Chair. Rick was selected as the Cabrillo Award recipient for 2003 – 2004 for demonstrated leadership roles in the California wildfires, Indiana flood disasters and hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike.