Our Team

Mr. Wagner recently retired from the fire service where he served as the City of Marathon's Fire Chief and Emergency Manager. His efforts are now directed towards daily operations and business development of Early Alert, Inc.

Mr. Wagner has first-hand experience responding to numerous national disaster situations. During Hurricane Andrew he served as a Strike Team Leader in charge of search and rescue operations at the Florida City command post. He drew upon that experience during other Hurricanes such as George and Irene and recently serving as the emergency manager for hurricanes Charley, Frances, Jeanne, Ivan, Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma; the two most active hurricane seasons on record. In addition, he has worked in many other emergency operations centers and command posts where he has participated as the Incident Commander, Operations and Logistics Chief.

Mr. Wagner is also nationally recognized for his work as a fire instructor. Courses he has taught include Command and Control, Incident Command System and Strategies and Tactics. He has shared his experience with other fire departments, health systems, county and municipal governing agencies, non-profits and volunteer organizations and including the private sector.

Along with the broad range of experience Mr. Wagner brings to the Early Alert team, he also holds National and State certifications as a Certified Public Manager, Emergency Medical Technician, Fire Service Instructor, ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-300, ICS-400, ICS-401, ICS-402, IS-700, Emergency Vehicle Operation Course (E.V.O.C.) Instructor, Minimum Standards Firefighter, and Hazardous Materials.

Mr. Wagner serves as a member in federal, state and local associations including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Emergency Managers, Florida Fire Chiefs' Association, and served as the Second Vice President of Monroe County Fire Chief's Association.

As a Certified Instructor, Mr. Wagner has developed and delivered training around the United States for emergency management, incident command, disaster response and fire rescue for more than twenty years. His training programs reflect his extensive experience in the field responding to national disasters and incidents. During Hurricane Andrew, he established the command post at Florida City where more than 150 firefighters began search and rescue in the first forty-eight hours following the storm. He managed a Unified Command System which included more than one hundred law enforcement personnel, several relief agencies and members of the Florida National Guard. He served as Incident Commander for numerous large scale incidents and disaster including Hurricanes George, Katrina, and Wilma in the Florida Keys. He served as a recovery technician at the Value Jet disaster in the Florida Everglades. His experience includes such posts as Emergency Manager, Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief, Operations Section Chief and Logistics Section Chief.

Mr. Wagner also develops and administers full-scale emergency response exercises which utilize his expertise in comprehensive planning and training. From wildfires and major structural fires to hurricanes and tornadoes, Mr. Wagner's skills in emergency management, fire rescue and disaster response are highly prized by our clients.

In addition to his appointment to the elite Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hurricane Liaison Team, Mr. Wagner is also on the International Association of Fire Chiefs - Emergency Management Committee - Sub-Committee for Education and Training. Additionally, he has served as an Emergency Management Coordinator for the Florida Keys and the County Coordinator for the Florida Disaster Response Plan, Florida Fire Chiefs' Association: State Emergency Response Team - FEPA Liaison, South Florida UASI - IMT Type III Team Member.

Mr. Wagner serves as an executive officer and member in many federal, state and local associations including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Emergency Managers, Florida Emergency Preparedness Association, Florida Fire Chiefs Association, National Fire Protection Association, North America Fire Marshals Association, Miami-Dade Fire Officers Association and the Monroe County Fire Chiefs' Association. Manchester Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals.

Mr. Wagner holds state and national certifications for National Certified Emergency Manager - CEM, All-Hazard Incident Management Team (O305), All-Hazard Operations Section Chief, Incident Commander, ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-300, ICS-400, ICS-401, ICS- 402, IS-700, IS-800, L-449 ICS Master/Lead Instructor, Disaster Planner, Emergency Medical Technician, Haz-Mat Incident Commander, Fire Service Instructor, Fire Inspector. His expertise includes courses in Advanced Incident Management and Unified Command, Command and Control of Major Operations, Incident Tactics and Strategies, Disaster and Fire Defense Planning, Advanced Fire Administration, Firefighter Safety and Risk Management, Fire Cause and Origin, Disaster Control - Emergency Readiness, Emergency Response - Haz-Mat and Emergency Planning.

Special awards include Fire Chief of the Year for Monroe County, Phoenix Award for Life Saving, Special Rescue Award, and Firefighter of the Year Monroe County, FL.

Kermit began his NWS career in 1977 at Fort Worth, Texas in the tornado prone region of North Texas. In 1983, he was assigned to the forecast office in Raleigh North Carolina as a Lead Forecaster. From 1993 until his retirement in 2006, Kermit served as NWS Raleigh's first Science and Operations Officer, in charge of the infusion of science into forecast operations and the professional development and training of forecasters.

Through several awards, NWS, NOAA, and the AMS have all recognized Kermit for his leadership in shaping, promoting, and guiding productive collaborations between NWS and North Carolina State University - a collaboration that has been funded by NOAA for sixteen consecutive years. During this time, Kermit was the chief architect for pioneering joint winter and severe storm operations with selected faculty and students, developing a university credited NWS internship course, and establishing effective protocols for conducting successful university collaborations.

Kermit has co-authored and published several articles sharing the collaboration's success in developing and implementing improved forecast techniques and protocols for critical weather hazards that included: winter storms, sound side flooding, cloud to ground lightning, tornadoes associated with tropical cyclones, inland effects of land falling tropical cyclones, and cold air damming. In 2002, Kermit was recognized by NWS Eastern Region for his expertise in winter storms and for shaping the Region's best practices for predicting winter storms.

Bill'ys actual disaster response experience includes many severe weather events, tornados, tropical storms, hurricanes, floods, oil spill response, mass immigration and urban search and rescue. Billy had the direct responsibility for the coordination of the response to over 50 Tropical Cyclone Events. More significant he was the director of the response and recovery of 1992 Hurricane Andrew, 1996 Hurricane Bertha, 1996 Hurricane Lili, 1998 Hurricane Georges and TS Mitch, and 1999 Hurricane Floyd, 2004 Hurricanes Charlie, Frances and Ivan; and 2005 Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

Other related experience and practices include direct coordination with the Tropical Prediction Center/National Hurricane Center and World Meteorological Origination and Committee Team Leader for the FEMA /Corps of Engineers Hurricane Georges, Bertha, Opal & Fran Response Assessment. Billy is the only Emergency Management representative on the American Society of Civil Engineers Task Committee, which is developing a set of guidelines on wind damage investigation, for publication as an ASCE Manual of Practice

Billy is among the original founders of the Federal Emergency Management Agenc'ys Hurricane Liaison Team (HLT). This select group of Emergency Management professionals with hurricane experience is specially trained to serve in the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The primary role of the HLT is to provide support to Federal, State and local officials whenever a tropical cyclone threatens the United States and its territories in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico basins to insure that the emergency management community has the information needed to take proper actions in responding to the event.

Billy spearheaded the development of the position of HLT coordinator which is responsible to contact the State and Local emergencies managers assuring that they have received all the NHC products pertaining to the event and briefing them on any changes which may take place regarding the system between advisories. This position also has the responsibility of setting up the conference calls between the NHC and the emergency management community and high-level officials being affected. This also includes Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands. He also handles any calls made to the NHC that are emergency management related.

Bill'ys awards and special recognition include the Excellence in Emergency Management Award from the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association for outstanding weather warning coordination and collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS); the Neil Frank Award, the highest award given by the National Hurricane Conference; Emergency Management Director of the Year In recognition of dedicated service to the citizens of Florida for Emergency Management accomplishments; NWSEO Paul Revere Call to Action Award for going above and beyond in alerting the public and the emergency management community of the impending peril from proposed cuts to the NWS budget; the Robert C. Sheets Annual Award for contributions to hurricane preparedness for South Florida; Florida Emergency Preparedness Association Professional of the Year Award for endeavors to save the funding the NWS budget; the TPC/NHC budget, and the NWS Southern Region Office and liaison work at the NHC; and FEMA's highest award, the Director's Award.

His broad experience includes virtually every possible weather event, but his specialty is marine meteorology and in particular, the hurricane.

Prior to joining Early Alert, Mr. Jarrell served as the Director of the National Hurricane Center for the active 1998 and 1999 Hurricane Seasons, and was de facto Director beginning in 1995 during the illness of his predecessor. In addition to leadership and administrative responsibilities, he was the senior hurricane forecaster and directed the Center's small research effort. In 1993 he chaired a World Meteorological Organization committee on Tropical Cyclones in Mexico which examined the effect of Global Climate Change on hurricane frequency and intensity. He also served as Chairman of a committee to coordinate Federal requirements for hurricane research, leading to the National Plan for Hurricane Related Research.

Prior to his tenure at the National Hurricane Center, Mr. Jarrell was a Senior Research Scientist with Science Applications International Corporation, in Monterey, California. Mr. Jarrell's research work covered a wide variety of meteorological events, but his specialty was in the area of risk assessment and risk containment relative to hurricanes and typhoons.

He is the original author of the Hurricane Strike Probability model, which has been in use at the National Hurricane Center since the middle 1980s, and the Cyclone/Hurricane Acceptable Risk model used for several years by the Defense Department worldwide and some industrial concerns in the Gulf of Mexico. Jerry also led an effort by USAID to improve the response of the Government of the Philippines to typhoons.

Before his civilian career as a research scientist, Mr. Jarrell was a Commander in the United States Navy, having served chiefly within the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command including tours in Vietnam. His duties evolved from forecasting to research to management and finally to faculty and administration within the Nav'ys Graduate Education Program. Several of his students went on to distinguish themselves as Senior Naval Officers.

Jerry is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, and was awarded the Nav'ys Distinguished Public Service Award and the Coast Guard's Meritorious Public Service Award for his civilian service at the National Hurricane Center. He is also a recipient of the National Hurricane Conference's Neil Frank Award, and the Florida Governor's award for contributions towards improving the hurricane preparedness of the state.

Major publications include "Hurricane Experience Levels of Coastal County Populations - Texas to Maine", A Global View of Tropical Cyclones (University of Chicago), "Tropical Cyclone Wind Probability Forecasting for the Southern Hemisphere", "Tropical Cyclone Strike and Wind Probability Applications", "Cyclone Wind Threat Estimates for the Bay of Bengal", "An Analysis of Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Forecast Errors", and "Forecasting Tropical Cyclones over the Northeastern Pacific Ocean by an Analog Scheme".

Jerry holds a BS in Education from Concord College, an MS in Meteorology and an MS in Management, both from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

He received the Distinguished Service Award at the National Hurricane Conference in 1989 for his work in developing hurricane evacuation plans in Florida and North Carolina, for which he also received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian award presented by the Governor of North Carolina.

He served as a representative of the National Weather Service (NWS) and as a consultant to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Agency for International Development (AID) on tropical cyclone projects in more than twenty countries around the world, including India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and several nations in Central America and the Caribbean.

Dr. Pelissier served as Deputy Meteorologist-in-Charge of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Raleigh, NC from 1982 until 1994. He established a new NWS Forecast Office in Greenville, SC in 1994 and served as its Meteorologist-in-Charge until his retirement in 2005. He was also an Adjunct Professor of Atmospheric Science at North Carolina State University.

Dr. Pelissier holds B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Meteorology, an M.S. degree in Mathematics, and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Miami. He has written more than ten published articles on tropical cyclones and was editor of Weather and Forecasting, published by the American Meteorological Society. He also edited WMO Publication No. 528: Forecasting Tropical Cyclone Intensity and Movement. He was selected as a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 1990.

He served as a Hurricane Specialist for the National Hurricane Center for the last 31 years and issued advisories and warnings on hundreds of tropical storms and hurricanes. During his tenure, Miles authored numerous publications, reports and studies on tropical cyclones. Miles has numerous awards and is the recipient on the prestigious Silver Medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce and is a Fellow or the American Meteorological Society. He has also received the Florida Governor's Hurricane conference 2005 Distinguished Service Award and the South Florida Hurricane Conference Dr. Robert Sheets Lifetime Commitment Award.

Miles holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Miami and a Master of Science degree in meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He joined the Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science in 1961 after spending four years as a research assistant in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Chicago. He also spent four years as a U.S. Air Force Weather Officer. He has specialized in the global aspects of tropical cyclones for his entire professional career. Dr Gray received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Dept. of Geophysical Sciences in 1964. He has been with Colorado State Universit'ys Dept. of Atmospheric Science since 1961, and has been a professor since 1974.

Dr. Gray has been recognized for his many scientific achievements by the American Meteorological Society and the World Meteorological Organization. Professor Gra'ys research involves studies of tropical cyclones genesis, structure intensity change and motion. He also studies seasonal weather prediction and the physical processes associated with ENSO and monsoon variability.

AWARDS/HONORS: Fellow, American Meteorological Society; CSU "Jack E. Cermak" Graduate School Award for Outstanding Adviser (1992); Co-recipient of AMS Banner I. Miller Award (1993); AMS Jule L. Charney Award (1993); Neil Frank Award of the National Hurricane Conference (April 14, 1995), "for pioneering research into long-range hurricane forecasting and for developing a better understanding of how global climatological conditions shape the creation and intensity of tropical cyclones"; Invited lecture for Eighth IMO Lecture to the 12th WMO Congress, Geneva, June, 1995. (This is an honorary award given to senior scientists in recognition of lifetime research achievements; ABC Television "Person of the Week", September, 1995; Man of Science Award by the Colorado Chapter of Achievement Reward College (ARC) Scientist (1995).

Chief Garcia's training programs reflect experience gained and lessons learned as a result of responding to many real world regional, state and national disasters and incidents. During Hurricane Andrew, he led the first task force deployed into the hardest hit area of Dade County. In the month to follow, he also spent numerous hours at the command post at Florida City working under a Unified Command System that included hundreds of personnel from local, state and federal agencies. During other major incidents he has served as Operations, Logistics and Planning Chief; some of those incidents include: Hurricanes George, Irene and Charlie. And the Value Jet crash in the Florida Everglades. Chief Garcia also served as the Incident Commander during the Florida Region-7 Domestic Security Task Force Drill for Monroe County Florida.

Chief Garcia's commitment to firefighter safety, and through his involvement in the Monroe County Fire Chief's Association, was instrumental in adopting Incident Command, accountability, RIT and May-Day Procedures County wide. He continues this endeavor to eliminate firefighter death through continuous education and training of firefighting personnel. In 1997 he was named Monroe County Firefighter of the Year by the Monroe County Fire Chief's Association. He also received the "Honorary Conch Award" (which is equivalent to the Key of the City) from the Mayor of Monroe County Florida for his many contributions to the fire service in the area of safety, education and training.

Chief Garcia is certified by NFA and has been delivering NIMS and ICS courses throughout the Nation. Chief Garcia is recognized for his work as a fire instructor and has taught courses in Command and Control, Incident Command System and Strategies and Tactics. He is a certified fire instructor and is certified to teach Emergency Response to Terrorism and Advanced Incident Command. He holds teaching certifications from local and state learning centers as well as from the National Fire Academy including IS-700, IS-800, Incident Commander, ICS-100, ICS-200, ICS-300, ICS-400, ICS-401, ICS-402, and L-449 ICS Master/Lead Instructor.

In addition to teaching fire and command courses, Chief Garcia has just completed a two year teaching engagement for the City of Boston delivering Incident Command training to all of the cit'ys police and firefighters. He is well known for his classes in technical rope rescue, and vehicle extrication. His department's vehicle extrication team was one of only ten teams selected to represent the USA in the World Extrication Competition in 2005. Chief Garcia also helped his Water Emergency Team commander with the development of an underwater extrication class one of the first of its kind which attracts dive rescue technicians from all over.

Chief Garcia is a "life time learner" and is passionate about firefighter safety, health, and education and is committed to helping prepare the firefighters of today and the future.

Richard later transferred to the Training Division as a Lieutenant in charge of fire and EMS training. Richard also served as the department coordinator for all special response team training and operations. Richard was then promoted to Captain of EMS operations and Training. Richard also serves as the Deputy Fire Chief of the Key Largo Volunteer Fire rescue Department. Responsibilities include Operations, Training, Budget, and Strategic Planning.

Richard also works for Miami Dade College where he is a part time faculty member teaching courses in Fire minimum Standards, Leadership, Prevention and Environmental Sciences. Richard also teaches First Responder, EMT, and Paramedic courses for the college.

Richard has been teaching a wide range of Fire Service Disciplines since 1996 traveling all over the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa and Central and South America. Richard has provided numerous firefighting and rescue extrication training courses to several S.A. countries. He routinely travels to Ecuador providing basic firefighting, rescue and incident management courses in the cities Guayquil, Salinas and Cuencas.

Richards's certifications include: Paramedic, Fire Service Instructor, Fire Service Inspector, Technical Rescue Instructor, National certified Flight Medic, and AIDS Counselor.

Richard also holds an Associate in Science degree in Emergency Medical Services, as well as attending the United States National Fire Academy and completing all their Incident Command courses: Fire Command, Command of Multiple Alarm Incidents, Command and Control of target Hazards, and Command and Control of Natural and man made Hazards. Richard has also completed course work in the National Fire Academies Executive Officer Program.

Richard has responded to numerous disasters during his career, in which he has participated in the front line, Forward Command Post, Staging Officer, Emergency Operations Center, Incident Command, Operations, Planning, and Logistics. Disasters include Hurricanes Andrew, George, Mitch, Katrina, Wilma, Rita. The 1996 Wildfires of Florida, Stand by for 911 World Trade Center USAR, and assist in PIO related duties for the Florida Value Jet Crash.

Memberships include: Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee USA (TERC) where Richard is the Region 3 District Chair, International Fire Chiefs Association, Miami Dade Chief Officers Association serve on the EMS Committee, Monroe County Fire Chiefs Association.